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A request for this information may be sought from the owners corporation. See Sections 58 and 59 for what information may be requested.
The strata committee represents the owners corporation.
Any decision made by the strata committee is treated as a decision of the owners corporation although there are some matters that the strata committee do not have the power to make (eg. fixing levies).
No individual strata committee member can make a decision for the owners corporation.
It is my understanding that an individual Lot owner or an individual strata committee member may not have the authority to request that the strata manager provide this information. It should be a strata committee decision.
There are some situations (e.g. Section 60 commissions and training services) where the strata manager must provide certain information without being asked for it.
Strata Managers are required to provide specific information to the owners corporation when a written request is made to do so. This is an endeavour to make the strata managers more accountable.
See below for more information:
https://www.lookupstrata.com.au/accountability-strata-managers-in-nsw/
The Strata Inspection Report is an additional report that should be conducted prior to signing the Contract or during the Conditional phase of the Purchase Contract. These reports usually cost a couple of hundred dollars and are generally not included in the normal Conveyancing. Did you request this report? Did your Conveyancer carry out this report on your behalf? Unfortunately, not every purchaser does this type of search.
https://www.realestate.com.au/advice/why-strata-inspection-can-save-thousands/
If the strata scheme was not deliberately trying to hide the building faults then they should have been discovered in the Strata Inspection Report. It is probably too late for you to do much about this. You purchased in March and it is now December.
However, you still have a way to fix these faults …. If you believe that the water ingress is not your problem and instead believe that it is a building defect then you have every right to demand that the strata scheme pays to rectify the problem.
Has the water ingress problem which is impacting your Lot been fixed? If so, did the strata scheme fix it? Are they now chasing you for money. If they are then you can refuse to pay it until they can prove that they are legally correct and that you are wrong.
Please don’t allow yourself to be bullied or intimidated by the strata manager.
If the water ingress problem has not been fixed then please contact VCAT and they will help you sort it out.
All Strata plans are different but windows in external walls are generally the responsibility of the strata scheme to maintain. The strata scheme insurance policy should pay to repair your flooring. Ask your strata manager to process this claim for you.
Your building is not the only shoddy building in Victoria. https://www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbournes-highrise-nightmares-taking-a-tall-toll-on-residents-and-investors-20160916-gri6l4.html
Rebekah20p – If the work was necessary then the OC had an obligation to proceed with the work. Space for 50 cars would be difficult to find! Though it may be unpleasant to live with for the next 4 months it is, after all, only 4 months. Extra patience and tolerance may be required over this time.
If you believe that safety is an issue then you should put your concerns and suggestions in writing. Perhaps some additional signage would be beneficial?
As PeterC suggested the common property lawn rejuvenation would probably be part of the overall project cost. This should be on record either via the committee Minutes or the General Meeting Minutes. Why don’t you ask the strata manager to check?
WendyB – Did you undertake a due diligence search of the strata records before you purchased your property – the doctrine of caveat emptor? You stated in your comment that you believed that the strata scheme knew of the building faults …. therefore this should have shown up in the records somewhere e.g. written complaints from other owners etc.
From my understanding, it is not the responsibility of the strata scheme to inform all potential purchasers that the building may have maintenance issues. A record of these faults should be discoverable by the purchaser if they undertook their pre-purchase inspection of the records of the strata scheme.
If you bought your apartment in March and you only discovered the wet carpets in October then perhaps the leak began to occur after your purchase.
Regardless of the above, from your explanation it appears that the issues that you describe are maintenance issues that the strata scheme should rectify. Cracks in common property walls and water ingress from an external wall are generally the responsibility of the strata scheme to rectify.
If your strata scheme is wrongly trying to avoid responsibility for the repair then you could ask for assistance from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). VCAT helps resolve common property maintenance matters such as yours. See here:
https://www.vcat.vic.gov.au/case-types/owners-corporations
You can speak to an advisor by phone. Their contact details are here:
I understand this to mean that your Roll should have the details of the Agency which the Lot owner tenants their property through and not necessarily the actual Tenant’s details. The Agency is often a Real Estate Agency or the Public Housing Authority etc. If the Owners corp needs to contact the tenant then they should do this via the Agency.
Olivian – Unfortunately you may have been given some initial incorrect advice regarding the lack of requirement for a DA for balustrade replacement. It appears that balustrade replacement where the floor height is more than 1 metre above the existing ground level is not an exempt or complying development. If not exempt then you would need local council approval.
See Part 2: Subdivision 6: Section 2.11 and 2.12 Balconies, decks, patios, pergolas, terraces and verandahs of the following legislation:
https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/inforce/6041d1ad-eb39-45a7-f7a2-9e3acb4f2f73/2008-572.pdf
A useful article to highlight the fact that safety over rides cost is here:
Victorians can try here for assistance in neighbouring tree disputes:
From the information that you have provided it does appear that Lot 2 is accessing their Lot via your Lot (though I am not a surveyor).
Your cheapest option is to use the services of NCAT.
You could request two outcomes (1) that the Tribunal make an order to prohibit the residents or guests of Lot 2 from entering your lot to access their Lot, and (2) that the Tribunal make an order to have the door removed from the wall between your Lot 1 and Lot 2.
The relevant section in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 is Section 241: Tribunal may prohibit or direct taking of specific actions.
The Tribunal may order any person the subject of an application for an order to do or refrain from doing a specified act in relation to a strata scheme.
Before you go down this route you need to have first attempted a face to face mediation.
If you already have a history of face to face mediations about this issue that have not been successful, and you have a record of them, then you probably don’t need any more…you could apply to NCAT immediately. Perhaps talk to an NCAT advisor about this.
Your application for a ruling from NCAT should include answers to the following questions: What is the history behind this issue? Did any previous owner of your Lot give permission for this access to occur? Has anyone raised this issue before? What was the outcome?
