Dodgy Ceiling Collapsing. Strata or Owners Responsibility

Hello. I have been a unit owner for a year and a half and am now on EC.

The owners of one of the lots, a house adjoining the four units, recently had the ceilings collapse in one of the bedrooms.

The ceilings are highly unusual in nature, constructed from window shutters, a tiled layer above and the insulation layer above that.

The quotes to repair and replace all the ceilings, due to them being deemed also unstable, are substantial and will most certainly clear out the sinking fund.

I have had advice from various sources, i.e builders, that the ceiling replacement cost shouldn’t be the responsibilty of strata due to not complying with building code. There is also the argument that the tiles are actually the ‘real’ ceiling and the shutters could be considered a ceiling ‘treatment’, therefore do not come under common property responsibility.

The ceilings were (apparently) installed by the builder some 10 or more years ago, so claiming damages against the builder or their insurer isnt an option.

From what I can ascertain from the financial reports, this house had had more than the lions share of repairs and replacements over past years, most likely also due to faulty workmanship of the builder. Meanwhile the units sit deteriorating away in many senses due to the kitty always being drained dry.

I am sensing something very suspicious going on with this situation, especially when upon viewing the previous financial records and minutes of the plan, I find the minutes pages have been torn out of the ledger for a year in the past which incurred extremely high sinking fund  expenditures,thereby leaving what the monies from that year were actually spent on…

a mystery. I’m smelling a rat.

Please help!