#28736
scotlandx
Strataguru

    There is a difference between what you want, and what may in most peoples’ view be right, and what you can validly claim or get.

    It was the OC that was the party to the contract with the structural engineer, therefore it is the OC that has to pay the bill.  You can’t unilaterally enter into a contract and then turn around and ask someone else to pay it.  There may be circumstances where a person can be required to reimburse someone for costs and expenses flowing from their actions, but that is a different matter.

    On the basis of the information you have given, there are a number of gaps in the way you proceeded.  If you wanted to have the rogue renovator pay for the structural engineer’s report (and any other matters), then you would have needed to put things in place to make the owner liable, before you engaged the structural engineer.  There are a number of ways you could have achieved that, including getting an order from the Tribunal.  Or you could have gone through a process with the owner for breaching the by-laws and (possibly) the law, and agreed a form of settlement with them, that included them agreeing to pay for the report. Or you could have required them to obtain a report.  

    A big stick in the circumstances you outline is you could have advised the owner that the OC was going to require them to reinstate the common property unless they agreed to do certain things.  

    You say that you made it clear to the Strata Manager that you expected the owner to pay, but that doesn’t mean anything.  Unless you had the owner agree to pay those costs, the owner is correct, you engaged the engineer, and the owner wasn’t party to that agreement.

    It does sound like your Strata Manager is ineffectual but it isn’t just the SM, you can’t rely on things you told the SM – the issue is what was advised to the owner and what was agreed with them.