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As for waiting to see what Strata do with windows upgrade, I probably won’t wait as I’ve seen the proposed upgrades and they will have the same lack of sound-blocking qualities as the windows already in place. And it could be years anyway before that upgrade happens anyway.
At the risk of being accused of promoting one of our sponsors, have a look at the post from Gary from Windowline. A secondary window inside your existing one might be the solution you are looking for, it shoud be less expensive than a fully double-glazed sound-reducing window and it will not require a by-law.
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One solution may be to aks the owners corp if you can pay for the difference between they windows they want to install and what you want.
But bear in mind that they may not want you to install windows that look radically different from all the others.
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1. If Strata agrees to me replacing my windows (at my cost), does this mean I am forever responsible for the windows moving forward?
Yes. This is an essential part of strata law. if you want to change common property (the windows) you can’t expect the owners corporation (a.k.a. the body corporate, a.ka. other owners in the building) to be responsible for the upkeep of something they didn’t ask for or need.
From what I gather I will have to have a By-Law created especially for my Unit? What exactly does that mean?
Amended response: You do not need a by-law but you do need the approval of the committee and it can impose reasonable conditions
2. If I sell my Unit in the future, after replacing the windows, will the future owner have to sign a special agreement saying they are responsible for the windows?
Amended response: The new owners won’t have to sign anything as the agreement you make with the strata committee should be transferrable.
Will this hurt my chance of a sale?
Hardly at all and certainly not as much as excessive traffic noise.
3. The windows in my building are old, and I know that Strata are actually considering possibly upgrading all of them at some point. If they do go ahead with this, and I have already upgraded my windows, does this mean I will have to remove my windows and have their ones installed?
Highly unlikely. The windows are now yours and if they have agreed to allow them to be installed, then they have to stick with that. However, you will have to pay a share of the installation of everyone else’s windows (unless you are in Victoria) while they don’t have to pay anything towards yours. Maybe you should wait and see what their plans are before you go ahead with your own windows.
I really am new to all this Strata stuff and it confuses the hell out of me. Many thanks for any replies, T.
You can search for any terms you don’t understand, right here. Or you might want to do a little research – at least into why the terms like “the Strata” mean nothing. Read the Fair Trading guide to Strata Living or, even better, go to Strataman.com.au, where everything is explained.
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The SCA is the peak body for strata managers in Australia. They are most active in NSW and to a lesser extent in Victoria.
What do they offer? They have a code of conduct, for a start. It’s not a guarantee of anything but it should be more reassuring than a warm smile and a firm handshake.
I wouldn’t touch a strata manager who wasn’t a member of SCA. Why would you imagine that a professional who doesn’t join his or her professional body is a better choice than someone who does?
Your strata scheme members’ lack of knowledge of what you are getting into, evident in this and many other posts, suggests to me that your scheme needs to put in more safeguards, not fewer.
If you aren’t going to hire an accredited strata manager, you’d be better off doing the job yourself, using something like Stratabox.
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Sub-committees are informal arangements that allow committee members and non-committee members to discuss issues and come up with a proposal or set of choices that they present to the meeting. They do not require agendas or minutes as they are not empowered to make decisions.
And, yes, there are occasions when the sub-committee’s “report” is just a recommendation that the full committee then passes on the nod.
If you are concerned that the real discussions about issues in your building are being handled by the sub-committees, then rubber-stamped by the strata committee withoiut discussion, propose a motion at your next AGM that all proposals made by sub-committees to the main committee are accompanied by a written report that spells out all the options considered and why the final conclusion was reached.
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Is there a catch I should be looking for or beware of ? For example are future management fees going to be much higher ?
As I wrote previously, ask about schedule B or ancillary fees. Are you going to be slugged for every phone call and email?
If you are being offered a discount for the first year, then you should expect to pay full fare thereafter, otherwise it wouldn’t be a discount.
How long is the term of the full contract on offer (I’m not sure if Vic has the same limit on strata management terms as NSW).
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The 2 (metres) below and 5 above refer to common property. This is almost definitely an owners corp responsibilty.
