Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
Changes that alter the appearance or surface of the common property (in this case the wall opposite the lift) require approval by special resolution at a general meeting.
Ideally, she should get a couple of quotes (the Committee may prefer to get it’s own quotes, but as a Committee member, I find it helpful if an owner who wants something done contributes to the work), and she would make a request in writing to have the rail installed. She might consider putting forward several options with prices: a standard “disability” type of rail or something stylish and in keeping with the general decor that would still meet her needs.
I’m not sure what she should do if the Committee ignores her request (it’s important that the request is in writing, and dated). If there is a strata manager, she can get advice from that person on next steps if she doesn’t hear from the Committee. If all goes well, a general meeting will be called and a motion put forward to install the rail.
If the Committee is being difficult, an offer to pay for the rail and installation might help.
Could your friend arrange his/her own quote of just one bathroom ventilation fan (his or her own) and see how that compares with the quote that has been provided for all of the vents?
There may be fire safety requirements that mean this is not simple. Or it could be the usual story of everything costing more in strata because strata is seen as a honey pot. Some lot owners in my building recently had recessed lighting installed without approval. When the Committee found out, it asked for a Fire Safety inspection to ensure the ceiling penetrations were done in the proper way. The recessed lights had been installed by a licensed electrician, but they didn’t meet some fire safety standard or other. So they all had to be removed and the holes sealed up and re-inspected. Big cost to the lot owners.
My view is that accessing common property in a building is not an “emergency” situation. Those foyers should be available to everyone because if there is an actual emergency, you might need neighbours to come and help and they can’t if they don’t have access.
It’s nice that everyone can decorate the common area outside their own apartment how they like, but those are common areas and it’s unfair that trades can’t get up there without walking. Also all those “decorations” – do those owners have permission via by-laws to install items in the common areas?
The quick fix is to change the security on the lift so that everyone can reach every floor. If owners complain, explain that they are actually required to remove all fittings and fixtures from the common area foyers (at their own expense, and returning the walls and floors to their original state), but the Committee will overlook this so long as the lift can open on every floor.
Any owner is allowed to contact the strata manager. In many OCs, this is preferred as Committee members may not want their contact details shared with other owners.
That said, there are reasons why your Committee might not want you contacting the strata manager directly. For a start, this costs money if the strata manager sees your email as an “extra service” and the Committee may be tightly managing costs. The Committee might also be in dispute with the strata manager for some reason and wanting to manage communications while the dispute is ongoing.
As the only lot owner who lives in the building, it would be wise for you to get onto that Committee.
Don’t assume it will be easy to even get bespoke insurance for this situation. In my building, we had a claim a few years ago for a burst pipe that caused some damage. The result is that when we went looking for insurers to quote, most said they were not interested in insuring us.
I’m really peeved with the insurance industry at present. We hear stories about uninsurable properties in flood zones and so on, but we don’t hear much about insurers that simply can’t be bothered to insure someone because their situation doesn’t fit into a standard model. I’ve heard it said that you can always get insurance – it just depends on how much you want to pay. I don’t believe that any more.
See if you can negotiate with your supplier to move forward without the strata seal. I’ve done that in the past. It’s just a few doors – why would the installer care if they have a strata seal or not? Presumably you’re paying for this work.
Our building has 6 apartments and we’re paying about $12K insurance. Our broker asked about 10 companies to quote and all but 2 declined. We made a claim 2 years ago (for a few thousand dollars – some burst water pipes caused some damage) so now we are considered high risk.
How do you apply for a DA without informing the other owners? Is this NSW? If so, the DA is supposed to be announced to all and sundry via a notice on the outside of the building. If it isn’t, you have grounds to appeal to Council that the DA was improperly advertised during the exhibition period.
I also don’t know what you mean by “…despite the owner, who is on the SC and is not an owner…”. Too many owners, SCs and acronyms to make sense of your post. SC can mean both Strata Chair and Strata Committee. It’s confusing.
I agree with strataact – it’s probably a line item that helps to reduce the general service fee or whatever your strata manager calls it. Could be a way for them to divide up their own costs in managing GST, payroll tax etc.
Ask them for a detailed breakdown on how those fees were spent. And if it’s all about lodging a nil return, then consider Jimmy’s suggestion.
BTW I asked our strata manager to explain in detail some items on our statement and it took months. They really didn’t want to justify themselves. Turns out we had been charged for some very sloppy and ultimately useless work they had done for us. They ended up waiving the fee as a “gesture of goodwill.” But more importantly, questioning them and continuing to chase the question up over several months sent a message that we’re watching them and we won’t pay for shoddy work.
OptusJo, I don’t know what you’re referring to when you say you had to fill something in to become part of the “Board of Directors.” So my comment here may be irrelevant. I have asked our Strata Manager to send notices (things like the date of a Fire Safety inspection) to my property manager who manages my rental flat. It seems that if I nominate my property manager to receive these trivial notices, then ALL my mail has to go to the property manager. That includes invoices for levies, notices asking me to vote on something . . . everything. Strata Manager says that’s legislated – I can only have one person nominated to receive notices, and that one person has to receive ALL notices.
So if your name is something-or-other in some system that relates to your property, it may be impossible to change it for other/different dealings you have with the strata manager.
This is the relevant NSW government page about this. https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/rules/connection-and-supply-of-water-to-rental-properties#water-efficiency
If you’re in NSW, you can’t charge a tenant for water unless your property meets water efficienty measures. “The landlord must be able to demonstrate that the relevant taps, shower heads and toilets in the property meet water efficiency measures.” I don’t know how you demonstrate that without a compliance report of some kind, unless you have the means to measure these devices yourself. If I were the property manager, I would ask for a compliance report. Or you can do what I do and just pay for the water yourself (and claim it as an expense on your tax return).
Sounds like you can’t submit your proxy on the day of the meeting. If you could it would say “first meeting … held on or after the date that the authorisation is delivered.”
It sounds petty not to allow an authorisation to be delivered at the start of a meeting, but delivering it the day before possibly gives the Secretary time to check that the proxies are valid and to address any issues. I’ve had to deal with on-the-spot proxies in a non-strata AGM where 200 people turned up and about 50 were on-the-spot proxies. It was chaos.