@writer said:my elderly mother lives in a small block of villas all owner occupied by other elderly residents. she now needs a hand rail just outside her front door to safely walk down a small sloping path (a metre or two at the most i think) to the footpath. since this would be on common property she thought the body corporate might pay for it, especially as the body corporate has paid to have paths installed for some of the residents at their request around their villas. she has enqiured (with the body coprorate manager i think) and been told she will have to foot this expense as it is for her personal use, so she asked me to write on her behalf to get some advice/clarification. thanks for any help.
Hi Writer,
It would seem that the location of the proposed handrail is within common property. Your mum has every right to raise the request, however the Owners Corporation would only have an obligation to install the handrail if it was required under the BCA at the time of the original Construction approval. Of course any OC may at its discretion have a handrail installed, however most would not want to set a precedent and/or create complaints from other owners that the OC is spending their money on issues that are not legitimate maintenance or upkeep issues.
You are also correct in that your mum if on being advised that the OC is not prepared to install the handrail can make application to the OC to allow her to have the handrail installed at her cost. Always remember that no owner may modify or add to the Common Property without the consent of the OC. I think for such a small item the need to lodge a DA application with Council could be over looked.
Hope this helps to understand the options and the rules.
Chris Mo’ane
GMD
Integrated Building Consultancy