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I was posed a tricky question by a strata manager the other day: An owner replaces the common property sliding doors on to his balcony with much more sophisticated and expensive doors, without the knowledge of the Owners Corporation.
That owner has since sold the property, the doors have broken and now the new owner wants them fixed – for much more than the originals doors would have cost – at the OC’s expense. Who should pay?
Well, I said, caveat emptor – buyer beware – and all that. The new owner should have checked that the doors had been approved by the OC when he bought the apartment.
Not so, says my pal, who is having to explain to this building’s executive committee that the fact they didn’t even know the doors were being changed doesn’t remove their legal responsibility to repair and maintain common property.
And that’s a wake-up call to any executive committee that has turned a blind eye to changes being made to bits and pieces of their building.
If, for instance, an owner in your building lays down expensive tiles on a common property balcony and doesn’t get proper approval – including agreement that they and subsequent owners will maintain and repair them – then at some time in the future you and your neighbours could have to fork out for repairs or replacement.
It’s hard enough when you weren’t even aware it was going on but if the owner told the executive committee and they just waved it through, you have no comeback when the unit’s new owner comes along and says “my expensive Italian tiles are cracking and I want them replaced like for like.”
For more background, including legal points, this topic has been given a good here in the Flat Chat Forum.
Meanwhile, you can win one of five $200 Myers gift vouchers by taking part in a survey of strata owners by the City Futures Research Centre at the UNSW Faculty of the Built Environment. You have to be in it to win it: log on to cityfutures.net.au and click on the strata survey link.
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.
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In our complex of townhouses it would be impossible to know if an owner has changed something without permission. Unless someone questioned every ute that was seen in the vicinity. So someone here could have changed the aluminium sliding doors with wood french doors – and we would have no idea! Does the EC/OC have to insist on inspections of properties to ensure nothing has been changed? Do they have to put in cameras to see if tradesmen go into a unit or if building materials are delivered? Should the OC inspect a property when it is put on the market so the new owner doesn't ask for a repair on something that shouldn't have been there?
I worked in a large company where if you changed jobs (say from paper sorter to paper filer) you had to sign a contract which stated what the company expected of you, what you had to abide by (OHS etc) and what you could and couldn't do. In that way, even if you ignored what was stated in the contract, the company could not be held liable if you did anything they warned you not to in case of injury. It also gave them cause to take matters further in other matters (ie the don't come Monday talk).
Perhaps that is what is needed for strata. When someone buys or moves into a strata complex they have to sign that they know it is strata, that they can't do this or that without permission and spell out what they can do. Why should other owners pay for expensive changes that were not approved? Or pay for repairs when unauthorised changes cause damage to common property?
Will this stop people from changing things in their unit? No, I don't think so. But it could perhaps limit the liabiliy of the OC/EC. If an owner/resident signs that they know they are in strata and know its rules, then they should be held accountable for their actions, not others.
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