#18895
Jimmy-T
Keymaster

    You can have mediation without going through the Fair Trading system.  Community Justice Centres provide this service for free but the outcomes may not be legally binding.

    In the case of a dispute that has gone to a formal complaint, the Notice To Comply is served by the Owners Corp (either via the EC or the strata manager).  In this case the EC is the plaintiff, not you.

    The other option is that you or the EC can concurrently run a case at the CTTT for orders against the upstairs neighbour.  A case for CTTT orders has a compulsory mediation at the start of the case but neither side is compelled to engage in any meaningful way – you can turn up and say nothing.

    Both parties can agree to a legally binding agreement at this stage.

    If you want to go for orders and the EC doesn’t, I would go to mediation and get agreement that whoever is found to be at fault should pay the cost of the acoustic testing, to be conducted by someone of your choosing.

    This idea that the person who is suffering the noise should have to pay for the testing is nonsense.  You can tell if a floor is too noisy just by using your ears (supported by the testimony of visitors to your apartment and other neighbours, including members of the EC).

    Acoustic testing is more likely to be used by the  person who installed the hard floors to prove it couldn’t be as noisy as their neighbour claims. 

    Regarding the the question of who is the plaintiff if they don’t pay the fine, penalty disputes are specifically excluded from mediation in the CTTT orders process.  You simply make your claim for an order for them to pay any fine imposed by the CTTT.  It’s a simple matter: they were fined and they didn’t pay – what’s to be discussed?

    The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.