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sonido – To add to Jimmy T’s advice ….. Your arguments prima facie seem sound.
Your owners corporation could refuse the pet application and see what happens next. You would need to specify a date that you wish the pets to be removed from the premises by (e.g. 14 – 21 days). You would also need to stress that no visitors are permitted to bring any animal on to the premises without prior approval from the owner’s corporation.
The tenants may not opt to take this matter to NCAT. They may perceive it to be too difficult.
Your scheme’s by-laws regarding pets could be strengthened. Do you have a by-law stating that pets: must at all times be constrained and on a leash whilst on common property; and that pets must not be permitted to damage or soil common property; and that pet excrement must be double bagged before being placed in the garbage receptacles?
sonido – Can you provide some more information please?
(1) Which state do you live in? Pet rules can be quite different between states.
(2) What does your animal/pet by-laws?
hammer66: This may also be useful:
https://disabilitylaw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Using_DD_Law_NSW.pdf
Or you could obtain free advice here:
https://disabilitylaw.org.au/services/legal-advice
A case which you may like to read concerning a NSW strata scheme and a person with MS who was not confined to a wheelchair is linked below. NB: The outcome of the case may have been different if the applicant’s condition required a wheelchair, and if the strata scheme had not previously attempted to address the applicant’s concerns.
hammer66 – How was your contact with the EC first made – by personal contact, or by phone, or by written correspondence? Has your wheel chair bound neighbour contacted the EC?
I suggest that you phone the strata manager, on behalf of your neighbour, and ask for a progress report on your initial request and/or send another reminder letter just in case the other letter has gone astray. Your neighbour may also wish to contact the EC and strata manager.
It also could be that the EC is working on solutions and obtaining quotes which, being close to Christmas, may be proving difficult.
Unfortunately building modifications to common property always take a bit longer in strata buildings than a private dwelling as strata money is not permitted to be spent unless the spending has been approved via the correct processes.
If you or your neighbour think that the process could be hastened then you or your neighbour could obtain your own quote(s) and submit them to the EC for consideration at their earliest possible convenience. This may involve a Motion and quotes being submitted to the next General Meeting. Changes to common property, such as the installation of a ramp, generally require a Special Resolution by the owners corporation.
See here for legislation etc relating to disability access to common property.
Should your Owners’ corporation not want to pay for common property modifications such as a wheel chair ramp then they can be compelled to do so.
larney – welcome to Flatchat.
Most strata schemes have a By-law regarding renovations. Have you checked your By-laws to see whether a By-law already exists for renovations? Also, there should be a By-law regarding Noise and/or Nuisance, and Damage to Common Property.
Have you checked the Minutes of the General Meeting to see whether an approval has been given for the renovation?
If there is a Renovation By-law in place AND there has been no approval given for this renovation to proceed then your strata manager and executive committee will need to be notified immediately. Your scheme has a right to issue a Notice to Comply, or perhaps even request a stop to this renovation unless and until the correct approval process has been worked through.
A Notice to Comply looks like this:
https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/biz_res/ftweb/pdfs/About_us/Forms/Notice_to_comply.pdf
Many schemes also require that the Lot Owner, who is undertaking the renovation, sign an indemnity form against damage to common property and surrounding Lots. This is an additional safe guard.
See below for an explanation of the new legislation regarding renovations from the NSW Office of Fair Trading :
Streamlined approval for owner renovations
Current laws make it very difficult for owners to make even minor renovations to their lot. Even inserting a picture hook requires the approval of the owners corporation.
Changes will establish a common sense approach to owner renovations to help improve day-to-day living in strata.
The following three-tiered approval process for owner-renovations will apply:
- for cosmetic changes (like installing a picture hook) the owner will not need to seek approval. (The by-laws can specify additional work which can be considered cosmetic)
- for minor renovations (such as installing timber floors), only general resolution approval is required. (50% of those entitled to vote)
- for renovations that change the external appearance of a lot or are likely to affect waterproofing or structural changes, special resolution approval will be needed before the work could begin. (75% of those entitled to vote).
See page 37 from the following link:
https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/about_us/publications/ft045.pdf
Fairgo – Balcony walls are different from external walls. The comment that you cut and pasted was referring to a balcony wall.
Are the wooden sash windows located in a balcony wall or are they located in an exterior wall that is NOT a balcony wall?
Windows located in an external wall should be a common property responsibility in your heritage building.
From the Land and Property Information site of the NSW govt is this:
The original legislation (i.e. prior to 1974) provided that the boundary between separate lots or between lots and common property was the centreline of the dividing structures being walls, floors or ceilings. Upon the commencement of the new legislation on 1 July 1974 these boundaries, for previously registered plans, moved to the inner face of the walls, the upper surface of the floors and the lower surface of the ceilings. The structure then became common property.
See here:
https://rgdirections.lpi.nsw.gov.au/strata_schemes/miscellaneous/pre_1974_plans
If your scheme was registered in 1972 then the boundary would have moved from the centreline to the inner face in 1974. In my opinion your strata scheme EC is correct in determining that the windows are located on common property.
The window repairs should be standardized if the strata scheme is responsible for the maintenance and repair of common property.
However, if you have concerns about the cost then you can always raise your own Motion via the Secretary of the strata scheme proposing your cheaper alternative. Your alternative motion can then be voted on at the General Meeting along with the the Motion favoured by the EC. Make sure that you send your Motion to the Secretary BEFORE the Agenda is sent to the Lot owners, or it will not be included on the Agenda.
