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Gosh, the other owners shouldn’t be ringing and harrassing you, that’s not on. Tell them to stop or you will contact the police. Anyway…
From what you have said the stairs were built as part of the original construction, and further plans weren’t required by Council. The important thing is, what is on the strata plan. Are the stairs marked on the strata plan registered with the Department of Lands as common property or as part of your lot? Or are they just not there? If you don’t have the registered plan go and get it.
I am not sure of the position if they are not on the plans registered with the DOL, but I am not so sure that the OC can say that they should be removed. If they have always been there, then they can’t suddenly demand that they be removed. Presuming they do not form part of your lot, even if they weren’t designated as common property I think they would be the responsibility of the OC, because in the absence of them being designated as being part of a lot, then they would likely form part of the common property. You also say that they had previously been fixed by the OC, which suggests that they are common property, or at least that the OC accepted that they are. If that is the case they can’t just change their mind because it is expensive.
Anyone else feel free to correct me.
That would depend on the terms of the quote/s. A quote should usually include a statement indicating the length of time for which the quote is valid, i.e. after that time it is subject to change. If there is no period stated then you would at the very least confirm that the quote still stands.
Of course other things might have changed which affect the scope of works, in which case the original quote would be subject to variation.You didn’t pay the levies prior to the due date, so the 10% discount didn’t apply. It is not up to the owners corporation or strata manager to alert you, how you pay the levies is up to you. The calculation basis on the later fees may be arguable, but it isn’t a matter of you being slugged with excessive penalties, you have just missed out on the discount. That is the $400 extra to which you are referring.
Yes. For policies issued before 1 July 2002, the time period in which you can lodge a claim is 7 years after completion of works. For policies issued after that it is 6 years in relation to structural defects.
I am not an expert but if these defects weren’t in the original scope of the claim, then you couldn’t add them on to the original claim. From what you have said, that claim has been finalised.
That’s an extraordinary story. I’m curious about a couple of things, if your friend knew in April and offered to pay in instalments over 3 months, and it is now September, has she paid anything and if not, why not? She could have paid money off over time, there is nothing stopping her from doing that, it just means that the balance is owing.
If there is now a garnishee order there would have been a number of steps in the process including:
1. letter of demand
2. statement of claim – at this point the debtor has the opportunity to apply to the court to pay by instalments or file a defence
3. judgment debt
Did your friend respond to the letter of demand or apply to the court to pay by instalments or file a defence? In the circumstances she probably would have been successful, it was only $5000.
I don’t know how you could get a garnishee order covering the next strata levies, that’s beyond me.
As far as garnishee orders go, it is illegal for employers to penalise or victimise an employee because of them, but of course that is not how the real world works.
One more thing – why was there a meeting in April and then one in May? Were they both general meetings? Was the May meeting properly convened?
A special resolution is one where to be passed no more than 25% of the people voting on the resolution, either by proxy or in person, vote against it. So the resolution is passed, provided no more than 25% of votes are against it.
This is distinct from an ordinary resolution that requires a vote of 50% or more to pass.
Some things require a special resolution, including waiving of interest on levy arrears, amending removing or adding by-laws, adding to or altering commono property (the notice board) and removing an EC member.
No that’s not correct. If there is no by-law (exclusive use) then by default the Owners Corporation is responsible, refer sections 62 and 54. The reference you are looking at may be to the note to section 62 which provides that a decision under s 62(3) can be reviewed by an adjudicator.
https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ssma1996242/s54.html
https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ssma1996242/s62.html
An insurance contract is one of utmost good faith, i.e. both parties are under the obligation to make full disclosure to the other of any information that may be relevant. From what Slapped has said, the EC member has made an illegitimate claim and made a number of misrepresentations, not least of all purporting to make a claim on behalf of the OC they knew to have no basis.
In relation to the EC member’s actions, even if they had been conducting EC business, slapping someone is outside the ambit of anything they would be authorised to do. You can be charged with assault for doing that.
The EC is now asking the OC to ratify the claim (that’s the word you are looking for).
What I would do is remind the owners voting that if they ratify what has occurred then they are party to the illegitimate claim/possible fraud, and as such in the event the insurance company seeks to get that money back (highly likely) then they may all be liable to the insurance company severally as being party to that misfeasance. So if the EC member is unable to pay up, the insurance company will come after them.
