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Hi there folks, a Strata Committee member in our unit block has completely renovated their apartment without permission from the Owners Corporation and in breach of our Bylaws, either cosmetic, minor or major works.
I have asked the Strata Manager to do something about this but they have refused, ignoring or passing my emails onto the SC.
Is the SM responsible or able to enforce Bylaws?
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The strata manager generally acts on the instruction of the strata committee and/or othe owners corporation. Given that the committee will recommend whether or not their contract will be renewed and they will have to work with the committee until such times as it does, a strata manager is unlikely to go “rogue” and strata prosecuting committee members off their own bat.
You should write a letter to the strata committee asking it to take action to protect the interests of all owners by:
a) ensuring the the work done is compliant with building codes
b) getting the owner of the apartment to agree to by-laws passing responsibility for any changes made to common property from the OC to them (the lot owners).
If the committee refuses to do so, or fails to do so withing two months of being requested to do so, you can go NCAT and seek orders under section 232 (2) regarding the committee’s failure to fulfil its duties.
You will have to seek mediation at Fair Trading first, in which case the committee might put its house in order before being dragged to NCAT.
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.
We can’t know what conversations the Strata Manager had, or didn’t have, with committee members. It’s quite possible that they could have told them that the renovator really needed by-laws or just committee approval for the work and was ignored.
Given that the miscreant is a member of the committee, what does the strata manager do then? They are not strata cops and to advise the committee (if that happened) and have their advice ignored puts them in an invidious position.
Yes, there are circumstances under which strata managers can issue Notices To Comply but in these circumstances that would effectively be declaring war on their employers.
The problem here is the renovating commitee member. Maybe at Mediation you can find out what was and wasn’t said to the strata committee.
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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