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  • in reply to: Forum: Can an unseen screen alter ‘appearance’? #71841
    Jimmy-T
    Keymaster
    Chat-starter

      Even if the erection of the screen can be characterised as a renovation, situated on the corner of the balcony it is likely to alter the external appearance of the lot. It may be out of the line of sight of other owners, but it will at least be visible by the owner.

      If it’s only visible by the owner or their guests when they are in the lot then the EXTERNAL appearance of the screen is not affected.  External means from outside.

      It really is as basic as that.  And here’s another consideration, if the strata committee agrees this is a minor renovation but attaches conditions such as continuing maintenance what’s the downside (apart from Strataboy not earning a fee for registering the by-law)?

      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.
      in reply to: Eight billion reasons owners are ripped off #71825
      Jimmy-T
      Keymaster
      Chat-starter

        That being said I would be very interested in getting an understanding of how your body corporate managed to extract itself from this situation.

        Yeah, me too! I will run the paper in full on the Flat Chat website and maybe outline it in the AFR, if Time cares to send it over.

        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.
        in reply to: AGM Motion re-appointing Strata Manager #71819
        Jimmy-T
        Keymaster

          Aaah, the old chocolate teapot of Fair Trading – “you must use the official form (or a reasonable approximation …)”

          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.
          in reply to: Forum: Can an unseen screen alter ‘appearance’? #71815
          Jimmy-T
          Keymaster
          Chat-starter

            The screen would amount to an addition or improvement to common property, as covered by s108 SSMA 2015.

            What about section 110 (minor renovations):

            110   Minor renovations by owners

            (1)  The owner of a lot in a strata scheme may carry out work for the purposes of minor renovations to common property in connection with the owner’s lot with the approval of the owners corporation given by resolution at a general meeting. A special resolution authorising the work is not required.

            (2)  The approval may be subject to reasonable conditions imposed by the owners corporation and cannot be unreasonably withheld by 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.
            Jimmy-T
            Keymaster

              If there were sufficient owners who would have vetoed the agenda item, then a basis for overturning the decision of the committee exists.

              So what you’re saying is, if you can get 25 per cent one-third of owners to sign a letter saying they would have objected to the item’s inclusion on the agenda, then NCAT may consider the decision to be technically in breach?  Sounds fair.

              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.
              in reply to: Class 1 vs Class 2 Debate #71759
              Jimmy-T
              Keymaster

                The new Design and Building Practitioners Act can make life much more complicated for owners of Class 2 buildings. A seemingly straightforward job like replacing a balcony requires designs by registered practitioners, including for the waterproofing system, before any works can commence

                Now we’re getting to the heart of it.  Great reply!

                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.
                in reply to: Insurance coverage of storage units #71753
                Jimmy-T
                Keymaster

                  A couple of basic questions – you refer to the “Body Corporate company”; which state are you in and do you mean the strata manager?

                  Also, what exactly is the thrust of your second question?

                  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.
                  Jimmy-T
                  Keymaster

                    That’s why I thought a sound recorder could be a solution. But if you are saying there’s no way to prove the recordings haven’t been doctored, then it’s out.

                    That’s not what I said.  I said it would be better to have an independent assessment. It sounds to me that we have one owner who makes a bit more noise than usual, and a neighbour who is unusually sensitive to it. In your shoes, I’d be saying you didn’t think it was you, but if the neighbour wanted to install sound monitoring devices, monitored by an independent assessor, you’d be okay with that. And suddenly the cost of monitoring is in their financial court, not yours.

                    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.
                    in reply to: Committee members won’t stand for offices #71724
                    Jimmy-T
                    Keymaster

                      That’s an interesting remark. I’m not sure that the chair has any functions that can be delegated. The second schedule to the SSMA says that if present, the chair presides over  general meetings. There’s nothing to delegate!

                      Speaking as someone who has very recently had to gently wrestle the chairmanship of a strata committee and OC from a strata manager who was used to using the delegation to run the various blocks they managed, all I can say is, there’s the law, and there’s common practice and then there’s real life.

