› Flat Chat Strata Forum › Common Property › Compensation for inconvenience › Current Page
To TrulEConcern
You wrote that your solicitor stated that:
The strata map shows a vinculum between the balcony and the lot concerned.
In my opinion that fact is irrelevant to the issue of the balcony floor as common property and its structural defects.
An explanation of the lines on a strata plan:
Thick or dark lines:These lines refer to structural common property walls and are the owners corporation responsibility to repair and maintain. They include tiles, as well as the structure. Painting and wallpaper are not included and are the owners responsibility to repair and maintain.
Fine or thin lines: These are boundary lines marking the boundary of the lot. You will notice that they may be fences or the boundary of your carspace.
Curved lines: This curved line is called a ‘vinculum’ and relates to two parts of a lot that are joined together. You may see these on a plan joining a courtyard or balcony to a lot. That, however, would make the airspace of the balcony part of the lot, not its actual structure.
It should be noted that all floors, ceilings and stairways are common property except if the strata plan states otherwise or a special by-law has been registered.
Below are two documents which may help you to understand the differences between slabs and walls and boundaries and how the common property issue fits into these elements:
https://rgdirections.lpi.nsw.gov.au/strata_schemes/miscellaneous/pre_1974_plans
And
https://rgdirections.lpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/143078/Strata_Plans_Fast_Facts.pdf