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I agree. This could be fixed by a tweak of the regulations that said, where electronic voting was to be employed, the EC could set for a closing date for nominations of 14 days prior to the AGM, provided all owners were informed of this, say, 28 days before the AGM. Can’t see much wrong with that.
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If you really want your windows upgraded, you can do it but you will probably have to drive the project. No one else is going to push for anything that might require money or effort.
First, get a rough estimate from a reputable installer of what it would cost to do the entire building.
Then talk to a strata finance firm (like our sponsors Lannock) to get a rough estimate of what that would do to your levies over, say, three to five years.
Then present this plan to your neighbours through the executive committee or at your next AGM (make sure you get it on the agenda).
If it is rejected, you then have three choices.
A: Get permission from the Owners Corp, via a special resolution, to replace or repair your own windows.
B: Demand that the owners corp fix your windows under its legal obligation to maintain and repair common property.
C: Look forward to another hot summer followed by a windy winter.
If they won’t give you permission, then plan B could kick in. You could even go to NCAT and ask for orders forcing the OC to pass the special resolution for plan C.
If it gets to the point where NCAT orders your OC to repair your windows, the other owners should be advised that it is a lot cheaper and visually consistent to replace all the windows at once rather than doing it piecemeal.
Which brings us to the first option – a plan for the whole building that doesn’t requuire a special levy.
All that said, if you can sit down with your committee and present a coherent and affordable plan, it could save you a lot of grief in the building.
If you try to force their hand, you could become very unpopular very quickly.
By the way, from my balcony I can see an old 60s building where one owner has installed nice new plastic coated double glazing and no one else has. It’s great for the person living there – not so good for the look of the block.
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@davidp said:
Is it a requirement that action in the NCAT against 65A breaches need to be approved at a general meeting or should a SM automatically seek that course of action?I think you would be seeking orders under the catch-all Section 138: To resolve a dispute or complaint about an exercise of, or a failure to exercise, a function conferred or imposed by or under this Act or the by-laws in relation to a strata scheme.
or
To resolve dispute or complaint about the operation, administration or management of a strata scheme under this Act.
Anyone can apply so you don’t need a general meeting, but a simple decision by the EC can move this forward unless there are large legal costs involved, in which case it needs to go to a General Meeting.
Strata Managers don’t do anything “automatically” unless it is specified in their contracts (like issuing levy notices). They have to be instructed by the EC to take any action that doesn’t fall under their normal duties.
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In a nutshell, you can’t vote for your committee by postal vote, emails or on a website. However, you can vote by “live” telecommunication methods if you are effectively “present” at the meeting via Skype, telephone or teleconferencing:
The following is from a Fair Trading spokesperson:
Postal voting is not included as a means of voting for owners corporations or strata committees. In addition, pre-meeting electronic voting cannot be conducted for the election of members of the strata committee by the owners corporation. The reason for this is that clause 9 (1) (b) of the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 permits the chairperson to call for nominations of candidates for election by the owners corporation at the meeting. If pre-meeting electronic voting was permitted, anyone nominated at the meeting would be excluded.
Clause 10 of the Regulation sets out the procedure to be followed for the election of the members of the strata committee for schemes comprising more than 2 lots. If a ballot is required (the number of persons nominated being greater than the number of positions on the committee), then the chairperson provides each person present and entitled to vote with a blank piece of paper. The voter is required to write the name of the persons they wish to vote for, and include other information, including the capacity in which the voter is exercising their right to vote.
Clause 14 (1) (a) allows owners corporations to permit voting by means of teleconference, video-conferencing, email or other electronic means for members of the owners corporation who may be in remote locations whilst participating in the meeting whilst it is being held. In these circumstances they may vote for members of the committee, as they would be made aware of nominations (and be able to nominate), for membership of the committee.
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The simplest answer to this is to stop going through your strata manager and take matters directly to Fair Trading and then NCAT on the Section 56A breaches..
You need to apply for mediation at fair Trading, in each separate case, using this form.
Then you need to seek orders at NCAT, using this form. Since 65A is a breach of strata law rather than a breach of by-laws, you would not issue a Notice To Comply.
If you have already identified a strata manager that you wish to employ, they should advise you on this (although they can’t really act for you).
Meanwhile, take a complaint for unprofessional behaviour against your current manager to Fair Trading.
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14 days notice is required for an initial or first AGM, for subsequent AGMs it’s seven days (with the provisions for postage listed above).
For EC meeetings it’s only 72 hours with slightly different provisions for notice boards depending on whether or not it’s a large scheme (more than 100 lots).
6 Notice of executive committee meetings
(1) An executive committee of a large strata scheme must give notice of its intention to hold a meeting at least 72 hours before the time fixed for the meeting:
(a) by giving written notice (which may be done by electronic means) to each owner and executive committee member, and
(b) if the owners corporation is required by the by-laws to maintain a notice board, by displaying the notice on the notice board.
(2) An executive committee of a strata scheme that is not a large strata scheme must give notice of its intention to hold a meeting at least 72 hours before the time fixed for the meeting:
(a) by displaying the notice on the notice board, or
(b) if the owners corporation is not required by the by-laws to maintain a notice board, by giving written notice (which may be done by electronic means) to each owner and executive committee member.
