[kaindub]

I’m the original poster

The question was really trying to find a part of the act that provided the circumstances under which a strata contract could be terminated .

Apart from going to NCAT and pleading a case, there are few circumstances to be able to sack a strata manager.

But there is an upside to the story.

The committee met and discussed the poor performance of the strata manager.

The secretary was tasked with contacting the strata management principal with the demand that if the service did not improve in three months, we would ask them to resign.

The principal assigned a new strata manager.

Thankfully they were attentive to providing good service, and our problem went away.

 

I’d also add that I was gung ho to terminate the strata company. However we have a very good committee whom looked at a number of other options. It cannot be understated thst a committee of well rounded individuals is invaluable to solving the day to day problems in strata.

[kaindub]

There is something missing in your story.

You can’t be taken to NCAT for voting against a motion. Is there something else that they took you to NCAT for?

Did you or the secretary initiate the action in NCAT?

And it’s unusual that you would not have been notified of the court dates.

if you or the secretary were the initiator of the action, and then don’t turn up to court – well the courts do not look at such conduct favourably, and as well as getting a judgement against you they will penalise you by awarding costs against you

Perhaps a better explanation of what the events were could help us to help you.

 

[kaindub]

Whilst in essence I agree that it can be problematic that an owner or committee member is appointed as a building manager, the act does not prevent such an event.

If all the owners are happy with such an arrangement, and the appointment has been carried out in accordance with the act, then so be it.

Readers will recognise that should the building manager fail in his duties, its almost impossible to rescind their contract ( could require a trip to NCAT) and since the owner is a member of the community , bad feelings can be established .

As for the fee paid. It would need to be a large site and require the building manager to be available at least all business hours for $50000

But again if the owners are happy to pay this, then there is nothing in the act preventing it – provided the contract was entered into in acordance with the act.

[kaindub]

This is not strictly strata related.

But as a tenant, you cant just decide to break a lease. You are bound by the conditions of the lease until the fixed period expires.

That means, you can ask to break the lease, and pay any break fees. That could be anything from the rent to the end of the fixed period , down to a few weeks rent . Read your lease.

If you “break” your lease with the consent of the landlord/agent, then you would not be considered to get a black mark against your name.

Many times people need to break leases for good reasons (relationship breakup, job change etc) and a good landlord/agent will accept the reason (though you still need to pay the break fee)

If you just dont like the place or the agent, that is no valid reason to break the lease. Remember that you (should have) inspected the property and interviewed the landlord/agent. What I am saying is that in this case you have no legal aveneues to pursue a lease termination.

However, you can ask to break the lease with the permission of the landlord and pay any break fees.

If you go an find another place to live before you have lawfully terminated your current lease, you could find that you are paying two sets of rents.

Sneaky is not always oggd.

[kaindub]

Appointment of a compulsory strata manager probably won’t work and is possibly an overkill

The offer of the OC of a dye test by the plumber is a reasonable course of action. Remember that you hired the builder. The saying he who pays the piper calls the tune is applicable here. The OC just wants to get an independent verification of the cause.

I’d do it as it will prove (if your builder is correct) the cause of the leak.

Also if you go to NCAT(without the plumber report) , the OC is going to say but we are getting an independent test done so dont make an order yet

Once they get the plumbers report insist they make a plan to fix the problem and if none is produced in 2 months then go to NCAT and seek orders to repair the common property

$400-500k seems a lot of money to repair a membrane on a single balcony. I’d be assisting the OC by getting some other quotes (the new act says multiple quotes are required for work about $30k)

 

 

[kaindub]

The class of a building is just a shorthand way to describe its construction and/ or function. It’s easy to find the definitions by a Google search.

The class of building has no bearing on the cost of a repair, save that the BCA may require more stringent construction methods than original build.

The council can’t wave any such building requirements as it’s legislated at the state level.

If you think it’s too expensive, get your own quotes for comparison. Remember thst the strata manager is not all knowing.

[kaindub]

I think Cactus’ committee is still in the dinosaur age

There is nothing to suggest that the dog in question is vicious, apart from anecodotal evidence of the breed itself.

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.

And as has been established in animal cases in the near past, the fact that some other owner has a fear of animals does not make it a reason to deny another  person the right to have such an animal.

And its not reasonable to label all dog of a certain breed as vicious. For example Greyhounds have been rehoused after their racing days are over. they apparently make great house pets. Some greyhounds are required to wear a muzzle , but others have been assessed as not requiring one in public. It’s all to do with the particular animal.

The committee is able to put reasonable conditions on the keeping of the dog. One would be to insist that a muzzle is used on common areas.

