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Masked2014, Jimmy & Whale,
has anyone thought about the simplest and most obvious of all by-laws, normally by-law 5 under schedule 1 by-laws, being that you can not damage common property. I would envisage that it would be easy to prove that no other apartments have down lights installed, penetrating the fire separation or cutting ceiling joists.
further to this, you may find that there is some considerable legal precedent around this area, whereby an owners corporation has taken action against an owner for not having an exclusive use by-law in accordance with s52 or 65A of the act for alterations to common property, being the only mechanisms in the current Act to permit an owner to alter common property and to keep these alterations to common property. It may be possible to come to an agreement with the owner/OC to permit the alterations in retrospect.
Masked2014, sounds like you may need to seek professional advice from a qualified building consultant and or make application to Fair Trading in relation to the defective building works.
mr s
Peterpete,
May I suggest sharing the details provided on the Petcare Information and Advisory Services website (Petnet), in particular, looking towards the pet consent application and agreement form, also available through the Strata Community Australia website.
This is a good way to establish clear expectations for all parties as to rights and responsibilities for a good pet friendly community.
Mr S
Whale & Oystercove,
the phone line issue is a fantastic opportunity for the EC and or strata manager to invoke the OC’s rights under s65 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996, being the right to access a lot to inspect common property to work out if it needs to be maintained. In doing so, this provides the chance to inspect the space and talk directly with the tenants about what exactly they are using the apartment for.
To be able to take any action against the owner or occupants for conducting a business (if they are), the EC needs evidence that they are in fact running a business. This is not dissimilar to residents using the apartment as a brothel, unfortunately you need to have proof that this is the case (find the details of the company, copies of adds or any material that reflects business is operating in the apartment, go undercover etc). You will need this to be able to pass on to correct authority to take action (worst case scenario), but also to communicate with the apartment owner about the issues. Also remember there is a fine line between home office and a business.
The next issue is to establish what actual works are required regarding the phone line. Get a detailed quote, meet with the owner and occupier, establish what needs to be done. It’s pretty easy to establish where the original phone line to an apartment ran and any new lines that have been installed. The OC is only really responsible for the original phone line between the MDF and the Apartment. It is very unlikely that there will be a problem with these cables.
If the owner promised the tenants something that wasn’t already there, the OC has no responsibility to provide this, but could if the right offer we’re made to the OC, permit passing a exclusive use by-law to the owner, to permit the installation at the owner’s cost and ongoing responsibility to maintain.
Guys, the question that you may wish to ask yourselves, ‘if I were a director of a company, and could be sued for a decision I did or didn’t make, would I prefer to be appropriately insured’
The Executive Committee should be considered to be much like a board of directors.
I have witnessed Executive Committee Members being sued personally and collectively for decisions that they have made, despite legal advice to suggest not to, while the decision was not illegal. The individual EC members legal expenses were covered by the OB cover of the owners corporation.
The big issue that I am exposed to is where the EC don’t engage with or consult their strata managers, being professional, trained strata managers, that either have proper answers for their clients and or access to appropriate resources or consultants (lawyers, engineers etc). Most Strata Managers that are worth their salt are more than happy to provide good sound advice or encourage obtaining the needed information.
Hi All,
in NSW, most strata plans that are registered, subdivide the property into lots and common property. When trying to work out who the parking space belongs to it is important to review the strata plan. Normally in NSW, the parking spaces are also part of the owners lot. So while the structure, being the floor structure of the car park, be it concrete or even a car stacker, will normally be common property, and the air space of the car space will belong to the lot owner (just like in the apartment).
There are a few commercial buildings that I have seen where the parking spaces are not part of the lot title, and they are in fact common property, but there is an exclusive use by-law registered on title, granting owners of respective lots, rights and responsibilities for the use of a particular car space.
The above said, the air space of a car parking space is typically part of the lot, and the owner or occupier’s responsibility to maintain and keep tidy.
Interestingly, this then extends to the issue of a random vehicle owner parking in someone else’s car space, then this is a matter of Trespass, which is a criminal act, and the NSW Police have an obligation to assist to resolve.