[kiwipaul]

I basically agree with what you are saying.

 

But OP stated that BC manager on his own authority authorized gardener to maintain a private garden with no indication the owner was going to be billed for the service.

If we assume the BC manager has been given full authority to spend as he sees fit (unlikely in this case) it is misuse of BC funds to spend them on maintaining private property as that is not the purpose that they were collected for.

If you accept that BC Manager (or the OC) can spend BC funds to maintain what is effect private property where does it end. He could decide to refurbish one of the units entirely using BC funds (maybe one he owns). If this is the case in NSW the Strata Act is in worse shape than I imagined.

In QLD you cannot use BC funds to maintain anything except Common Property without a No Dissent vote and I naively assumed you had something similar in NSW.

[kiwipaul]

I was fully aware the OP was in NSW and my opinion is the same. If you look on the CTTT web site you get this

 

A lot owner effectively owns the airspace (and anything included in the airspace) inside the boundary walls, floor and ceiling of the lot.

Lot airspace may include balconies and courtyards. Everything within the airspace must be maintained at the owner’s cost.

Generally speaking the bylaws allow the OC to do maintenance of the private areas if the owner fails to maintain the area to an acceptable standard and the owner is then billed for the cost of the maintenance. Allowing owners to ignore their obligations without penalty (or allowing the BC to do it with charge to owner) is a receipe for disaster.

My opinion is that if you took this sort of issue to adjudication the adjudicator would rule that the BC manager or OC cannot spend BC money on private areas without a very good reason and at the very least a majority of the owners voting in favor, as to do otherwise would undermine the Strata concept of  having common areas and private areas in one complex.

[kiwipaul]

@JimmyT said:
OK, maybe that’s the by-law in your scheme but it’s far from universal.

I don’t believe it is as our bylaws are virtually a straight copy of the standard bylaws from the act. Also the bylaws have to comply with the act and every other piece of legislation in QLD. If the bylaws conflict the bylaws loose.

eg if strata bylaws bans ALL dogs even guide dogs it’s unenforceable as it conflicts with acts of parliament.

Just because it says something in the bylaw doesn’t mean it’s enforceable as bylaws aren’t checked before being registered.

QLD has online 10,000’s ruling from adjudicators that are searchable for precedence which I find VERY useful.

I’m no expert but I’m learning all the time and these sort of sites are invaluable.

[kiwipaul]

Before you can do anything you need to find out what the current status of the complex title is and for this you need to go to the State dep responsible and obtain a current copy of the strata plans (In QLD they are called the CMS Community Management Statement) which show visitor parking, common areas and private areas. If this was done correctly in the 70’s I feel you are stuffed, but if they didn’t register the new titles that is a different ball game.

[kiwipaul]

@JimmyT said:
 

I also don’t know where you get the idea that it has to be a unanimous decision to spend money on anything other than Common Property.

This is to prevent corruption. If the committee decided to spend money within it’s limits on maintaining say the private yards of the committee members ONLY anyone who objected to this would have a valid case against the committee for misuse of BC funds.

We recently repainted the whole complex and the BC paid for everything even though only half was BC responsibility (half was within private yards and owners responsibility). We held a No dissent vote to enable us to use BC funds for this and if anyone had voted against we wouldn’t have been able to do it. (this was in QLD).

I also agree I don’t know the details of the contract with the manager but I’m pretty sure he is not allowed to spend money on anything he likes unless he has a pretty good explanation.

Otherwise where do you draw the line a BC manager who owns a property within the complex could spend BC funds decorating the inside of his own property if he was given total discretion on spending BC funds.

[kiwipaul]

Chris J said:

The garden itself is the owner’s responsibility while the OC is responsible for the pit and it is improper for the gardening to become an OC expense. Am I correct?

Yes you are.

Strata Manager has no authority to spend OC funds on anything unless it’s been pre approved or a vote has been held to approve it. I would say the vote would have to be unanimous to spend money on anything but common property.

This is strictly against the law. Think of the Strata Manager as the Strata Administrator which is a better description in 90% of the strata complexes.

Advise him unless he desists you will expect him personnel to reimburse the OC any gardening charges unless the OC approves with a vote.

[kiwipaul]

@struggler said:
So, in the case of the driveway parking lot, who would be responsible if, in attempting to navigate the cars to get to his townhouse, my friend hits another car or even part of the exterior structure of the complex? 

Got to agree with other poster driver is responsible for any damage caused by his driving and with an apathetic BC your options are limited.

One thing you can ignore the parking rules as well by parking outside and the BC can do nothing against you as you could claim discrimination as no action is being taken against anyone else. Rules state bylaws have to be applied equally to everyone the same. Being an owner occupier or even chairperson give you no extra rights over the newest tenant.

Take photos of other offenders before doing this so you have proof of situation.

[kiwipaul]

The BC and EC do have a duty to enforce the bylaws. Here is a quote from the NSW Strata website.

Owners corporations also have the following powers and obligations:

• To issue a notice on a person to comply with a by-law, when the owners corporation or its executive committee passes a resolution that there has been a contravention of the by-law in question.

Problem is their is no way of forcing them to do anything.

As the other poster said I believe you can initiate action yourself. Here is the web site:

https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/Tenants_and_home_owners/Strata_schemes.html

[Author]

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