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Dear Flat Chatters
I have been in and out of the tribunal for six years trying to get my water ingress sorted. The hostility has been extraordinary in this battle and when we won orders to have the membrane replaced the OC installed an exposed membrane that is only fit for light traffic for ‘maintenance’ noted on the specifications. This is on my deck terrace living area where we walk and have furniture and pots and barbies, not on the roof. It is industrial in appearance, grey, like asphalt, abrasive like a giant emory board . It is laid in sheets and the sheets are undulating so the surface I am left with is uneven. Furniture and pots sit askew and wobble if placed on it. It is made of mineral particles and this sheds leaving my home sprinkled with this black confetti like substance that gets into everything. The OC refuse to cover it and we do not want to cover it our selves because we will be forced to take a bylaw making us then responsible for the membrane. Nor should we have to. Assuming they pass a bylaw as well. This area was included in over 75 items of non compliance and failure to adhere to Australian standards by the OC. It got lost in the vastness of the case and was dismissed based the fact their expert said the membrane was warrantied, as much of the other work they had done wasn’t warrantied. I believe the member was overwhelmed with the vast amount of defects to deal with and now the tribunal has set a very dangerous precedent by allowing an OC to put down what we believe to be a floor covering not fit for purpose. This has devalued our home and will probably not last due to the specifications of maintenance only traffic. Interestingly the case was during covid and over the phone which made it so much harder to communicate our issue. We were sure the tribunal would see this as a vindictive act to put down the worst looking and most uncomfortable membrane they could find and force us to have to put our hands in our pockets to cover it whilst taking a bylaw to boot. Now our home looks more like an industrial estate than a residence. We can no longer enjoy the space as it is so uncomfortable to be on. It is a large area. We asked our expert if there were any codes or regulations to support our issue and he said: no one would ever leave a membrane such as this on a residential lot so there are no codes protecting us from this action. I am writing this as I have been in the forum for years and to let you all know I am still leaking, still have not achieved a safe dry home after three sets of orders and endless extensions of time from the tribunal. I have written a submission for the strata Schemes review with so many issues I did not include this one. Which makes me laugh to myself, even I am over whelmed. On a serious note the precedent set by this membrane is a worry for all lot owners. I for one will by buying a pogo stick I will wear soccer boots with spikes and start practising irish dancing on the light foot traffic membrane as I believe my actions on my lot cannot be limited by the covering laid on it.
Best
Whoopi
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Replies
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I think we need some more information to help you
Was it just a membrane before or was there some sort of tiling over it?
Is the deck your lot property or is it common property that you are using?
What Australian standard are you referring to. Just because there are non compliance’s with some standard does not make it an OC responsibility. The Building Code of Australia changes periodically, but buildings built to an old standard are not required to be updated unless substantial works are being carried out (and changing a membrane is not substantial works)
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