@Austman said:
I’d still like to know what law(s) would apply.If one of our residents did turn the power off to another resident (and I’d hope they never would) , could and would the police take any action or would they see it as a domestic civil matter and leave it to the OC to solve?
Firstly, as we live in the age of the too-hard basket, I am 99 percent sure the police would do nothing (nor should they).
An awful lot of strata law is “untested” in higher courts so anyone who embarked on litigation would be entering unknown territory.
First the party person would have to show the power was turned off deliberately (easily done when the emergency electrician turns up and charges them triple time – about $1,000 – for the callout).
Then they would have to prove who did it. The building manager (who may have a key)? A strata committee member (who probably doesn’t)? A resident professional electrician? They apparently carry a master key that opens all power board rooms.
If they could prove it was the committee who either did it or told someone to do it, they might have a case for compensation on the bill from the emergency call-out. But if everyone involved said nothing, I can’t see that getting very far.
You can buy lock-picking equipment on the internet and watch Youtube clips on how to use it, so it could be anybody in the building. And let’s not forget who the real victims are here.
It’s probable that someone, somewhere is breaking some law when they open a power board cupboard and switch off the power to a unit without permission.
However, as we often say here, the are no StrataKops coming round to take you away – if there were there would be no problems with parties in the first place.
In strata, as in the rest of our society, there are people who define right and wrong by what they think they can get away with. So it may not be entirely legal but it’s surely fair to impose the same dubious morality on them.