Be mindful that if you are in the minority you may end up paying the levy and having the windows repaired in a way that the majority decides.
momo – See here for a useful link on what to consider when selecting a strata manager, particularly item 3.3 and onwards:
https://www.ocn.org.au/book/export/html/1344
The strata manager must be licensed. Here is a link on how to check licenses:
https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ftw/About_us/Online_services/Property_services_licence_check.page
Here is a site that purports to rate strata management companies. I personally don’t care much for these types of sites but others may have a different opinion:
https://www.productreview.com.au/c/strata-management-companies.html
ccgirl: Only the Tenant’s Agent information will be available on the Roll.
You can contact the Tenant via:
(1) their Agent or
(2) slipping a note under their door or
(3) hand delivering to their letter boxes.
It is good news that your problems are being resolved.
Unless Victoria is radically different from NSW and Qld then it could still be a strata issue if the problems stemmed from a structural issue. Usually the strata scheme is responsible for the structure of the building regardless of where the structural problem is located.
The whole building may have foundation issues which may have caused the cracks in the walls. …and these foundation issues may have cracked some pipes.
You could still apply to VCAT to ask for their opinion if you believe that you have been treated unreasonably.
See here for a document that you might to be useful:
There is an alternative to waiting until the April 2017 AGM to have your Motion raised. You can write to the Secretary and request an earlier additional General Meeting (i.e. an EGM). However, the Secretary may require that you need the support of other Lot owners to call an additional general meeting (see the qualifications in s19(4)).
Section 19 Other general meetings
(1) The secretary or a strata committee of an owners corporation may convene a general meeting (that is not an annual general meeting) of the owners corporation at any time.
(2) The secretary of the owners corporation, or another officer if the secretary is absent, must convene a general meeting (that is not an annual general meeting) of the owners corporation as soon as practicable, and not later than 14 days after, receiving a qualified request.
(3) A meeting may be convened on a qualified request even if the first annual general meeting has not been held.
(4) A request is a
“qualified request” for the purposes of this section if it is made by one or more owners of a lot or lots in the strata scheme having a total unit entitlement of at least one-quarter of the aggregate unit entitlements.Meeting procedures and voting are described in Schedule 1 of the SSMA (2015).
Does your scheme have a strata committee or is your building run by a strata manager?
If you have a strata committee … Are you sure that the strata committee knows nothing about this? Strata managers usually do not direct owners to do or refrain from doing anything unless they have been directed to do so by the strata committee.
If the strata committee knows nothing about it then I would simply ignore it.
However, if your scheme does not have a strata committee then the directive from the strata manager is valid but … it is probably unreasonable. Having the strata manager visit the site and discuss alternative solutions is a good idea.
The situation that you described is not ideal. Are you a member of the EC?
If you are then you could send an email to your EC explaining what you would like to happen (e.g. seeking information from the strata manager in relation to Section 58, 59 or 60), and nominate yourself as the person to receive the Notice (see Section 61). Ask that the EC members respond to you by email so that a record of their consent is available if there is ever a problem down the track.
It is important that at the next meeting that you make sure a record of this is noted in the Minutes.
If you are not a member of the EC then try and contact an EC member who may be sympathetic to your idea and is willing to do all of the above.
Obviously you would leave the strata manager out of the EC member email loop. The strata manager does not need to know about your EC member email loop at the deliberation stage.
Procedure for requiring information from strata managing agent
61 Procedure for requiring information from strata managing agent
(1) An owners corporation is to require information from a strata managing agent under this Division by written notice given to the strata managing agent.
(2) The notice must specify a member of the strata committee to whom the information is to be delivered.
WendyB – Based on my understanding of your concerns my final suggestion to you is send your invoices to the strata scheme owners corporation (via the strata manager) along with a written explanation of all that you have gone through and an explanation of what you expect from them. It will then be on the record.
Based on my understanding of the timeline of your problems my suggestion would be that in your letter to the owners corporation that you remind the owners corporation of the following:
(1) That if the leak was coming from a common property wall or a window in a common property wall that it should be the responsibility of the owners corporation to repair.
(2) The owners corporation was not willing to accept responsibility for the defects in the common property and you were forced to undertake emergency repairs yourself. Therefore the owners corporation should repay you the cost of these repair invoices.
(3) That the common property faults and defects of the original builder are the responsibility of the owners corporation to chase up. They are not the responsibility of the individual lot owner.
(4) If your own insurance scheme does not pay for the floor replacement then you should be able to submit these invoices to the owners corporation too.
(5) That you will take this matter to VCAT if the owners corporation do not come to a satisfactory arrangement with you.
That’s all I have to offer you. I hope it helps.
Rhea – A few suggestions that your neighbour could try:
(1) Take photos of all other pot plants and figurines that are located on the common property walkway throughout the whole building.
(2) Write to the strata committee asking them to reconsider the reasonableness of their decision based on the fact that: (a) other residents have similar pot plants (include the photos), and (b) the pot plants have been permitted for a long time.
(3) Suggest that rather than the strata committee prohibiting the pot plants that instead, you are happy to work with the strata committee to arrive at an alternative solution e.g. placing wheels under the plants to allow them to be moved for cleaning etc.
(4) Suggest that if there is to be a ban on pot plants that it should not be discriminatory.
(4) Include a letter from you, as the neighbour, stating that you have no problem with the pot plants.