[powers that be]

It is interesting to read these responses and quite topical for us. What is the position if an owner wants to install an exhaust fan in a bathroom, where there has not been a previous one? It is a ground floor unit in a complex of 24 about 30 Year’s old. Owner wants to install an exhaust fan in a skylight which is in her bathroom. It would be installed in the ‘false ceiling’ of the unit ie the glass at ceiling level of the skylight. Owners are fine with it but who pays? Is it at Owners Corp cost because all bathrooms are supposed to have ventilation? Given that the bathroom has not had installed ventilation For the past 30 Year’s, is it classed as an upgrade and therefore is at owners own cost?

[powers that be]

I agree totally with Winston regarding window safety locks removing an escape during a fire. Admittedly you probably would not want to jump from a multi-storey building to escape a fire but fire brigade access is also restricted especially in the incidence of lost keys. I too wonder where responsible parenting is represented. No child death is acceptable but given the number of children who live in multi-storey buildings, very few fall from windows…. Again one is too many but wondering how this will play out. 

[powers that be]

Hi there, 

It is my understanding that strata cannot provide private information to other owners, so I suspect it would be the same with Executive Committee members giving out any contact details they may have. I know that in our units, contact details cannot be accessed from strata. We overcame it by asking at the AGM that people put their details on a contact list that was passed around. Owners had a choice then and some owners were clear that they did not want to provide contact details to another owner. One owner even stating that the reason they paid strata management fees was so that they were not bothered by other owners.

[powers that be]

Hi whale, we have received good advice via this forum in the past, so thank you. I am hoping that can you give me the reference of where strata buildings built and registered before 1988 are exempt from fire safety audit. I have seen you refer to it on previous occasions, but am receiving conflicting information from elsewhere. I am in nsw and owner of a 3 level unit block. We have just undertaken a fire safety audit inspection which will identify what needs to be done so our unit is compliant, but would really like to see where it is written that we do not have to do this.

[powers that be]

Thanks for the reply Jimmy. This is an interesting way to address this issue. I will certainly put this forward to Lannocks and our strata manager as well as owners, so that we can give all owners the opportunity to pay their portion of the loan upfront. The only part I see as a difficulty is, as I understand it, that we cannot pay out a strata loan early without having to pay the interest that would be due on the whole amount if the loan went to term. The owners who do not pay a lump some may be stuck with paying the interest on the whole loan, because they will be paying repayments until the loan term finishes. Anyway I will take it to Lannocks and see what they say.

[powers that be]

Hi all,

We are in a similar position regarding the replacement of windows. Block of 24 units in NSW.  We already have a strata loan, with 4 years to run for the replacement of the roof last year. Some of our owners want to pay for their own windows to be replaced. The benefits to them are that they get the work done now rather than waiting until it is their turn to have the work done in a couple of years time. The benefit to other owners is that timeframe for replacing windows in other units will be shorter, the money we borrow will go further to replace windows for other units. However, we have been advised that those who want to pay upfront for their own windows, will still have to contribute towards the repayment of the loan. The owners are all responsible for the loan debt and it is not possible (nor legal?) to exclude any owner from the repayment of a debt which is owned by all owners. Added to this is that the strata fees of all units is taken into account when working out income of a scheme and whether a loan will be granted. Our advice to date has been as follows, if those owners who have paid upfront are not part of the payment, then it is unlikely to be granted for the remaining owners.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone whose owners corp has had a few owners pay upfront for a big item as well as taking out a strata loan that is to be repaid by only some of the owners…(excluding those owners who paid upfront).

[powers that be]

Thanks Jimmy. After the engineer’s report came back with the specifications of the replacement windows we put the job out for tender. We got vast differences in the quotes received ie $100 000 in difference between highest and lowest quotes. The units are in a NSW coastal town and there are limited numbers  of companies capable of doing the job. Our current strata loan is with Lannocks. I guess the next step would be to approach them again and see what a loan for the whole job would cost. 

In reality once this work is done there should be little else that will need to be done, so levies collected into the future could pay that loan off instead of continually chasing repairs caused by the leaks. The unit block will look fantastic and value should increase due to all the big maintenance already having been recently undertaken.

I think we need to seek further advice on what would be a healthy holding in admin and sinking funds too. Just to be sure that we remain viable. That information would also confirm what the quarterly levies should be set at.

Lots to think about!

[powers that be]

Hi there it does seem that I am seeking to receive an answer that I am not going to receive…and I must have had a brain freeze to suggest that Hunter Water fix the problem and charge us…..however my point is and has always been that were we a single dwelling ie a house owner, then the conditions would be quite different ie Hunter Water would repair the leak at their cost. It is because we are a block of units (that the pipe is a bigger diameter) and that the cost falls to us. Given that the units are about 30 years old the work would have originally been done by or under the supervision of the Water Board.

[powers that be]

Thanks for such a detailed reply. I do understand what you have said but have been informed that our position of having to pay for these repairs is due to a change in policy which took place on the quiet really, last year. Believe me I am not suggesting we get something for nothing BUT surly the cost would be more manageable if the water board undertook the repairs and charged us for part of it. It hardly seems fair that we have to pay for the supply line for a product which we also are charged for!
Where does the responsibility of the supplier stop. Even if we use NO water at all we are charged for the supply to our lot BUT as this law now stands hunter water is not responsible to upkeep the supply line,

[Author]

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