#28176
stressed
Flatchatter

    I  wholeheartedly agree with Penny Hill’s comments.

    After failed mediation, in February 2017, instigated by the OC in October 2016; I made an application to NCAT pursuant to sections 126 and 127 of SSMA 2015. The Tribunal Hearing was held on 21 August 2017 with a reserved decision, for which I am still waiting!

    I bought my unit in March 2011 in an uninhabitable dilapidated state and it is still in that state today. The OC has continually refused to authorise my internal renovations unless I wrote a common property rights by-law, previously an exclusive use and special privilege by-law, covering all my proposed works.

    In 2014 the OC eventually signed our DA, which was approved by Council and a Construction Certificate was issued. Under local Planning laws it was necessary to lodge a DA because:-

    1. the building is located in a Heritage Conservation Area and is a Heritage Item, and

    2. we wanted to remove a non load-bearing wall

    I maintained that a by-law was not necessary since we were not altering, adding to or erecting a structure on common property and there was already a building works by-law covering lot owner works. Other lot owners’ works were authorised by the OC under this by-law, prior to the new legislation coming into effect.

    I also disputed what was and what was not common property in my lot.

    Since strata legislation was first enacted in NSW, various government employees and others have been stating what is and what is not common property, without any of these pronouncements having the force of law.

    They are only opinions and assumptions which have been made ignoring logic, what the legislation states and without any real understanding of what are the structural elements of a building.

    The rights of a lot owner are subsumed by the rights of the OC. Strata Committees think they have an unfettered right to control lot owners and that a lot owner should not dare to disagree with what their strata lawyer says!

    Over the years strata lawyers appear to have had a bias towards OCs in their interpretation of the strata legislation. They have advised OCs that common property rights by-laws are required in situations where they are not necessary. 

    This bias is also evident in their interpretation of the new strata legislation. OCs are requiring lot owners to write common property rights by-laws for works which are clearly covered by the provisions of sections 109 and 110 of SSMA 2015.

    Most lot owners will write the by-law, even though they are now responsible for any problems with common property in the future which could be linked to their renovations. The only alternative is to go to NCAT and there is no guarantee of the outcome.

    Going to NCAT costs time and money, but before you can apply to NCAT, you must go to Mediation, which is a complete waste of time. The OC always has the upper hand.

    Supposedly, the new legislation, in respect of lot owner works within their lot, was enacted in order to make it easier for lot owners to do this work. Most lot owner works would involve work to a kitchen and bathroom, so why exclude waterproofing from being a minor renovation. Did the legislators still want to make it difficult for lot owners to do minor renovations in their lot?