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I think it's fair to say the acoustics of every building are different which is one of the reasons it's unwise to create prescriptive by-laws that either don't sufficiently address the issues of noise or, alternatively, are so draconian that they could, feasibly, be challenged at the CTTT or in court.
The only real test is whether the occupants of one unit disturb the occupants of another unit because of their floor covering and the way they behave in the apartment.
One of the isses with hard flooring is that they reflect noise into the air (if you want to sse this at its worst, go to a busy cafe with concrete floors and low ceilings and try to have a conversation). Some of noise, obviously, will be transferred through walls, ceilings and pipes (which is why some buildings ban you from playing your radio in the bathroom – true!).
There is also a question of indirectly transmitted noise where, theoretically, vibrations from a floor can be transmitted via a wall to another wall above or below. And until someone does a study on the transmission of noise via the structure of a building, all of this will remain a mystery.
Plainly and simply, nothing absorbs noise like carpet but that shouldn't mean that we all have to re-rug our floors. However, we shouldn't expect our neighbours to put up with excessive noise because we want a trendier or easier to clean floor.
If I were putting together a by-law on flooring, it would say that you can put down whatever you like provided you sign a contract agreeing to rip it back up again if it proves to be a nuisance to other owners (by any reasonable measure).
Put the responsibility back on the renovater to either get it right first time or keep fixing it until it is right (with some guidance on what has been shown to be effective and warnings about how cheap flooring with inadequate insulation end up costing more when they have to be replaced).
For ground floor flats with vertical and lateral noise transmission, you might think about installing acoustic walls and ceilings which are often a lot cheaper than you'd think.
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Have a look at this state government website HERE. It seems to be saying that the fan has to be off after 10 pm.
Also, your basic by-laws – unless they are very unusual – should make it an offence to disturb the peaceful enjoyment of other lots, etc etc.
Perhaps it's time to add some heft to that note and explain to your neighbours that they are breaking both Environmental Protection laws and by-laws, both of which could lead to hefty fines.
But really, since this affects more than one unit, it should be your EC that's or strata manager who's issuing the friendly warnings.
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It's not just the EC who can enforce the by-laws – any owner, or indeed a tenant, can go to Fair Trading and ask for a Notice to Comply to be issued against these parking space land-grabbers.
The question is, is it a matter of principle or is there a genuine shortage of visitor's parking spaces. The law doesn't make the distinction – it's either a visitor's parking space or it isn't – but your neighbours will if they see you as more of a trouble maker than a problem solver.
Your neighbour seems to make up the rules as she goes along but until a majority of people in your community object to the fact that she and her family are parking their cars at everyone else's expense, then you may be better to live with it … or keep it in your locker until such times as you fall foul of the by-laws yourself.
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It's a fair point but I think it's really quite simple – clause 8 is headlined “Voting rights may not be exercised if contributions not paid.”
It then goes on to say “A vote at a general meeting … does not count unless payment has been made…”
That covers all the bases for my money. So voting rights 'may not be exercised' AND the vote 'does not count' if you are unfinancial. I'd go to the barricades to say that people who turn up at general meetings who are unfinancial don't count towards the quorum or any vote for or against, (except for issues that require a unanimous vote which are spelled out in the Act).
It's quite clear that the intention of the Act is to exclude people who are not financial from taking part in meetings. Let's not muddy the water any more than it already is by splitting hairs over wording.
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I'm not sure what the point of this posting is but I'll take a stab at it:
leif said:
Voting
There seems to be an unclear definition of voting. I assumed when referring to Owners Corporation it did just that.
OK, the Owners Corporation is all the owners, whether they want to be members or not. A general meeting is when all the owners are given the opportunity to meet, discuss and vote on issues. This is different from the Executive Committee and their meetings.
It seems to be assumed to refer to owners present at a meeting.
General Meeting votes are based on the number of people at the meeting and entitled to vote (including proxies), not on the number of owners in the building. If a general meeting has been properly notified and the agenda circulated and large numbers of people don't turn up and can't be bothered to give anyone a proxy, then that's too bad.
Hence the special resolution is passed based on attendees to the meeting.
Correct, the only time the raw numbers turning up at a meeting makes a difference is if the meeting doesn't have a quorum. A quorum is 25 percent of the owners (or proxies) entitled to vote or owners and proxies representing 25 percent of the unit entitlements of the building and entitled to vote.
I thought this was wrong and there are special ways to handle situations where there is less than required owners present.
Well, proxy votes on the correct forms are counted as attendees. However, if a meeting is inquorate half an hour after it's called to order then it is suspended for at least seven days,. If the resumed meeting is then inqurate after a half hour, those in attendance are deemed to be a quorum.
This system works, in the main. You can't have buildings run on the whim of people who can't be bothered to attend meetings or appoint proxies.
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First of all there are a couple of phrases you should maybe think about: 'Too much information' and “less is more”.
