One of the scariest potential costs in strata – especially in old buildings – are fire safety orders.
Older buildings were not built to the same fire safety standards as new ones, but they were also constructed differently. For instance, timber stairs were common, especially in buildings that were converted from mansions, schools or hotels.
Add the modern concept of fire safety, and the related regulations, to the added risk from older buildings’ construction and you are looking at a substantial cost to bring everything up to standard.
Now, the rule of thumb is that if you aren’t planning any building work that requires council approval, you can leave things as they are.
But isn’t that missing the point? Are we avoiding the pain of special levies by ignoring the risk of the building and its occupants going up in flames?
Fire safety regs are there for a reason – to protect people from fire.
One Flatchatter has sparked comment by asking if it makes sense to take pre-emptive action to make the building a bit safer before they are ordered to go the whole hog by the local Council. That’s HERE.
Elsewhere on the Forum
- What is a stratum and what do its restrictions mean? That’s HERE.
- An updated guide to strata in the ACT has been published. That’s HERE.
- Can you ask for a compulsory strata manager to be appointed to replace the Owners Corp, but with limited powers? That’s HERE.
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