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AStrata work is a gravy train.
The fire inspector has a monopoly on your property. You need him to sign off the AFSS.
Even if you get someone else to do the repair, the fire inspector has to retest, for which he will charge you.
If you feeel you are not getting the best deal, go out to tender for your fire inspections.
And the issue of findingnew defects each year is not uncommon. If the committee does not monitor and question these defects you will always be paying . Unfortunately the fire regulations are complex, so find a fire inspector you can trust.Inmyopinion, the calculation of the 10 year plan is an inexact science
Having disassembled a few professionally prepared plans , it surprises me of the simplicity of their method.
I believe they just use a spreadsheet
Getting a list of capital items is simple especially if you already have starting point.
Make a guess when they need to be replaced. Make a guess as to the replacement cost
Make guess for inflation
The 10 year CW plan is more for guidance than exactitude
As time passes you will find you have too much or too little money in the account. Make adjustments yearly to the levies.
It’s not a legal requirement unless you are actually working with children
Incidental contact with them does not require a WWC.( otherwise every person would one just to walk down the street’
Seems it’s a ( misguided OC policy)
Good luck finding contractors who carry such a certificate. They’ll find easier jobs.
c
tina
SCA used to provide a course for committee members. If I recall it was a few hours face to face and the cost was about $85
But I get what you are saying. As soon as anything becomes mandatory, the providers get in and gouge.
I think that any training has to be better than none (as the case now) but it may discourage time poor but competent potential committee members.
The obvious question is have you asked the Owners Corporation to adjust the lights
The adjustment can be physical (ie moving the direction they point) or changing the timing.
If you have asked, and the answer is no, then its pretty bad of the committee or the OC.
Perhaps its a cost issue for the OC. Have you considered paying for the redirection or reprogramming of the lights?
Perhaps its a safety or security issue. You may have to do some homework to convince the committee that neither of these is unsolveable.
Any thing is possible in NCAT, but I dont recall any specific part of the legislation that deals with this.
Have you tried mediation. I think it would be the most effective way in this case.
Now that the most famous resident of the Toaster is facing some serious charges, the nimby crowd from that building may be less vocal (because the biggest noisemaker is otherwise occupied)
The unit entitlements were set at the registration of the scheme . At the time of registration the split may have been fair. It may also not have been. As they say, it is what it is.
The act allows the unit entitlements to be varied by the court. But it also needs to agreement of all lot owners. Since there will be some winners ( you) and some losers, it almost certain that the motion will be defeated.
To vary the unit entitlements needs anew survey, a current valuation to apportion the unit entitlements and the help,of lawyers. Who is going to pay these bills ?
I’m sure this falls under responsibility of the strata to repair and maintain and repair common property.
And as the poster points out, there is a risk of personal injury. That the committee now knows of this risk, it’s advisable to address it. Down the track the on sequences and penalties could be severe.
With the increasing size of strata buildings, its increasingly more difficult and time consuming to be a committee member.
I see a future where we have professional committee members, similar to the way we have independent members of boards of public companies.
These people would be elected by the owners as their committee and paid accordingly.
These people would be highly trained in strata ( but would excluded strata managers acting in such a role in order to ensure independence) and act in the interests of the owners.
You will be financially better off to seek an exclusive use of this land.
If you buy it you will pay for a surveyor, avaluer, a lawyer,and the unit entitlements will need to be changed. A lot of expense
if you get an elusive use by law,you may just need a lawyer and a surveyor.
The result is the same – your title now extends to the garden area, and it’s yours to do what you want with it.If it’s the walls of the building that are affected, then it’s the responsibility of the strata.
The drainage pipes are the responsibility if the strata and they need to maintain them in good order.
As for the garden brick walls, if they are in your lot the damage and repair may be payable by the strata. There was a case through the courts in nsw where bamboo grew into neighbours yard and caused damage. The court determined the owner of the bamboo was responsible for the repair.
The contents of the strata roll are obtained by the secretary by the new owner submitting a notice on transfer of title.
The act says the roll contains the owners name (that includes multiple names if there are two or more owners), address (for services of notices) and any appointed agent.
However an agent can only be appointed by a corporation (who is the owner) or if the owner is a person and has some incapacity or does not read English. It does not seem your mother is incapacitated. If she cant read english, then there may be grounds to include you as an agent.
But all notices will then go to you. The act does not permit sending notices to multiple addresses.
It also means that the agent is the only one able to vote.
Unless its a real emergency the OC needs an order of the court to enter a property
In an extreme emergency ie a fire the OC can enter without a court order. The only damage I can contemplate is a broken door. As the door is OC property, they have to repair it at their cost. But thats going tobethe least of the problems.
Maybe you can be more specific about the type of damage you are thinking of.
If an OC is granted entry to a property it needs to take reasonable precautions not to cause any damage to owner property. However how one proves the OC damaged owner property may be harder to prove.
NCAT is a civil court, so the standard of proof is “on the balance of probabilities”. Unless you can show recent photos of undamaged property, proving such a case, even with such a low threshold, is difficult.
If all the business on the agenda, then the meeting be closed.
However I would allow persons to discuss any infernos they have. It seem to me that the chairman has some sort ofagenda. It’s a quick way to start a revolt of aggrieved owners.
As for attending a mediation. Only the parties nominated can attend. It’s supposed to be a way to resolve issues in a safe setting.
in any case the parties who attend cannot use any information disclosed in the mediation outside of the mediation.
Even if the developer is above board, I would assume the levies will be higher than the developer claims.
For example gardening and cleaning can vary a lot depending on how thoroughly the job is done
Things like fire assessment also vary a lot in price.
In my commercial strata it’s taken above 4 years from inception to ” stabilise” the levies.