Can you ban monster utes from your car park?
Have things been getting a bit squeezy in your apartment parking lots recently? Are you one of those unfortunates who have to push your Toyota Corolla in and out between…
Podcast: Inside a strata disaster … a pet ban backfires
I am occasionally asked how come I ever got into writing about apartment living. After all, I’m a published author, have been a reasonabIy successful TV scriptwriter and occasionally still…
Flat Chat Wrap #9 – How a pet ban led to the birth of Flat Chat
Jimmy and Sue look back at the first time they bought off the plan … and how it led to Flat Chat
Roundup: Strata chair blocks Airbnb by-law vote
Can anyone give us a definitive answer on whether or not it’s OK to pass by-laws banning Airbnb? We ask because this week we received an email from a Flatchatter…
Opal report targets beams as well as panels
Significant rectification works will be needed in the beleaguered Opal Tower in Sydney’s Olympic Park.to repair and strengthen damaged hob beams and in some cases the panels that rest on…
Lambert lambasts NSW government over defects
By Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson The NSW Government-appointed expert who wrote its report into building industry standards says that had his 2016 recommendations been followed, the Opal Tower crisis,…
Roundup: An answer for both the Opal and Airbnb
Hold your applause, folks, but I think I’ve come up with a solution to both the Opal Tower crisis and the blight of Airbnb on our apartment blocks. See, maybe…
Why strata needs to get out of Fair Trading NOW!
The highly publicised problems at the Opal Tower in Sydney have brought some much-needed attention to the issue of new apartment blocks with serious defects. They have also generated a…
Podcast: The truth about the whole defects disaster
If you think you’ve heard everything there is to know about the cracks crisis at the Opal Tower in Sydney, and the whole defects disaster in NSW and Australia as…
Flat Chat Wrap #8 – The crumbling Opal Tower and the whole defects disaster
JimmyT and Sue Williams ask the questions everyone else is avoiding, and provide the answers people need to hear, about the Opal Tower in Sydney and the whole defects disaster…
It’s the system, not the certifiers, say engineers
By Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson Someone will have to die before the NSW Government properly fixes the system for making sure high-rise buildings are constructed safely, a leading Australian…
Unit owners face defect bills of $100k-plus EACH
The residents of the Opal building don’t know how lucky they are. The fact that they have both high-profile and respected developers and builders involved – plus the public attention…