Include Strata plans, photographs and as much information as you can.
Application form is here:
https://www.ncat.nsw.gov.au/Documents/ccd_form_community_schemes_tribunal_orders_application.pdf
Costa – Unfortunately you have missed the deadline for submitting a Motion to this GM. Any Motion that you now submit will be placed on the agenda of the next GM.
There are three ways to convene general meetings:
(1) the secretary or strata committee may call a meeting at any time,
(2) if owners entitled to vote, and who together hold at least a quarter of the total unit entitlements, give a written notice to the Secretary asking for the meeting to be held,
(3) by order of NCAT.
See here for the new legislation re how to convene a general meeting:
https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ssma2015242/sch1.html
Motions can be amended at a general meeting. How to amend a motion is described here: https://turnbullbowles.com.au/strata-meeting-tips-and-traps/
Motions can also be ruled out of order by the Chairperson.
You are permitted to discuss any of the three Motions on the Agenda and ask questions about them before they are voted on.
If you want to discuss another matter at the GM then raising this with the Strata manager prior to the meeting is the correct thing to do. All owners are encouraged to participate in the affairs of their Owners Corporation and the General Meeting is just one of the vehicles which allows you to do this.
Newlsie – It should not be the responsibility of the Lot owner to ensure that a common property balustrade is safe and meets various Codes including Work Place Safety by placing capping on the common property balustrade. It is the responsibility of the Strata scheme to ensure that the common property balustrades meet these standards.
There is no guarantee that an owner installed balcony extension on top of a common property balustrade has been installed correctly. To remove all doubt the strata scheme should implement these safety measures to ensure conformity in standards.
The Strata scheme will be responsible if any accidents occur as a result of their negligence.
Just as window locks are now essential items within a strata scheme so should balustrades that are the correct height to prevent accident and injury.
The height of railings has been lifted for safety reasons. Regardless of whether the building complies with older building codes the duty of care of a strata scheme to residents and visitors is to ensure that they are safe on the property. If it has been determined that people are only safe with balustrades at a height of 100 cm is it unreasonable for a strata scheme to ignore that standard.
The Strata Scheme needs to step up to the plate and face their responsibilities. Don’t wait for a catastrophe to occur in your unit complex before implementing change. Cost cutting should not override common sense.
TMK – As a first step (excuse the pun) have you tried talking to the upstairs neighbour or slipping a note under their door explaining that you can hear their foot steps when they wear shoes on the timber floor?
Perhaps your neighbours are not aware that they are disturbing you?
You might like to suggest that they put their shoes on just as they are walking out the door and take them off when they walk in.
I too have had a problem with a noisy neighbour but a friendly note slipped under the neighbour’s door fixed the problem. It might be worth a try.
Not advisable as you would be breaking a Contract.
I suggest you read the Contract, particularly the section on how to Terminate the Contract, grounds for Termination, and what repercussions occur for the strata scheme if the Contract is Terminated. Your scheme may be required to pay your strata manager a lot of money as a penalty for breaking the Contract.
Termination of a contract may occur where there is poor performance by a strata manager but be prepared for a fight.
Unless something has gone really wrong it may be best to stick with your current strata manager until the Contract date comes to an end.
See the Act for Strata Managing Agents (Sections 49 to 65) at
https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ssma2015242/#s48
and Strata Managing Agent agreements may be terminated or varied by Tribunal at
https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ssma2015242/s72.html
Certainty of Title and certainty of lot boundaries are essential and without them you may have difficulty selling your property, or claiming trespass, or anything else that you might want to do.
By all means talk to the inherited owner but be prepared to take this matter further if you need to.
The building document that you mentioned is not particularly relevant. The important document is the Strata Plan which should show all of the Lots and Lot boundaries, and the Common Property. Strata levies for Lots 1 and 2 would be based on the strata plan document and the floor plans.
Your strata manager should have a copy of the Strata Plans. Ask them for this document. If they don’t then you can obtain copies of the strata plans from one of the approved information brokers listed on the website of the Registrar General Directions NSW (see link):
In order to determine whether an item is common property you must inspect a copy of the registered strata plan and a current search of the common property title. Copies of the plan and searches of the common property title can be purchased through LPI’s approved information brokers.
If you believe that you need legal advice after you have obtained the Strata Plan and that the legal quote that you have obtained is too expensive then you may need to shop around for another strata lawyer quote.
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Here is a NSW govt document entitled Strata Plan Fast Facts that you might find useful in understanding the plans:
https://rgdirections.lpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/143078/Strata_Plans_Fast_Facts.pdf
I would not be offering to help pay to reinstate the door in Lot 2. If it is their mistake then they should pay.
Be sure of the common property boundaries. Have you: (1) had a surveyor look at the original plans; and (2) visit your site to clarify boundaries; and (3) make a written assessment of the situation?
If the original surveyor is still around perhaps they might be the best person to contact.
See here for another avenue that you could pursue to properly determine the boundary: https://rgdirections.lpi.nsw.gov.au/deposited_plans/boundary_definition/boundary_determination
The other important issue is: When (and how) was Lot 2’s balcony enclosed?
Did Lot 2 obtain approval to enclose their “covered balcony” which has denied themselves access and created this problem?
Enclosing a balcony usually involves both approval from the local council and the approval of the strata scheme. Are you able to check with council? or the Minutes of previous AGMs? Was the enclosure completed by licensed builders?
If Lot 2 have done something that has created their own problems then you should not have to suffer trespass or make good their mistakes.
You may need to clarify these issues. The more information that you can obtain that will help your case the stronger your argument will be.
If you are correct in your assessment of your Lot boundaries (and Lot 2 is not) then NCAT is the place to go. It is best to sort this matter out once and for all.