[Whale]

Jimmy T is correct, the Strata Manager probably refused to pay at all in the first instance because your Property Manager simply arranged for the repairs and then sent him/her the Contractor's Account, which based on my past experiences was probably made out to the Property Management Company and not to the Strata Plan.

By the way that really does annoy me, and to the extent that I flat-out refuse to pay any Third-Party Invoices that generate in this way!

Additionally, whilst it seems odd that the hotwater supply from your Unit's heater was in the backyard (Common Property?), if it was indeed the supply pipe from the heater (i.e. hot water), and that heater services only your Unit, then the entire cost of the repair was your responsibility anyway.

So far as the electricity use is concerned, if the heater is on the off-peak supply there will be a separate meter and corresponding charge on the Account. All you need to do is obtain the “same time last year” average from that Account, and reimburse you tenant for anything additional during the quarter when your Unit's hotwater supply pipe was leaking.

[Whale]

It is usual for Lot Owners' Property to start above the surface of the originally laid floor tiles, therefore the fibre-cement sheeting and the tiles would be regarded as Common Property.

To be certain though, you would need to check the Registered Strata Plan (drawing).  

[Whale]

Wow, what a mess!!

1. If the matter arising from the “outburst” was not on the Meeting Agenda, then it cannot form part of the proceedings and should not have been minuted.
2. Confirmation of the Minutes means that they're correct in all respects (which they're apparently not), and yes … if they are confirmed that does mean that whatever has been minuted about the “outburst” is correct.

If everything is as you say, then you should not confirm the Minutes and instead ask for those to be amended by deleting all references to the subject “outburst”

[Whale]

Alfred,

I don't think that the conclusion is the one you want, but the facts of the matter are that the shut-off tap is yours, the rectification of the consequential damage to the cupboard is your responsibility, and the O/C should have billed you for the repairs undertaken by their plumber. 

Sorry …. but I guess you're in front as plumbers don't work cheaply!

[Whale]

The following extract from the Service & Installation Rules (NSW) answers your query:

4.2 LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY OF SERVICE AND METERING EQUIPMENT

Service metering equipment must be located in an accessible area on common property.

The customer must make sure that access to any enclosure for meters or service and metering equipment is never restricted or made unsafe. The location must always be kept clear.

If access is obstructed the customer must remove the obstruction or relocate the service and metering equipment.

Keep rooms dedicated to housing service and metering equipment well lit, clean and unobstructed. Do not use them for storage of materials or equipment.

The door(s) of rooms and enclosures housing metering equipment must be labelled “Electricity Meters” or “Meter Room”.

Make sure the metering and load control equipment is easily accessible to electricity distributor officers within normal electricity distributor working hours.

[Whale]

Struggler is correct; the electrical fixture that's being referred to is called a “sub-board”, and it contains the fuses/circuit-breakers and isolators for each individual Lot and is therefore the responsibility of the Lot Owner.

To additionally clarify, the area where electrical meters are located is common property, and is therefore the responsibility of the Owners Corporation, as are the electrical mains as far as the sub-board. 

[Whale]

Chris,

I don't wish to question a Lawyer with your experience, but I have always acted on the premise that items such as electrical sub-boards and water supply isolating taps that are within the Lot and which service only that Lot are the Proprietors' responsibility; not Common Property.

Am I in error, or have I misinterpreted your response?

[Whale]

The costs of CCTV System varies immensely, but to give you an idea, here's what our Plan got for $5,200 installed in 2009:

1. 2 x “Longreach” Cameras with infra-red technology for night vision
2. 1 x Dome Camera
3. 1 x 4 channel (i.e. accepts 4 camera inputs) Digital Video Recorder (DVR) with 1 terabyte hard drive
4. 1 x Modem

The DVR that we purchased features remote internet access to streaming video (live) and to playback and/or download any of the 28 days video records that is stored on the hard drive at the “high” quality setting (lower quality “frames/sec” provides more storage). 

Be careful about the country of manufacture and to the availability of accredited service technicians; we purchased from NESS Security; a local manufacturer.

[Whale]

Apart from the fact that you and other residents should not improperly utilise visitor parking, and in NSW you could be fined up to $550 for doing so should your Owners Corporation take you to the Consumer, Trader, and Tenancy Tribunal — whilst private organisations can indeed issue parking fines, they are totally unenforceable; it's a bluff!!   

