@chai said:Notwithstanding the pettiness of ruling that a resident cannot make the surface of their car lot easier to clean, by ensuring oil drips do not soak into the raw concrete floor, my question is whether the area inside the title boundary of a car park lot considered the exterior of a lot.
I chair an OC in Victoria and sit on another OC’s Committee. We have even sought legal advice on this type of issue. If the Plan of Subdivision states INTERIOR FACE: ALL BOUNDARIES, then without a specific notation stating otherwise, the car park airspace inside the lot boundary is interior lot property as is any paint on the floor or walls (as per inside a lot apartment). The same applies to floors and walls of lot terraces and balconies which, although actually external to the building, are interior from a title perspective.
IMO the OC Rule on external appearance will apply if the lot parking space floor can be viewed externally from outside the lot – which seems to be the case. The Rule is not part of the Victorian Model Rules. But you’ll note it only restricts lot owners or occupiers. It doesn’t restrict the OC itself from making an alteration which would presumably be at OC expense. From a practical point of view, it’s usually easier if the OC maintains car parking floors and walls. But it can ask that owners clean up oil spills etc.
An OC Committee cannot overturn a registered OC Rule in Victoria and neither can a general meeting of the OC without a Special Resolution. Special Resolutions in Victoria can be quite hard to get especially in larger stratas: they need at least 50% of the owners to actually vote (an almost impossible task in larger stratas) and to vote for the motion with no more than 25% voting against.
You could challenge the OC Rule at VCAT. Or perhaps just use a drip tray?