(3) The notice must specify when and where the meeting is to be held and contain a detailed agenda for the meeting.
(4) A notice may be given to a person by electronic means only if the person has given the owners corporation an e-mail address for the service of notices under this Act and the notice is sent to that address.
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@Whale said:
Is it too late for you to seek some clarification from your contacts in the Minister’s Office Jimmy?There is one way to find out! I’ll get back to you ASAP.
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I held off replying to the original post becasue I was trying to find out what had happened with a friend who had the same issue with and adjoining terrace hose where the neighbor, an architect no less, concreted his entire garden with no drainage, causing all the rainfall to run off into hers.
The concreting, was illegal, of course but the architect was able to prevaricate and dissemble effectively that my friend ended up deciding that she was paying more than it was worth to lawyers (and architects) and she just gave up.
Whale’s advice is sound and worth pursuing. If that doesn’t work, there is an obscure clause in the SSMA relating to adjoining strata schemes where you can apply for orders to settle a dispute between them.
Oddly, though, it reads as if you can only apply if the other scheme consents. Seems a bit daft if a possible dispute resolution depends on one half of the argument giving their permission to be taken to a tribunal.
Anyway, here it is:
139. Order for settlement of dispute between adjoining strata schemes
(1) An Adjudicator may make an order to settle a dispute between 2 strata schemes if:
(a) the strata schemes concerned are contiguous, and
(b) the matter in dispute is not regulated by or under any other Act.
(2) An application for an order under this section may be made only by an owners corporation for a strata scheme involved in the dispute.
(3) An order must not be made under this section unless the owners corporation for the other strata scheme involved in the dispute consented to the making of the application for the order.
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Under the new legislation, the strata manager would only be allowed to hold one proxy, as would you.
It will get interesting if only you and the strata manager (with one proxy) turn up at the AGM. You would have equal votes (unless his proxy has a higher Unit Entitlement.
The message is clear – make sure you always have your one permitted proxy in your pocket, then you can always outvote the strata manager.
The answer to question 1 is moot since the strata manager can only carry one proxy. However, if that proxy carried more Unit Entitlements than opposing votes (collectively) then they could pass any motion except those regarding their own contracts.
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The new regulations specify that voting for the committee must be done on a blank piece of paper, the names written in and then signed by the person casting the vote.
There is no way I can think of that this can be done electronically or in advance.
I suppose one way round this would be for the absent voter to provide a proxy that is solely for the purpose of a committee vote
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As penance for my earlier error, here is an extract from the “Who’s Responsible” document cited by Whale.
WINDOWS:
Note 20: If the strata plan was registered before 1 July 1974 the balcony wall including the windows and door and their working parts are generally part of the lot and the lot owner’s responsibility for maintenance and repairs (unless there is a notation on the strata plan or the balconies are not shown on the strata plan).
If the plan was registered after 1 July 1974 the balcony wall including the windows and doors and their working parts are generally common property and the owners corporation’s responsibility (unless the strata plan says otherwise). With the exception to flyscreens and/or security doors where they were installed by an owner after registration of the strata plan.
Note 22: With the exception where #20 applies, the owners corporation are responsible for their repair & maintenance.
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@Jeff said:
I’m seriously over this character and other than seeking an AVO would like to know is there anything else I can do to stop this behavior. Phew….I think you may be hamstringing yourself by not seeking an AVO. APVOs (apprehended personal violence orders) cover things like harassment and stalking, both of which seem to have occurred here.
However, one thing you must do if you go down this road is go the whole way. Threatening and then not going through with it just empowers the Bullies.
Another tactic, as described above, would be to present a motion at your EC asking them to write to the owner telling him to cease and desist. This was an Owners Corporation matter so they have to take responsibility for some of the consequences and can’t pass it off as a private dispute.
A calm recounting of events, naming the person, will put their behaviour on the record and may be enough to get them to pull their head in. Remember, ECs have qualified privilege in matters relating to the running of the building so the risk of being sued for defamation is relatively low as long as the action is done in good faith with the absence of malice.
Otherwise, have a look at this website on bullying and this one on how to apply for an AVO.
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@James79 said:
My understanding is that privacy laws prohibit the filming of people without their consent if the filming is ‘reasonably’ believed to be invasive.
Privacy laws, such as they are, are very loose but they basically mean that anyone can film anything from public areas, including the interiors of people’s homes, provided they are not filming people engaged in activities that would reasonably be expected to be conducted in private. E.g. If I am on public property, I can film you cooking dinner but I can’t film you having a bath.
The question arises, is common property a public area, and the answer, clearly, is no. So anyone filming from common property requires the Owners Corp’s permission to do so but anyone filming from their own property into common property or someone else’s lot doesn’t.
Is the camera on common property? If so, the committee should set parameters that protect other residents’ privacy while allowing this resident to protect herself. This may require a by-law.
The simplest solution to this would be to ask the threatened neighbor to show what is visible on the camera and then adjust it so that they are not filming inside the non-threatened neighbour’s home.
This is something that can and should be resolved by discussion and compromise. It might help if your committee chair or strata manager agreed to act as a mediator in this matter.
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Does it also say that permission must not be unreasonably refused?
And how old is the building?
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