It’s time your neighbours learned the facts of strata life, one of which is that they have an almost unlimited responsibility to maintain and repair common property.
Now, they can continue to dig their heels in but you or any owner could toddle along to Fair Trading and NCAT and seek orders requiring the Owners Corporation to fulfil its legal obligations.
If it gets to NCAT, one serious problem is that the Members have it within their powers to appoint a statutory manager who will take over from the owners and start making decisions which could turn out to be very expensive indeed – and much more so than the current estimates.
Be clear on this, failure to maintain common property is one of the key factors in NCAT deciding that a strata scheme is seriously dysfunctional and may well trigger the appointment of a statutory manager whether you want one or not.
Right now the owners have the opportunity to fulfil their obligations in a way that suits the majority, and that could mean, for example, a phased work schedule financed by a special levy or a strata loan (or a combination thereof). Failure to do anything could very easily result in being ordered to pay for work which is more expensive, on a time schedule that suits no one and where there is no opportunity to negotiate compromises.
It’s time your neighbours got their heads out of the sand. I’m sure someone will come out and say that they can do what the majority wants – usually a bloke whose cousin once met a lawyer at a barbecue – but they have legally enforceable obligations and if they won’t face up to them, the Tribunal is highly likely to appoint someone who will.
And if that argument doesn’t convince them, seek mediation at Fair Trading and maybe then they will take you seriously.