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I asked my strata manager for some when we wanted to create an aircon by-law. It was very helpful to have these.
I’ve read through the responses and it sounds possible that the panels might not contribute to the insurance premium. Bear in mind though that if you make a claim (let’s say your panels are damaged in a storm), the premiums will go up and the conversation will open up again.
Broy10 – please let us know how you’re going with this.
I think this would be worth an initial discussion with the contents insurer. But read both insurance policies and the answer may become clear. For $5K it may be worth just paying. Any claim is likely to result in a higher premium.
My strata manager recently published this blog post about forthcoming changes to fire regulations in NSW. The post does not say whether all buildings will have to comply but I suspect even older buildings might have to given the intent of the legislation. I clicked on the link in the post to see the inspection schedule and unless I’m mis-reading something, it’s insane. MONTHLY inspections of fire alarms. Six-monthly for portable fire extinguishers. These measures are pretty onerous, and expensive. I’m posting here as the OP might like to look over this and look into the new legislation (coming next year). https://jamesons.com.au/blog/upcoming-fire-safety-legislation-changes-what-strata-owners-need-to-know/
Yes. Roof, external walls and those downpipes are all common property.
I don’t know anything about the standards, but if the OC wants to know if the doors meet the standards, then they can ask.
If you have a strata manager, then you should be able to get a copy of correspondence relating to the original permission. The previous owner may have had to submit details of the contractor and there may have been a specific instruction about who has ongoing responsibility for maintaining those doors.
Assuming you have responsibility for the doors, you can remind the OC that it gave permission for the upgrade, and the cost/value of those doors was included in the price you paid for your apartment, and you want those doors retained. Until you’ve had that conversation, I’m not really sure what else you can do.
What is the major project? If it’s remedial and urgent, then they’d have to be able to get it done. If it’s a nice-to-have then you’d hope to see some sort of planning, but I don’t know what the requirements are. I’m interested to hear what others say.
Good response.
I used to work as a government auditor, and I have a lot of experience in auditing whether particular staff have a conflict of interest and whether it was handled correctly if they do.
There is nothing inherently “bad” in a conflict of interest – no one should ever be afraid or declaring one. What is “bad” is if someone has a conflict and doesn’t declare it because that means others involved in voting don’t know the full situation so they are voting based on partial information.
I’ve been reflecting on this and wondering when it’s sufficient to simply declare an interest and when it’s necessary to not participate in decision making. In government circles something like (iv) would require the individual to exclude themselves, despite their connection with the proposal being indirect, as scotlandx points out. Perhaps the private sector is different. To the extent that there’s nothing in the Act about this situation it clearly is.
If someone declares a conflict of interest, it should really be up to the others in the meeting to determine whether the conflicted person leaves the discussion. The conflicted person may not want to, but if others feel that “something is wrong” then they should be able to ask the conflicted person to step outside.
In the case of a renovation, I would want all owners to participate in the discussion so that everyone could ask questions and get answers. The plans put forward may impact other owners too. The timing of renovations might impact some else’s plans to sell their own apartment. Do all these people need to step outside? My view is that all those voices are needed in the room contributing to problem-solving in order to achieve the best possible outcome.
I think the intent of the legislation was to prevent someone using their strata scheme to advance their own business interests (a painting business, a strata management business, an insurance brokerage business) but the wording in the legislation is too broad.Apologies Jimmy. I typed out my post using my iphone and hit “submit” and nothing happened. So I hit submit again and again nothing happened. So I logged into my laptop and typed my post again and submitted, and all three posts appeared for moderation. I couldn’t see a way to delete two of them, so I edited them and replaced the text wtih an “x” so it could be clear to you that they weren’t needed. Thanks for approving the reply containing the substance and not getting so cranky that you deleted it as well. (I did put a note about the “submit” issue in the field where you can type a reason for editing, but you might not have spotted that).
We are all flawed humans. Love your work.
Is it strictly necessary for a by-law to be registered by a lawyer? Give Fair Trading a call and ask. And if you think the Strata Manager and lawyer between them are charging like a wounded bull, try something like http://www.diybylaws.com.au. Note that Bannerman’s is behind it, but maybe it’s a cheaper option. If you’re the person paying, you should be able to choose who provides you with the service.
First, check the by-laws to see if rules about the storage cage is mentioned specifically. If it’s not, I’d be leaving my stuff there until someone asks you to remove it. But to be fair, label it with your name, apartment number and a way of contacting you. Also you shouldn’t really be taking up more than 1/21 of the space. No one should dispose of your property without giving you 28 days notice (I found this out from a Fair Trading web page after a tenant moved out of our building, leaving us with piles of whatever stuff he didn’t want to take with him).
I don’t know what you’re “entitled” to do, but it seems like some communication with your Committee would be in order – letting them know that you’ve had new and special doors installed (with permission?) and there is no need to replace them. If they have to be temporarily removed for the purposes of doing the balcony work, then you’d like them replaced with the same. This should be a reduction in cost for the overall project (one less set of doors to provide) so I can’t see why they’d object, unless you did this original work without permission. If that happened, the OC is “entitled” to require you to revert to the same doors as everyone else.
The other thing to negotiate is who replaces your special doors if they get broken during the work. At worst, the OC should pay for new doors of the same kind that everyone else is getting, and you would pay the extra to upgrade to the special ones that you want.
If you don’t already have a by-law in place that says 1) you have permission to change your balcony doors and 2) you are responsible for maintaining those doors going forward (not the OC), then this is probably the time when that by-law needs to be put in place. The by-law should also state who is responsible if the doors are broken by the OC or the OC’s contractor – that might all happen too late for this project but will help you in the future if other work impacts those doors.
One final thing – if your doors are broken during the work, the OC may be able to claim on insurance. But a claim can have far-reaching consequences. Premiums go up, insurers refuse to reinsure simply because there has been a claim. And the OC may refuse to do this if they never gave permission for these doors in the first place. And you might not be able to claim if there is no by-law stating that you are responsible for maintaining the doors.