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Hi All
I am hoping to get some advice on the following issue I am facing with my unit.
We renovated two bathrooms and relocated a laundry from upstairs to downstairs.
The strata is now asking us to have the bylaw amended so that we are responsible for any future plumbing issues that may occur in both my unit and the one beneath, for example a burst pipe that leads to flooding.
When we did the renovation, our architect was under the impression that as we were not creating any new ingress or egress to the property, but merely extended existing plumbing services that there was no need for a bylaw amendment, but rather that all we needed was a building certificate to demonstrate that the work was professionally done and comes with a seven year builders warranty.
Can anyone please advise if we are indeed required to have the bylaw amended, that in all likelihood will have an effect on our being covered by the strata home insurance policy?
If we are, can we insist that there is a seven year limit on the bylaw based on std builders warranty as it seems unfair if there is no end date to the bylaw for both us and future owners?
Thanking you in advance
Livestrong
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@livestrong said:
Hi AllI am hoping to get some advice on the following issue I am facing with my unit.
We renovated two bathrooms and relocated a laundry from upstairs to downstairs.
The strata is now asking us to have the bylaw amended so that we are responsible for any future plumbing issues that may occur in both my unit and the one beneath, for example a burst pipe that leads to flooding.
When we did the renovation, our architect was under the impression that as we were not creating any new ingress or egress to the property, but merely extended existing plumbing services that there was no need for a bylaw amendment, but rather that all we needed was a building certificate to demonstrate that the work was professionally done and comes with a seven year builders warranty.
Can anyone please advise if we are indeed required to have the bylaw amended, that in all likelihood will have an effect on our being covered by the strata home insurance policy?
If we are, can we insist that there is a seven year limit on the bylaw based on std builders warranty as it seems unfair if there is no end date to the bylaw for both us and future owners?
Thanking you in advance
Livestrong
Livestrong, I am no expert, but why should your OC have to bear the cost of any problems that arise from the major work you have had done?
FlatChatFan said
Livestrong, I am no building or even Strata expert, but why should your OC have to bear the cost of any problems that arise from the major work you have had done?If you read through the other recent posts to other threads, you can see the sort of problems that can arise after renovations.
That is why your E.C. wants to be protected from claims for future damage.
I suggest running through each of the top listed threads from the first post to the last of each thread.
It only takes a few minutes.
Would really like to know the definition of extending existing plumbing?
I beleive in most strata plans, not only the plumbing but the tiles are considered common property. The problem is, people want to be able to renovate however they like and have someone else pay for the consequences. So, they want to replace the tiles made in China with the Italian marble tiles. But when something goes wrong, they want someone else to pay to replace the marble tiles that they did not get permission for when they did their bathroom renovation.
This is exactly why we had a by law drawn up that made the tiles and the maintenance of bathroom plumbing the responsibility of the owners. Owners wanted to be able to renovate to their hearts content, then have the OC pay for replacement/repairs if it all goes awry. Now they can put down what ever tiles they want and they will forever be responsible for it, but they still can’t change where the plumbing is or move walls etc maintaining the structural integrity of the units (we hope) without seeking approval.
If there was nothing wrong with your bathrooms, and you just wanted to improve, then it is a renovation and really to your benefit so you should be responsible. If it was a repair, then the OC would be responsible but I believe they only have to replace like with like so if you have 100 x 100 lime green tiles, they only have to find similar and then they would be responsible for ever. If you wanted a change with the repair ie 200 x 200 then they may be considered a renovation.
A nice bathroom really does sell a place. So if it was me, I would apologise profusely, and agree to the terms (by-law) and be pleased to have the place you want to live in and that someone else will appreciate in the future.
The renovations sound reasonably extensive, specifically in relation to the relocation of the laundry. Did you apply for and receive OC approval of the renovations prior to doing them? There is a standard condition which can/should be included in any approval of renovations which provides that the lot owner must ensure that the work is carried out in a professional manner and is responsible for ongoing maintenance and future maintenance of those works. This encompasses the works specified in the approval.
The reasons for that are obvious – you have done the works/improvements – therefore you should be responsible for them. The OC has no control over those works so it wouldn’t really be fair for an owner to then come back and claim that shoddy work done on behalf of an owner by a third party is the responsibility of the OC.
Couple of examples:
– you renovate the bathroom which includes installation of waterproofing membranes which subsequently fail. That is between you and the builder/plumber who installed the membrane, the OC hasn’t been a party to that.
– an owner removes an internal wall which is a retaining wall without OC approval and does not put in a supporting beam. If a subsequent owner comes along and determines that a beam is necessary, why should the OC be required to fix it, in circumstances where it didn’t even know? (this actually happened to me, so I got someone in to put in a supporting beam)
Note in relation to tiles that these are only common property if the by-laws specifically state that they are.
In relation to the 7 year building warranty – this doesn’t really mean anything once the warranty has expired. If the by-law were to fall away after 7 years then the OC would be responsible, the point is that you should be responsible for works that you have undertaken, as distinct from works that the OC has undertaken.
Note that if you don’t agree to the by-law the OC could make an application to the CTTT for an order that the by-law be made.
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