Look at the title you put on your post (before I shortened it):
“COMMENTS SOUGHT: EC at Large Stratas Scheme and Attempted Fraud to allow Telecomms Tower in the Complex”Do you see any other posts in this whole forum that are as long and complicated as that?
I mean, I hate to be rude but when you feel you have overwhelming evidence that something is wrong, who are you overwhelming?
The CTTT have already wilted under the weight of your evidence and they are paid to deal with this kind of thing. Do you really expect your neighbours to be any more receptive?
The point I'm making is that you may be scaring people off. Anyone trying to change the way things are run in their building faces two obstacles. The first is to persuade the other owners to stop supporting the status quo. The second is to get them to follow you.
And even if they are worried that the incumbents may not be doing a good job, they may not be convinced that you'd be any better.
When it comes to their homes, most people are reluctant to embrace change unless unless they are convinced it's for the better.
So if you really want advice, mine would be to take a step back, focus your approach to a single issue and try not to sound like a conspiracy theorist. One person's righteous indignation is another's repetitive rant.
By the way, making allegations of corruption by publishing what you consider to be the facts, as you tried to do via this website, could put yourself and us at the wrong end of a serious legal action.
It's defamation by stealth and I won't tolerate it.
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Here's a couple of links to guidelines for the design of letterboxes. The first seems to be a commercial website but they do list the Australian standards for letter boxes. This page has a link to an Australia Post web page which is no longer active.
Instead, to get the latest version from the posties themselves, go here.
Needless to say, there's not much in either about strata letterboxes because, well, we don't really exist, do we.
JimmyT
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OK … so where are you going to post the letter?
Seriously, though, you might have a look at your by-laws to see if there's anything in there saying the OC is obliged to maintain a secure environment or anything that mentions security … because secure mail may well come under that.
Best of luck with it.
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Don't break your lease without talking to Fair Trading on 13 32 20 first.
However, why be driven out of your home?
There are plenty of simple ways that this pool could be locked down at night – electronic locks, timers on the lights, security cameras and motion sensors – none of which are terribly expensive.
But you need to get your landlord to drive this issue and he needs to take it up with the strata manager and executive committee and do so without delay.
Otherwise youcould go to Fair Trading and not only demand that he fixes the problem, but ask for compensation too.
However, it's in your landlord's best interests to get this fixed now before it seriously damages the value of his property.
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I don't disagree with either of you but I would say this, if by-laws are too restrictive, then we should make an effort to have them changed.
However, by-laws are in place with the tacit approval of the majority of residents so they should be respected. (Yes, Pedro, I know there are StrataFascists for whom “no-no notes” are a hobby – just as there are selfish morons who think everyone else should adjust to what they want.)
Railing against by-laws is a popular sport in these here parts but, like governments and newspapers, we only get what we deserve.
Seriously, there are very few mandatory by-laws in NSW and they are just common sense (like, you can't ban guide dogs or children). So if you think your executive committee is too domineering, vote them out. If you think your by-laws are too oppressive, change them.
What we shouldn't do, however, is encourage a culture of ignoring by-laws because we think they they are stupid or unreasonable. Sadly there are too many people already who think their ownership of their home entitles them to behave as if the entire block is their domain.
Being a member of an owner's corporation (which all owners are whether they want to be or not) is the most profound and direct form of democracy we'll ever get. We get to collectively choose the rules, who enforces them and how diligently they are enforced.
And if we are consistently out of kilter with the majority, we have the choice of either sucking it up or moving on to somewhere more in keeping with the lifestyle we wish to have.
Yes, there are some people in strata who over-react to minor infractions but strata is a system that has plenty of mechanisms to rectify dysfunction – all that's required is the time and energy to fix the problem.
And if we can't find the time or summon the energy, maybe the problem isn't as bad as we thought.
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Politely ask the strata manager or EC member in the first instance but tell your landlord that you are taking this action. If you get nowhere, make it clear to your landlord that they have to do something. This is part of your tenancy agreement and you can't be squeezed out of the laundry just because you are a tenant.
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Your other option may be to get your EC to issue a Notice To Comply to the Landlord for their failure to ensure that their tenants observe by-laws. A precedent has been set where landlords can be made accountable for their tenants' behaviour if they are made aware of it and choose to do nothing. Have a go.
Or you could try getting a noise abatement order at the District Court against the tenants. That has a bit more heft – it's a criminal offence to breach it.
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A few points to consider:
1. The average cost of strata management fees is about $200 per unit.
2. Most strata management firms agree that the money they raise from small blocks doesn't adequately compensate for the time spent managing them.
3. Many small block residents complain that they don't get the level of service from strata managers that they desire (see point 2).
4. Managing a building, even a small one takes time, effort and energy.
Personally, I'd be saying to Fred, if he'd completed one of the many courses available for executive committee members, then he could ask for the money retrospectively, as per the Act. But if he wants pay, rather than a 'consideration” after the matter, he needs to get a strata management license.
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