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@lefty said:
If an outsiders car is illegally parked in the spot , a resident raises and locks the bollard … I can’t see any legal issues with this, but who knows?I do. It’s an offence to “detain” someone’s car with a fine of up to $2200 under the Local Government Act. It’s worth having a look (below) as it is highly relevant to what you can and can’t do in strata parking areas.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1993
SECT 651B Immobilisation of vehicles
(1) A person must not immobilise a vehicle owned by any other person by means of wheel clamps, or by means of any other device prescribed by the regulations, except with the consent of that other person. Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.(2) This section does not affect any right to immobilise a vehicle that a person may have:
(a) as the driver or person in charge of the vehicle, or
(b) under the terms of a court order, or
(c) under the terms of a credit contract (within the meaning of the National Credit Code as set out in Schedule 1 to the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 of the Commonwealth) in force with respect to the vehicle, or
(d) under Part 7.6 of the “ Road Transport Act 2013 .(3) For the purposes of this section, an owner or occupier of premises is not in charge of a vehicle merely because the vehicle has been left on those premises.
SECT 651C
Unlawful detention of vehicles
(1) A person who takes possession of a vehicle that has been left on premises must not:
(a) fail to release the vehicle on demand to any person having a lawful right to the possession or control of the vehicle, or
(b) demand any payment for or in relation to the release of the vehicle. Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.Section 650A
Strata parking areas and community scheme parking areas
(1) The driver of a vehicle parked in a strata parking area or a community scheme parking area established under this section otherwise than as permitted by a notice or sign erected by the council is guilty of an offence. Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.
(2) The terms of the notice or sign may relate to any one or more of the following:
(a) the time during which residents or visitors may use the parking area,
(b) the maximum period for which a vehicle may be parked in the parking area (or in any part of the parking area),
(c) the designation of a parking space within the free parking area as a space for the sole use of persons with disabilities.(3) For the purposes of this section, a vehicle parked otherwise than as permitted by any such notice or sign includes a vehicle parked in a parking space designated as a space for the sole use of persons with disabilities, unless:
(a) a parking authority for a person with disabilities is displayed on the vehicle in the manner specified in the authority, and
(b) the conditions specified in the authority are being observed, and
(c) the authority is in force.(4) If spaces in which a vehicle may be parked in a strata parking area or community scheme parking area are marked by the council or the owners corporation or association (for example, by means of painted lines or by studs, pads or plates), a person must not cause a vehicle to be parked in the parking area:
(a) otherwise than in such a parking space, or
(b) in a parking space in which another vehicle is parked, or
(c) so that any part of the vehicle is on or across (or partly on or across) any line, stud, pad, plate or other mark defining the space or so that the vehicle is not wholly within the space. Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.(5) The driver of a vehicle in a strata parking area or community scheme parking area must at all times observe and comply with any reasonable direction of any authorised person regarding the parking or movement of the vehicle within the parking area. Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.
(6) The owners corporation of a strata scheme under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 may enter into an agreement with the council under which part of the common property of the scheme is set aside for use as a strata parking area and the council exercises functions under this section, including the erection of notices and signs.
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Just out of interest, how many of the apartments have been sold so far? You must be close to the point where you can hold your AGM and take control of the building (bearing in mind that chummy has his vote reduced to one third of his holding until he has sold more than half of the properties).
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@rthorburn said:
… the repairs should be slotted into the repairs and maintenance programme according to priorities against other works and funding availability.I agree with everything else except the last part. Funding availability is not really an acceptable reason for delaying repairs. If the funding is not there and the repairs are necessary then you strike a special levy or get a strata loan.
This is why the government brought in an obligation to have a repairs schedule in the recent law changes.
Too often strata schemes use lack of funding as an excuse for not fulfilling their statutory obligations to maintain and repair, usually because the owners would rather the “next guy” paid for the wear and tear they had inflicted on the building.
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If it’s another completely separate strata scheme, I can’t see where mediation would come in. It’s certainly not a strata issue.
Your council should have some means of making a noise complaint. It sounds like they are not in breach of their DA but are in breach of the EPA. So pursue that and think about seeking a noise abatement order at your local court.
Noise abatement orders are explained in the links posted previously.
Your strata committee should be a bit more supportive on this but you can do it without them if need be.
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First of all you have to look at your by-laws regarding the use of the pool and behaviour on common property and their exact wording. Remebr, your by-laws may be very different from any other schemes or the “model” by-laws. Only your scheme’s by-laws are relevant.
Then you get the support of your committee to start getting this under control and the first part of that would be to sent a notice to everyone in the building saying that there have been complaints, that the behaviour is in breach of by-laws and that this will no longer be tolerated. The by-laws are there for a reason and they must be obeyed.
Your next issue is how to police this and you might have to install CCTV to catch the culprits in the act if the behaviour doesn’t improve.
After that, it’s a question of having a committee meeting at which you agree to issue a Notice To Comply and be prepared to follow that up with fines if the breaches continue.
By the way, there was a story recently about a scheme where they filled in the swimming pool because of issues exactly like this.