                      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.
                      in reply to: Class 1 vs Class 2 Debate #71720
                      Jimmy-T
                      Keymaster

                        Okay, your second sentence is a non-sequitur – what does the class of the building have to do with the size of the balcony?

                        Please go back to basics and tell us how the block is designated – the Class it’s in, according to your original DA with the council – then tell us why the strata manager is insisting on something you say is a rip-off.

                        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.
                        in reply to: Committee members won’t stand for offices #71702
                        Jimmy-T
                        Keymaster

                          You might also find section 48 of the Act interesting:

                           

                          48   Tribunal may order meeting if no officers or strata committee

                          (1)  The Tribunal may, on application by an owner, mortgagee or covenant chargee of a lot in a strata scheme, make an order appointing a person to convene and hold a meeting of the owners corporation if there is not a chairperson, secretary and treasurer of the owners corporation, or if no strata committee exists, after the first annual general meeting of the owners corporation has been held.

                          (2)  The Tribunal may make any other ancillary orders it thinks fit, including the following orders—

                          (a)  orders relating to giving notice of the meeting,

                          (b)  orders relating to the person who is to preside at the meeting.

                          (3)  The person who is to convene and hold the meeting is to be a person nominated by the applicant, or appointed by the Tribunal, who has consented to the nomination or appointment.

                          (4)  The meeting is to be convened and held within the time (if any) specified in the order.

                          (5)  A person appointed by an order under this section to preside at a meeting is taken, while so presiding, to be the chairperson of 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.
                          in reply to: AGM Motion re-appointing Strata Manager #71696
                          Jimmy-T
                          Keymaster

                            {Tick and complete whichever applies below}

                            The above phrase does not appear on the official proxy form.  The phrase “tick and complete whichever applies” is an asterisked reference to the options above it, allowing owners to choose the duration of the proxy. If the form had the word “below” added to that phrase it may well be invalid.

                            You can access the official form HERE.

                            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.
                            in reply to: Should we allow an American Staffy in our block? #71689
                            Jimmy-T
                            Keymaster

                              I would assume that the owners of this dog (despite Jimmy painting them as knuckle dragging idiots) have accepted the dog with all its faults.

                              I apologise for my lazy assumption that the dog or its owners were in some way defective. I had just been reading about how breeding and trade in Bully XL dogs (another variation of Staffy) has been banned in England, leading to them all shifting to Scotland where no such ban exists.

                              I also included a very positive review of AmStaffs (as they are known) in the introduction to the Forum roundup.  I guess what is needed here is an independent assessment of individual dogs in any potentially dangerous situations – such as, in a lift with a smaller dog.

                              I included my comments about cats to show that there is a lot of leeway afforded dogs by the law.  I think it’s a bit much to extend that to imply that wandering felines deserve whatever they get.

                              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.
                              Jimmy-T
                              Keymaster

                                There are commercially available instruments, that range from an app for your iPhone to a fully commercial “listening” kit.  That said, you might be better hiring a qualified audio engineer to set up a monitoring device  that records the sound levels in your home (not the actual sound).   I have no idea how much that might cost but at the end of the day you will have a reliable record and an independent professionally qualified witness.

                                That said, I’n not sure who might provide such a service but a deep Google search dug up these guys: Noise in Apartments | Audiometric & Acoustic Services (noiseconsult.com.au) Might be worth a phone call.  Good luck!

                                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.
                                in reply to: AGM Motion re-appointing Strata Manager #71654
                                Jimmy-T
                                Keymaster

                                  The official and only truly valid proxy form does not have check boxes and in fact only has instructions to delete whichever paragraph is not appropriate.  If the paragraphs concerned weren’t deleted, then they are valid whether they are ticked or not.

                                  Your strata manager is desperately clinging on and is doing so by misrepresenting the facts.  I would be inviting him to resign before you ask Fair Trading and the Strata Commissioner to make a very public example of him. And if he doesn’t, I have the Strata Commissioner’s email address.

                                  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.
                                Viewing 15 replies - 1,021 through 1,035 (of 7,904 total)