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we are in a block of 8 units, 4 of the owners want to have gas connected at their own individual expense with no cost incurred by the other lot owners. We have all agreed that ongoing costs and maintenance will remain with the unit owners. We are happy to minute this in a meeting. However the strata manager says we can not do this we have to have a by law. I rang fair trading and they said if the owners consent to the connections and the arrangements then there is no need for a by law. The agent refuses to give a letter of consent for the gas company to connect and says that we have to have a by law drafted and that they have to have an EGM at our own cost to vote on the by law and then register it at our own cost. My concern is that the agent is doing this for money. If the other lot owners agree and it will not cost other owners now or going forward and we have a legal instrument (minutes) to indicate and record such; why do we need to waste money or a by law? The agent is not advising the other owners that we need a by law and that it is to protect themselves. I have spoken to a lawyer or said that they are giving the wrong advice and that as long as we have a legal instrument and consent from other owners it is as good as having a by law registered. What is right and what is wrong and why are things so difficult, do you always have to jump through hoops to get something done! Please help.
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This is not as straight forward as it seems. I am not sure I have come across a plan where some lots have gas and other don't (or at least the capacity to connect). It is a pity that all owners did not agree to connect the gas as the gas connection from the street to the lots would have then have formed part of the common property where it crosses the CP and owner’s property after entering into the each lot's airspace. No by law would have been needed in this case in my opinion as the ongoing responsibility for the gas would be covered under the strata plan and the Act (Sec 62).
Be that as it may I think the Strata Manager is right. Also I don’t think there would be any financial incentive for him to take this stance. Minutes are not a legal instrument and remember minutes are not in perpetuity so somewhere down the track responsibility would get lost in the mists of time. A bylaw on the other hand is registered on title for all successors in title.
Connecting a utility service however to a limited number of properties in a strata plan presents all sorts of problems and I think a by-law would be very difficult to draft e.g. if you wanted to do work somewhere later or repairs were needed that required the moving, digging up or changes to the gas service running through the common property who would pay – the four owners or the OC and how would you draft this? The cost of an EGM and registering the by-law would be minimal in my view to the cost of drafting a workable by-law.
Personally I would try and get all owners to get the gas connected – it would significantly increase the value of their property and could
then be funded from the owner’s corporation funds or through a special levy.Alternatively have an EGM and vote on connecting gas through
the common property with capacity at some later date for individual lot owners to hook up if they wish at thier own expense.Our strata is just going through the same issue at present. The EC did all the legwork first so we could write a letter to the owners and offer it as an alternative, especially for hot water, once our huge ( individual ) electric hot water services break down and cannot be replaced ( after 2012 ).
We spoke to the gas company and got a gas fitter to write up a plan as to how the gas would ( or could ) be installed. As we are are mix of townhouses ( easy to install a gas connection ) a multi-storey block and 2 commercial properties – 23 units in total, this was rather complicated. We then polled the owners by mail and asked if anyone objected. Two of us are having the gas installed as I write this and we will then have a costing for other owners. We voted at an EC Meeting to have one gas fitter to do all the work, one plumber = one callout.
This is all part of our larger plan to make our units more efficient. We have installed solar to power all the common areas, lift, etc and gas was another option that we wanted in place. In other words we are trying to be pro-active rather than reactive. Gas was just one option and what swayed some people was the option to have a gas connection for their BBQ's, instead of bulky and potentially dangerous gas bottles.
May I suggest that you do the same – get the quotes, poll the other owners via mail and suggest that connection in the future is an option.
You could also mention that the potential to have gas is a good selling point for any future sale. Two of the recent purchasers in our block both asked about gas hot water and gas cooktops before they bought their units.
Jetski,
As Easty has indicated, your strata manager is correct in suggesting that the OC should pass a by-law etc.
As per s65A of the act the OC must pass a special resolution at a general meeting prior to doing the alteration, and should pass and register a by-law defining who is responsible for repairs and maintenance (typically an exclusive use by-law under s52).
The issue that you have is that while the current owners may agree with the individuals using the gas supply being responsible, unless you have the exclusive use by-law, a new owner would be within their rights to argue it’s common property and therefore the OC’s responsibility to maintain.
Interestingly at my block at home (8 units) we replaced the gravity feed hot water with 2 reticulating gas units. Total project cost for the plumbing and new hot water units was about $20k (compared with $40k for 8 new hot water tanks). As it is a multiple dwelling property Jemena was seeking that we installed the fancy metering system so that all apartments usage would be separately metered… They quoted $15,000 for this (involved installing 9 meters and a phone line etc)… The obvious response was no thanks, we will have one meter ($500).
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