Personally I think the circumstances are appalling, and I would probably contact the insurance company, but that is just me. As for the EC member, if they are still on the EC, they shouldn’t be. I would also be asking questions about corporate governance generally, as the other EC members were aware of and supported what the EC member was doing, and any advice the strata manager has given.
Investing the money is different from managing the funds and books of account. Investment of strata funds is dealt with in a separate section of the Act. The strata manager doesn’t have carte blanche to invest the strata funds, unless you have specifically delegated that function.
Have you written to the strata manager? If you are that worried and he isn’t giving satisfactory answers, ring Fair Trading.
1. Do a search on the internet for building consultants, perhaps those who work on strata issues, phone them, get an idea of the cost and then get one out to do a report.
2. With that report, prepare an application to the Tribunal for a section 62 application and lodge the application. Do a search of tribunal cases on section 62 on austlii to get an idea of how they work.
3. As part of that process you will have the opportunity to mediate. The EC may not wish to, but if they do, attend the mediation and set out your issues.
4. If mediation doesn’t occur or doesn’t reach a resolution, then proceed to the Tribunal.
We sometimes get bogged down with problems and in a way become attached to them. We think of all the reasons why they can’t be solved, or what might happen if some sort of resolution is reached such as not liking aspects of the resolution. One thing is for sure, problems never get solved if we don’t do anything. So do something, and at the very least you can then say you took steps to resolve an issue that clearly distresses you. And who knows, you may get a good result. But you won’t know unless you take those steps.
Certain requirements in relation to asbestos came into effect at the beginning of this year. If the strata is engaging tradesmen to work on the common property they most likely apply to you. The EC may wish to save money but in the end it could cost them a lot more.
I suggest for a start you call Workcover
https://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/healthsafety/healthsafetytopics/Asbestos/Pages/Legislationandasbestos.aspxSee also here
Given you lodged the costs claim with the lawyers handling the claim, and presuming there was no objection raised to the claim at the time, I think it would be reasonable for the OC to meet the costs. It is not your fault the lawyers didn’t include the claim, and the lawyers were acting for the OC.
I suggest you go to the Council and obtain the original plans for the block that were approved. The plans will show what was approved in terms of the construction etc. of that unit, including the habitable space and the balcony, as it was originally intended.
If the owner then altered the unit to enclose the balcony without Council approval then it won’t meet the requirements of the original approval, and on its face is illegal. In those circumstances a Council can issue an order for the owner to rectify/reinstate so it meets the original plans. Bear in mind that the building standards that apply to a balcony will differ in a number of respects from those that apply to a habitable space, in terms of waterproofing etc.
It is then up to the owner to deal with Council and put in an application for approval of any changes to the unit. From what you have said, it seems that the unit as it currently is does not meet Council requirements, and it would be up to the owner to do the work to bring it to any conditions the Council requires.
The configuration of the window actually sounds dangerous. In terms of the removal of the wall between the balcony and the living space, that may have been a load-bearing wall. If this is the case then the owner would have to obtain Council approval to remove it and ensure it was structurally sound.
Presuming the approved plans don’t match what is currently there, you can report it to Council and they can take enforcement action.
Workcover is responsible for workplace safety, which applies to pretty much all building sites. That has nothing to do with approving actual work/construction.
I suggest the fastest way of finding out what is required is to ring your local council – they are very helpful on things like that. I know nothing about lifts etc. but on its face there is a huge difference between a dumb waiter and a lift that carries people.
If they need to modify common property then they need your approval.
Note there are also clear council requirements re noise, for example re air conditioners or generators near habitable spaces.
You need to see very detailed plans and specifications and I believe so would the council.KP is right, as it stands you are operating under the standard by-laws which means that the two of you are responsible for the common property collectively. Having something in minutes doesn’t achieve anything, you need to resolve to pass by-laws and register those by-laws with the Department of Lands.
Also agree with KP’s advice that you should consult a lawyer. If you want to make each owner responsible for specific parts of the property, then you need to determine what they are, and that needs to be spelt out in the by-laws, because what you are doing or would like to do is giving each other exclusive use. That is not as easy as it sounds.