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We have just received our latest water account for the block. It is almost double our last account. We cannot identify a reason for the sudden increase. Are there any restrictions on cleaning cars in our car park? Car parking is all allocated on Common Property . It is not on title.
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There is no way anyone reading this forum can know what restrictions there are in your building – everyone’s by-laws are potentially different.
However, if I were you I would start looking for leaks somewhere around your building – not only would it be wasting water, energy (for the pumps) and money, a serious water leak could be damaging common property.
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.
There are three (3) ways by which your Plan’s water usage charges can increase:
1) a change to the charging parameters
2) an increase in usage charges
3) an increase in water consumption.
Most Water Utilities (in NSW) recently made changes to items (1) and (2) by in the first instance replacing a stepped tariff where consumers paid one price for each kilolitre (kL) used up to a threshold and a higher price for each kL used above that threshold, to a flat-rate tariff for the lot, and in the second instance by increasing the amount of that flat-rate tariff.
Your Plan’s Water Account should incorporate a graph that shows the average daily consumption for the current and past billing periods, so check for a real increase in the water usage as opposed to an increase in the invoiced charges.
You may find that your Plan’s water usage hasn’t increased, or if it has, the amount of any usage increase (kL/d) may be much less than the invoiced increase ($).
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