As for the argument of killing cats – maybe the cat owner should take some responsibility for their cat if it roams. Cats , when they roam, kill native and introduced fauna. Is that any better than a dog attacking the cat?

 

[kaindub]

Has the neighbour complained to you and told you what noises are concerning him?

The tribunal won’t entertain a general claim of noise.

So knowing what his claim is , keep a diary of when you made the noise.

Also keep a diary of when you or other occupants are at home. If he is making up bogus claims, it’s unlikely he will know when you are at home. Your aim is to discredit his evidence ( at the tribunal)

As for a recording device, I don’t know such a thing exists ( commercially) . You also face the challenge to time stamp audio and if you edit a recording, he will say it’s been doctored.

Also remember that at the tribunal it is up to the claimant to prove their case. You do not have to disprove it, but your aim is to put into question their evidence.

[kaindub]

My understanding of volunteer in the context of strata and insurance is say a lot owner who takes the bins out and in, for no pay. He is volunteering to do what could normally be a paid job.

Once a lot owner starts to be paid for a service, he is not a volunteer.

The next consideration is whether he is an employee or a contractor. There are entire websites devoted to debating this conundrum.

Not with standing whether the lot owner ( it could also be a tenant ) is a contractor or a volunteer, the committee needs to consider what risk there is in the task. Carrying bins out probably represents a low risk to generate a public liability claim. Changing lights when up a ladder is more risky, but could still be beneath the threshold where insurance could be demanded.

With the cost of tradesmen and handymen, and the difficulty in getting them, it’s worth the OC considering using such resources provided there is a cost saving to the OC.

 

[kaindub]

Usually under a strata management agreement, the functions of the chair, secretary and treasurer are delegated to the strata manager.
That takes care of the day to day running, but the strata manager is not delegated decision making powers by the act.

So either the committee gets its act together and holds meetings and makes decisions, or the strata manager conducts an endless serious of general meetings to get decisions made.

If none of thst works, someone can petition the tribunal to appoint a compulsory manager.

[kaindub]

Fair Trading is correct to a point.

The fee is paid to the OC, but then the OC pays the strata manager. It’s usually one of the schedule b fees.

[kaindub]

Seems a smart thing to do, but unlikely to be enforceable.

The law considers a man’s home to be his castle.

The OC does not have the required elevated power to dictate such measures.

Of course if there are higher regulatory requirements ( like mandated smoke detectors) then the OC can enforce such compliance.

I also look at how “ police able “ some by laws are. It’s up to the OC to enforce their bylaws. But the OC has only limited capability to enter people’s property. So how does one test thst owners are compliant. Ask them? Your likely to get no answer or a lie.

[kaindub]

Sorry Jimmy

I had no issue with what you said.
It’s just that I got excited about the topic, and that the general media ( not you) don’t understand where the problem lies and misreport the incidents.

If one was to believe the general media , all electric vehicles ( cars, bikes, scooters) should be banned, when in fact the issue is the chargers and their use.

[kaindub]

Insurance commissions are one of the biggest and most understood scams in strata.

Let’s start at the beginning. If an OC goes directly to an insurer it will pay $x for a policy.

If the OC goes to a broker, they will pay $x for their policy. The insurance company pays the broker a “ spotters” fee.
Some brokers will then charge an additional brokerage fee. It can be justified if it requires additional work for the broker to find your insurance.

Then in some cases the broker will split this extra commission with the strata manager. Essentially a kickback to the strata manager for choosing thst broker.

In any of the above cases, the OC is paying the commission or broker fees.
My recommendation is get the committee to find a broker who does not charge an extra fee above what the insurance company pays them.

[kaindub]

Hi Jimmy

I listened to the podcast and almost jumped through the speaker at you.

I have some technical experience and knowledge of lithium batteries, so I think my comments are relevant

If one looks at the incidence of lithium battery fires its more common in “cheap” personal vehicles and less likely on more expensive vehicles and consumer goods

The issue is not the batteries. The issue is the chargers. The cheap personal vehicles (hover boards, escooters, ebikes) are built to a price. Whilst the manufacturing quality of the batteries is obvioulsy lower, the chemisrty they use is shared with most other uses.

However lithium batteries need carefully designed chargers (You can consider a good charger to be essentially a number of chargers, one for each cell in the battery)

The cheap chargers dont have this facility and its one cells that fails and causes the incident.

As well people do not use the matching charger for their battery and the same incident occurs.

Lay people (that is strata committees , strata managers and building managers) have no hope of working out what the right charger for a battery is.

But banning battery operated appliances is not the solution.

First solution is to get the government to most closely regulate the imported appliances, making sure that a compatible charger is supplied

The second solution is to educate the greater public to only use the supplied charger for their device

 

[Author]

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