It has only been a couple of weeks since we heard about a new strata owners group being set up in Tasmania but we’ve already had our first curly question which, coincidentally, brings into focus a couple of major issues.
The post is about a tenant wants to install a bidet in their bathroom. They say they have contacted the rental manager and been given the OK.
Our Tassie Flatchatter wants to know if the committee is allowed to insist on a licensed plumber being used and whether or not they should ask the owner if they are okay with the installation.
Now, before anyone jumps to any conclusions, Tasmanian strata law is similar to other states’ in some ways but very different in others.
For instance, because by-laws can be approved by an ordinary resolution, the strata committee, or committee of management, to give it its proper title, can pass exclusive use by-laws.
Those exclusive use bylaws can “authorise the owner … to make specific improvements to the part of the common property to which the by-law applies (which may consist or include the installation of particular fixtures…)” However, the resolutions must be renewed at least every five years (or less).
As for a tenant asking for a change to common property… well, is a bathroom plumbing even common property in Tasmania? And what kind of bidet is this?
Hopefully our southern chums will enlighten us when we offer our opinions and, inevitably, get something wrong HERE.
Elsewhere on the Forum
- Should I tell our new strata manager about my levies debt? That’s HERE.
- How to protect your identity on Flat Chat – that’s HERE.
- What happens when someone abstains in a significant vote? That’s HERE.
- Strata committee is refusing to make an insurance claim for damage caused to my lot. That’s HERE.
- Has anyone managed to change the unfair clauses in their strata management contract? That’s HERE.
- Is the sub-floor area under a townhouse common property? That’s HERE.
How to ask and answer questions
Anyone can read our posts at any time, but you have to be registered to ask or answer questions. However, there are so many easy ways you can search, access, ask questions and reply to others’ queries once you have registered using the green “register and sign in …” box on this page.
The best way may be to click on “Forum: Your Qs & A’s” on the top menu bar or on the drop-down menu (three lines) on the screen on phones and tablets, under the Strata Choice ad. Then click on the topic title that interests you, and off you go.
Alternatively, you can click on the new “Latest Qs and As” Forum button on the top right of a computer screen or the link on the “hamburger” menu on a phone.
Or look at the list of “Your latest questions and answers” under the ads on the right of the page on a computer screen. Or at the bottom, after the ads and stories, on a tablet or phone.
finally, you can go “old school” and go to the Forum Home Page and work your way through the topics there.
Whichever route you take to get there, the best way to keep up to speed with what’s happening is to register (if you haven’t already done so), then login and subscribe for free to the topics that interest you most.
That way you’ll get an alert whenever the discussion moves forward, and you can also chip in with your own comments and questions. Have a look HERE at our instant guide to getting online.