I’m going to partially correct myself here – what I said before would only apply if the courtyard was common property. If it were lot property, then the 2 and 5 figures refer to lot responsibility.
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The Strata Plan specifies ‘strata of the garden area extend 2 below and 5 above the upper surface of the ground floor’. I assumed this would mean responsibility would be the lot owner?
The 2 (metres) below and 5 above refer to common property. This is almost definitely an owners corp responsibilty. Wish the strata manager luck getting an insurance claim through.
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Excellent question:
Ask them about …
- Schedule B or ancillary charges on top of the fee?
- How much contact they expect to have with owners
- Names of current or previous chair who will vouch for them.
… anyone else?
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Do they do it “all the time”?
Setting the hours of operation and even a season is commonly done by OCs. I think it would be likely that a Tribunal would agree that the OC itself gets to decide them.
Setting the hours of operation is one thing. Shutting down for 25 per cent of the year is another entirely. If you have bought into or rent a property with the expectation that it will be available all year, or for a predetermined period, you are entitled to question when the rules change, apparently arbitrarily.
I can’t see how setting the hours of operation of a recreational facility could be considered as “altering common property”.
I reckon you could present a compelling argument that having a common property facility that you are not allowed to use – when you previously were allowed to used it – is altering it. It’s a heated pool and they’re going to cut off the heating. That’s a pretty significant alteration.
I’m not saying an objector would win at NCAT – but they’d have a case.
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Office-bearers (or “officers” as they are called by Fair Trading in NSW) can or should only issue instructions based on decisions made by the committee or the owners corp in general meeting.
As a member of the committee, you have your say when those decisions are being discussed. If you are outvoted, that’s how democracy works.
However, it is perfectly legitimate for the office-bearers – particularly the secretary – to be the only members allowed to issue instructions. Otherwise you get ordinary members of the committee thinking they have authority to do so when they don’t.
There’s a reason NSW changed the name of the body from “Executive” to “Strata Committee” – some people were a bit above themselves.
Whether or not that applies to your “executives”, only you can say.
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In almost every case, the mould problem was not caused by the building, but the lifestyle of the occupants. The windows would all be shut tight “to keep the cold out”, and/or there would be laundry drying in front of the heater. Some would never use the exhaust fan in the bathroom… the list goes on.
That would go some way to explaining why people move from apartment to apartment and can never seem to find one that doesn’t have a mould problem. I’m not saying that’s the case in every instance, but it’s worth considering. There is another issue, though, there has to be a better way of ventillationg flats than opening windows in winter.
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The point I’m making is the Agent is contractually bound to hold the records for the strata plan and already have such software systems in place so why would they want to use another software system and why would the strata plan want to hold 2 sets if records?
You have been a visitor to this Forum for long enough to know that one of the most common complaints by Flatchatters is the failure of strata managers to pass on records when they are replaced by another agency. And this is despite the Act clearly saying theyre obliged to do so.
Then there are the files that aren’t properly kept, maintained or secured, as well as the files and records that get lost or maybe never existed in the first place. What the law and contracts require and the reality of how businesses conduct themselves frequently diverge and there is little point in saying what “should” happen when we know from experience that it often doesn’t.
Also, this discussion began with a question about not being able to access documents via a digital portal. That would be hard to do if they were stuck on strata manager’s broken computer or in a shoebox at the bottom of a cupboard.
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What’s being altered? In reality, OCs restrict access to common property all the time.
Do they do it “all the time”? Yes, they may restrict access to pools and gyms at certain times, but if there has been an expectation that the pool would be available most days for most of the time, shutting it down for several months is a significant factor.
As long as they don’t block 24/7 access across common property to the lots and do it fairly there’s usually not a problem.
“Usually” is a bit of a weasel word. There is a potential problem when there’s a chance that someone might reasonably object.
To take an extreme example, if the committee blocked access to your car park while essential maintenance was being carried out, residents might be irritated but would accept it. But if they were to block access from, say, midnight to 7am at weekends, because of noise and security issues, some owners would be up in arms.
As I said, I am not sure where the Tribunal would fall on this, but I do think there’s enough of a grey area that if an owner was so inclined, they could make a fuss.
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