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@Davtech said:
Hi, i have a question in relation to who repairs water damage in a unit.We had a water pipe leaking inside a common wall, which penetrated into my unit. Paint bubbling & peeling off the wall, the swelling of skirting boards, and water damage timber floor boards.
I assume you are in NSW and the Strata insurance for NSW excludes wall covering (weird I know) but it would cover the skirting boards. Not sure about timber flooring as generally floor covering (fitted carpets are) are covered by contents policy.
BUT whatever the insurance exclusions the OC is responsible for all the repairs as it was caused by a leaking common pipe which the OC were responsible for and so they have to pick up the bill.
All these alterations require not just the approval of the committee but the approval by Special Resolution of the OC and a relevant bylaw passed ensuring that he accepts responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of these alterations.
Advise him (Sec or SM gives him written notice) that he must stop immediately all work on his lot and give him say 28 days to organize a SR motion to be approved by the OC to these alteration and a suitable bylaw drawn up at his cost and then approved by the OC and registered at NCAT.
If he fails to do so you can advise him that the EC will take him to NCAT to get ALL the renovations to common property removed at his cost.
Votes by the EC or OC would be required for some of these actions but if a bylaw is not registered before he sells the alterations to common property become the OC responsibility to maintain.
Their are loads of online insurance quote sites for insuring property so just feed in the value of the house and location as though it is a freehold property and see what it comes back with. We pay $6,500 for a insured value of $5M.
The bad news is the Strata is responsible to restore (back to the state before removal) the fixtures and fitting that have to be removed to access the damaged common property.
Their is a quicker way to get a result (even if it’s a hobby), inform the Tax office that they are earning an income which they are not declaring to the taxman (a virtual certainty if it’s a cash business).
Just for the record the No is 1800 060 062
Tenants most certainly do have a right to take action against the strata or other resident for breaches of bylaws, just like action can be taken against them (tenants) if they breach bylaws.
The form you require is here
Be aware that before you take action you need to show you tried to resolve the issue yourself with either the offender or getting the strata involved. So may sure you have copies / records of any letters, emails, phone calls, conversations you have had regarding the problem.
Bear in mind I’m in QLD but this is how it works in our strata:
10 lots with one common meter.
Each owner is billed direct by the water company 1/10 of total usage plus full service charge to each owner.
Each lot also has individual water meters and many years ago we asked to be billed based on our meters. Water inspector came round and informed us the water meters were not up to spec and need replacing with ones that were. Strata lost interest and nothing happened.
Yes you are correct the EC or OC taking action against the offender would carry more weight and they would pay all costs out of the Strata funds.
BUT you are then dependent on the decision of the other 3 owners and if the SM acts on behalf of the Strata they can charge for time and effort (ours quoted approx $2,000 to get a result) which would come out of Strata funds.
A better result would be to get the OC or EC to pass a motion authorizing the OC to proceed to conciliation and adjudication with you as their nominated representative with full powers to act on the OC behalf against the offender.
This way the Strata will cover your out of pocket expenses (application fees but not your time) and you will be able to obtain the result you want without any recourse to the OC.
Your biggest problem will be making sure you comply with all the requirements so read the forms carefully and maybe get the SM to give the completed forms the once over before submitting.
Doing it with the OC support or without your case is so strong I don’t believe the outcome is in doubt. Just make sure you bring up as many issues as you can that way you will appear reasonable by conceding some of the minor issues (allowing him to keep the awning providing he accepts responsibility for it’s maintenance with a bylaw, allowing him and others to park outside for loading and unloading purposes only, etc).
Good luck
The damage has been caused by the failure of the strata to act in a timely manner so I don’t believe the insurance (strata or contents) will be liable so the cost falls on the strata (ie both of you).
Get a quote for the cost to fix all the damage and then give to SM and ask him to raise the funds from a one off levy on you both. If the other owner refuses to pay the SM takes him to court to recover the debt and the cost of recovering the debt.
My first step would be to find out if their is 1 or 2 circuit breakers in your power box that supplies the granny flat by switching them off in turn. If their are breakers just for the granny flat wait until Friday night then switch them off, having previously bought a special lock (that the power company can unlock) from a locksmith that you can use to lock the power box.
See how he likes being without power for a whole w/e.
You are in the RIGHT it’s your neighbor who is causing the problem by his irresponsible behavior.
Conciliation (the first step) lawyers are frowned upon as you are trying to resolve the issue not get into a legal fight.
Adjudication it is more acceptable (but expensive) to have a lawyer but you have such a cut and dried case it would be a waste of money. Also Adjudication is generally (but not always) just you present your case in writing with att documents and your neighbor does the same and their is no meeting the Adjudicator decides on the documents provided.
Takes about 3 months in total.
The Strata is responsible for the wiring in the common areas but in apartments a lot of the walls are common property and so any wiring in these are Strata responsibility. Any wiring within the lot (not in a common wall) and servicing only that lot is lot owners responsibility.
In NSW it’s a nightmare.
Download a copy of these
2011_07_Defining_who_is_responsible_for_items_in_a_Strata_Scheme.pdf
2011_08_Identifying_common_property_in_a_existing_strata_scheme_2.pdf
which should help you through the nightmare.
@JimmyT said:
It doesn’t matter when the by-laws were registered – it’s what bylaws were registered and they may have said nothing about parking on common property. Unlike other states NSW by-laws do not default to the “model” by-laws if notne exists that cover that issue. Demonaz needs to check the by-laws of his lot and proceed from there.
According to the OP in post 4
I’ve already emailed the property manager for a copy of the by-laws. I just checked the contract of sale for the title search certificate. It states in Schedule 2: “Attention is directed to the residential schemes model by-laws contained in the Strata Schemes Management Regulation applicable. At the date of registration of the scheme – keeping of animals – option B has been adopted.” –So the model bylaws for when the strata was registered do apply.@Millie said:
I can’t proceed until I’ve got their permission, aka by-law: “An owner can’t mark, paint, drive nails or screws…any structure that forms part of the common property except with the prior approval of the Owners Corp etc.”
You are being very conscientious and good on you for wanting to fully comply with the rules. But the sad fact is that 99.9% of strata in NSW don’t comply with this bylaw because it is far to restrictive of the lot owner IMHO.
Do what Jimmy suggests and rest easy that you tried to do the right thing.
Here is a copy of the default strata bylaw for strata. Depending on when your strata was registered it could vary slightly.
2. Vehicles
An owner or occupier must not park or stand a vehicle on common property without the written permission of the owners corporation. That permission can
be cancelled. Permission does not give an owner or occupier a permanent right over that part of common property.Inform the SM that this parking is causing a safety hazard to other residents (especially children) as you are being forced to reverse a distance of xx m.
Ask him to issue a NTC immediately (has to be approved by committee) and write to the resident (copy yourself) informing him that he is in breach of bylaws and giving him a time limit to comply.
If this elicits no response advise the SM and other residents that you will be starting proceeding at NCAT within 14 days to get the cars removed and the shade cover removed (cost to you approx $150) unless your initial request was complied with.
Take plenty of photos of the offender parking illegally (use a time/ date feature on the camera) and instead of photographing and submitting hundreds of photos chose a 7 day period and state this is just a typical week of the offenders parking breaches.
Especially photo any instance of him totally blocking the drive and record any verbal communication in a diary and keep any written or email communication.
This as far as I can see is a slam dunk result in your favor. Winning a parking bylaw breach is one of the easiest to win as a photograph is hard to dispute.