Hi Kiwipaul, in NSW, your advice that the EC can simply sanction permanent use of common property via a majority vote doesn’t hold. Scotlandx’s advice is correct in that a vote has to be taken by the OC at an AGM/EGM and a special bylaw would need to be drafted to determine lot entitlements and responsibilities for that piece of common property. (I’m not sure how it works in QLD).
Mikey_z4, the BCA has to be purchased, so there is no link per se (a google search of ‘mechanical ventillation in car parks’ will turn up some lifted quotes from previous years’ BCA papers used in test cases and/or superceded BCA clauses such as BCA code F4.11) however having recently been through an upgrade to our own car park, the formulae deal with car park elements in various stages (not simply the number of car allotments) by determining whether the space is entirely naturally ventilated, partially or wholly enclosed, underground, number of anticipated car movements per hour at peak loads, number of cars, the volume of the space and so on.
As to whether the EC/OC rejects your request simply because they want to (or it doesn’t suit the OC) is not actually ‘unreasonable’. Unreasonable in your eyes perhaps, but to be specific the test of ‘reasonableness’ is done on the balance of parties and outcomes, not just one concern.
Having consideration for what is at stake – your request to achieve private benefit over common property – the law states that the OC is responsible for maintaining all common property and essentially ensuring that nothing impedes insurance and other statutory requirements from being met…nothing else; so the ‘reasonable’ test is actually not to annexe common property from the use of all for the exclusive use of one, given the potential knock-on effects.
I hope that this makes sense: honestly, if I were you, I would simply look around your car park to see if any owners do not consistently have a car in their car space (there’s always some in every scheme – especially in the city) and then approach that owner with an offer to lease it from them. You will be achieving exactly the same outcome with far less angst for all concerned.