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Lady Penelope. Thank you for your replies. They have been very helpful. At the AGM last week the make up of the SC changed for the better so the repressive by laws will be reviewed.
I have another problem with the same unit. After buying the property we discovered a storm water pipe has been installed INSIDE the master bedroom of our unit – it was hidden behind panelling in the top of the built-in cupboards and a lowered ceiling in the master ensuite so we didn’t see it during inspections and there was no mention of it in the strata report. Going through the meeting notes we only saw an innocuous reference to “pipe work” in our unit and it didn’t ring alarm bells.
From what we can gather the building had a plumbing emergency a couple of years ago – an internal pipe had rusted out and a lot of water was coming into a unit several floors below ours. The SC apparently came to an arrangement with the guardians of the 96 year old owner of the apartment to instal this pipe inside the Lot to get them out of trouble.
As soon as it came to our attention we sent a letter to the Strata Manager asking:
1)The legal basis for the pipe being in the unit. 2) To provide a copy of the agreement with the previous owner. 3) Why not installed on common property. 4) Is it temporary or permanent – if temporary when will it be removed 5) The insurance arrangements. 6) Access arrangements – assume building contractors would have to have 24/7 access to the apartment if the pipe failed or leaked. Presumably they would tear apart the bespoke joinery we have planned or are they expecting us to design our joinery to give them access!!!
We have received no response after three months and keep being told the SC is “seeking advice”. They have not provided a copy of an agreement with the previous owner – we suspect there isn’t one.
We have found in the OC records reference to a January 2014 Building Report which flagged the internal pipe problem recommending that an area of the roof be relevelled so the water drained to a new pipe on the outside of the building. We don’t know why this recommendation was not followed.
Do we have the right the request the removal of this pipe? What should we do?