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The latest news from NCAT: owners corporations are now responsible for fixing old illegal height balustrades.
https://www.lookupstrata.com.au/nsw-upgrade-that-balustrade/
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I would think it’s up to individual owners to:
- Ask the owners corp to upgrade the balustrades and
- If they either refuse or don’t respond within two months, seek mediation at Fair Trading, followed by action at NCAT seeking orders under section 232 (2) of the Act.
I haven’t heard of any cases being pursued, won or lost based on the ruling quoted in your initial email. There are no Stratakops roaming around checking balustrades. And owners may be reluctant to do the heavy lifting because they will have to contribute to the costs (and suffer the slings and arrows of outraged neighbours).
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.
Just on a quick read of that case report (not the actual case), it seems as if the appeal went in favour of the owner to have the balustrades replaced because “… the unsafe nature of the balustrade was obvious or patent and, even more importantly, the owners’ corporation knew or should have known that the balustrade was unsafe“.
So if you have not had a safety report or notice from Council indicating that your balustrades do not meet the current code, then your OC may have an argument. The way to turn this in your favour would be to either ask the engineer that does your building’s next safety report to comment on the balustrade compliance or even to commission your own report and submit that to your Strata Manager.
Phil (not-a-lawyer)
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