In fact, if the committee knows the swimming pool is being used inappropriately or in a dangerous way and it fails to make an effort to remedy this, the scheme could be liable for injuries caused when someone slips and falls on a structure they shouldn’t have been on in the first place.
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@James79 said:
Apologies for that…my bad.
Apologies not required. I just wanted to make the point that not everything that happens in a strata scheme is a strata issue. My apologies for clumsy wording.
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@James79 said:
Their insurance does not cover the damage according to the strata manager (who also happens to be our strata manager).All that means is that they don’t have cover – not that they are not liable.
If a claim against the car insurance doesn’t fly, or if the excess is excessive, you can always make a claim through a civil action. Whether or not they are insured is no concern of yours. And, by the way, this is not a strata issue.
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It sounds lie this is normal deterioration over time and is therefore an Owners Corp responsibility (in the absence of any by-laws that say otherwise).
If you don’t have the money in your sinking fund then you can always get a strata loan from our sponsors Lannock.
It may be worth having an inspection of all your floors to see what needs to be done as getting it all done at once can save money compared to doing it piecemeal
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@LawoftheLand said:
… the SM states that if the quote is over $20K then the company/tradies must also have a HBCF insurance policy (formerly known as home owner’s warranty insurance) to do the job. From my understanding the cost of this policy is tacked onto the quote. Have you heard of this before?This is part of the NSW building insurance regulations. Have a look here and at the extract below.
Regarding whether or not their insurance premium is added to the quote – I really don’t know. But if it’s not in the quote you shouldn’t be expected to pay it.
When insurance must be provided
Insurance under the HBCF must be provided where the contract price is over $20,000, or if the contract price is not known, where the reasonable market cost of the labour and materials involved is over $20,000, by:
- a builder or tradesperson before taking any money (including a deposit) from a home owner (including an owner-builder) under a residential building contract and before starting any work under that contract
- a ‘spec’ builder before starting any residential building work on a property owned by the builder
- a developer before entering into a contract for the sale of a property on which a builder is doing or has done residential building work for the developer.
Where the contract price or the reasonable market cost of the labour and materials involved does not exceed $20,000, there is no legal requirement to obtain insurance under the HBCF.
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This is a separate issue but the best thing you can do is engage a strata debt collection agency who will recoup the unpaid levies entirely at the recalcitrant owner’s expense.
Having said that, this is obviously part of the larger problem of having a “deadbeat owner” and you just have to pursue everything that you need to do, until they either play ball or sell out and move somewhere where they will be left in peace.
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I’m guessing this was originally a carpet on timber on concrete floor and an owner has removed the carpet.
I would go back to the owner and say that if they want the floor repaired at Owners Corp expense, they will have to replace the carpet as it was only damaged becasue the protective carpetting was removed.
Or ask them to prove that they didn’t damage the floor and let them run the case at NCAT if they aren’t happy with that.
They are trying it on, so fight fire with fire.
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I posted THIS LINK in my previous answer. You will find reference to various options under Environmental Protection laws.
The critical issue here is that a DA permitting them to run a gym does not necessarily imply that they are allowed to disturb your peaceful enjoyment of your home.
A gym could, for instance, hold one of those spin classes where everyone wears headphones and there is no noise. Or it could run yoga or pilates classes.
Noise is not an essential element of a gym and unless it specifies that noise is allowed in the DA, it shouldn’t make any difference.
FYI, here is how the government defines offensive noise (emphasis mine):
What is offensive noise?
The definition of offensive noise in the POEO Act is noise:
(a) that, by reason of its level, nature, character or quality, or the time at which it is made, or any other circumstances:
(i) is harmful to (or is likely to be harmful to) a person who is outside the premises from which it is emitted, or
(ii) interferes unreasonably with (or is likely to interfere unreasonably with) the comfort or repose of a person who is outside the premises from which it is emitted, or
(b) that is of a level, nature, character or quality prescribed by the regulations or that is made at a time, or in other circumstances, prescribed by the regulations.
For further information about what constitutes offensive noise see the Noise Guide for Local Government.
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Section 260 of the Act covers bad decisions made by strata committee members “in good faith” (see below).
Conversely, you could argue, if members of the committee have been told that there is a problem with a contractor and something goes wrong and this results in additional cost to the owners corporation, then their “in good faith” protection is gone.
So, at the very least, insist that who voted for this and who voted against it is recorded.
If the committee member’s mate stuffs up and the building is damaged or someone is hurt, your strata insurers probably won’t cover the scheme for damages caused as a consequence of a conscious decision not to hire a registered and insured tradie.
But at least you and the other owners could take action to make sure that only the people who knowingly hired someone who was not registered or insured have to pay.
260 Personal liability
(1) A matter or thing done or omitted to be done by any of the following persons, or a person acting under the direction of any of those persons, does not, if the matter or thing was done or omitted to be done in good faith for the purpose of executing functions as such a person under this or any other Act, subject any of the following persons or person so acting personally to any action, liability, claim or demand:
(a) an officer of an owners corporation,
(b) a member of a strata committee.
(2) Any such liability of an officer of an owners corporation or a member of a strata committee attaches instead to the owners corporation.If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.