It’s a grey area of strata living – is a strata plan a collection of homes or effectively a business? And if it is a business, do we have to abide by business laws?
QUESTION: We are in a block of about 30 units including three shops. Last year our strata managers introduced an annual fee of $440 to vet the Occupational Health and Safety credentials of our casual tradesmen.
We have now been told by our strata managers to pay an additional $765 for an annual OHS Risk Report or face fines up to $825,000 and/or two years jail.
This is the first we have heard of these requirements. Is our Owner’s Corporation a “controller of premises” as defined in the OHS Regulations or are we being had?
LF, Sydney
ANSWER: Welcome to the twilight zone of residential and commercial strata. I punted this question straight to a couple of strata managers and they said that, as you have three shops, your strata comes under OHS legislation as employees of those businesses will be using common property.
However, there’s a school of thought that says no strata plan, even without commercial units, is exempt, as someone in a unit might be doing e-business from it, or use it as their office from which to run, say, a lawn mowing service.
Apparently the Institute of Strata Titles Managers recently got a legal opinion about whether strata plans fall under OHS legislation and the answer was effectively yes, we all do.
On the question of fees from your strata manager, contractors have to be checked to make sure they have proper licences, public liability insurance and workers comp cover.
Many strata managers charge the contractors for the checks, with the trade-off being that they put them on their list of approved contractors. Some strata managers charge the strata schemes for the checks, especially if they want to use contractors who are not on the pre-approved list.
If you feel you are being overcharged ask around and find out what other strata managers in your area do. You may be able to negotiate a lower fee from your strata manager or, if they are way off the scale, use their inflated fees as grounds for giving them the flic