[Whale]

I just realised that a key part of your post had not been answered, and that relates to the absence of any approval procedures for the purchase and installation of the CCTV System at your Plan.

Whilst I’m not sure that you need a Special By-Law as Jimmy T suggests (we didn’t go that far), a significant purchase such as CCTV could have been authorsied by the Executive Committee, but it should have been resolved at a General Meeting of the Owners Corporation (O/C).

If you continue to have no success with your Plan’s Strata Manager, I’d ask again, and if you’re in NSW inform him that you will be making a request to examine the O/C’s Records under S108 of the Strata Schemes Management Act; that should stir them up! 

[Whale]

We installed CCTV at our Plan 4 years ago, and have since successfully used it on many occasions to identify breaches of our security system (e.g tampering with auto. gates at carpark entry and exit) and to identify departing residents who dump surplus materials (e.g mattresses) in the bin area.

So I can confirm Jimmy T's summation, and add two other points to consider:

1. The cameras should not invade resident's rights to privacy in their units, so avoid positions that look directly at entry doors and windows;
2. Compliance with the NSW Workplace Surveillance Act (2005) requires that Owners Corporation's (O/C) and Residents provide advice of the surveillance to all contractors that they engage to work on the property. Our O/C covers that by placing a small CCTV symbol followed by a brief note on the bottom of all Work Orders that it issues. 

Hope this helps.

[Whale]

I use an internet-based financial system called Xero (www.xero.com). It's very very good, particularly as it accepts feeds directly from your Scheme's Bank Accounts, so reconciliation is a breeze, and it's invoicing (for Levy Contributions) and reporting capabilities are absolutely first class once you have set everything up.

The only problem is that Xero's fees are based on the numbers of accounts receivable transactions that you have (Levy Notices in your case), so depending upon how many Lots there are in your Plan and how that number sits within Xero's charging bands, their fees may be attractive or otherwise.

We pay $49/month for a 27 Lot Plan.  

[Whale]

                                       — UPDATE — 

I made a Claim against the Owners Corporation (O/C) based primarily on the fact that it hadn't properly maintained the Common Property under S62 of the Act.

I was prepared to put a Statement of Claim before the Court System, but eventually the O/C itself made a Claim against it's Building Insurance (Liability) and I today received an Offer of Settlement in the full amount of my Claim.  

Thanks to all those who provided advice!! 

[Whale]

Thanks for the confirmation Jimmy T; I have one difficult Proprietor who is now affected by a Special By-Law that was voted upon under that methodology in 2006, and who now wants to make a fuss 2 weeks out from this year's AGM, which by the way he finds it too inconvenient to attend.

As a further query though, this Proprietor wants me to supply him with a copy of the Strata Roll so that he can off-load on each one of those Proprietors about his grievances.

I was proposing to agree, but the other members of the EC have suggested that this Proprietor should put those grievances to me (as Secretary) so that we can jointly attach a response to whatever assertions he makes before mailing everything out. One other Member (a Lawyer) is concerned about privacy, and she wants the aggrieved Proprietor to apply to view the Strata Roll et al under S108.

I'd appreciate any advice from the Professionals.   

[Whale]

The Model By-Laws were in place from 1996 to 2010, so it's most likely that they would apply to your Scheme; and as you've confirmed, they do.

So what to do?

Rather than approaching your fellow Owners directly (I assume they're all Owners), I'd adopt the sensible argument that you suggested.

Ask your Strata Manager or Executive Committee Secretary to write to the individual Lot Owners concerned, and advise them that for reasons of maintaining the Building's appearance to the benefit of every Owner, and to comply with the Plan's By-Laws (if the Lot Owners have themselves planted anything) the Plan's Contractor will be trimming the hedges. Maybe ask them if they have any preference regarding how that trimming will be done; as a point of negotiation / conciliation.

If that approach fails, speak with all the other Owners, and if they feel the same way as you do put the above as a Motion on the Agenda of your Plan's next General Meeting. If your AGM is too far away and / or if the majority concern is important (i.e. to you and the other Owners), ask the Secretary to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) as soon as possible and put your Motion there.

Good luck!

[Author]

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