The question of common property and whether or not you can access it has come up in a couple of questions this week.
In the first, a committee member suspects that his scheme has been over-quoted for revamping the bathroom ventilation system and wants to have a look at the ceiling voids to see if there might be a more efficient or economical way of resolving the issue.
His committee has told him that the ceiling space is common property, so no, he can’t stick his head up there for a quick look round.
The other question comes from almost the opposite direction and it concerns common property lift lobbies that are exclusively used by the single apartments on each floor.
Since no one else can access their lobbies, owners have taken to decorating them in keeping with the décor inside their apartments.
In fact the one on the top floor, nearest the access to the roof and the lift mechanism, wants to stop tradespeople from taking the lift to their floor to access areas where maintenance is required, saying they should get their via the nine floors of fire stairs. Even worse, they are threatening to sue for trespass.
In the case of the access to the ceilings, I would say the committee has the right to refuse private inspections but they are foolish to do so. Even so, the dissenting member is justified in asking why, and wondering if there is a hidden agenda. You can chip in on that HERE.
Regarding denying access to the lift lobbies, it has a whiff of entitlement and privilege, not to mention not knowing the difference between private property, common property and exclusive use.
We have two such areas in our building and the owners have been told they can decorate them any way they want, but they have to remember that they are also access to key areas in the block. You can take a lift to that floor HERE.
Also in the Forum, one reader wants to know how they can get a by-law to ban smoking when one of the four owners has the votes to block it. We explain why they may not need one HERE.
Another Flatchatter is frustrated by their committee, especially when they have been told not to contact the strata manager and ask for the strata roll in their capacity as a committee member. They have to go and view it as an ordinary owner. It sounds like a combination of both parties misunderstanding and misinterpreting owners’ rights. That’s HERE.
And talking of contacting strata managers, can the committee ban ordinary owners from doing it? That’s HERE.
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Forum: Can owners and tradies be banned from accessing common property and can they be prevented from talking to the strata manager?
[See the full post at: Forum: Common property and common sense]
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