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I’m a strata committee member. An unauthorised balcony to bedroom renovation was done approximately 10 years ago, by the current owner. (Yes, I know, whoever was on the EC back then should have acted). The strata manager says that not much can be done about it now. I was thinking that if this owner does not agree to a by-law, then perhaps when it comes to listing the property for sale, our OC could try the previously recommended path of Fair Trading mediation and NCAT order to stop the sale and hopefully get a by-law at the end? I’m also wondering if Council approval would have been required for the balcony conversion? Is the strata manager correct, or can the OC still take action to get a by-law, 10 or so years after the unauthorised renovation was done?
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I’ll offer my 2 cents’ worth.
You ask if Council approval was required?
The easiest way to find out is to ask your Council
(a) If approval for such works is needed. Or more correctly, “was needed” at the time the works were done; and
(b) If Council approval was needed, it’s an easy job for the Council to itemise DA and BA applications by a strata scheme and share with you whatever papers were lodged and whatever the Council decided. If approval was needed, it would be the strata scheme in its name who needs to seek approval and not an individual lot owner.
Once you establish the above facts, you are then better able to tackle your situation.
The strata manager says that not much can be done about it now.
Not much can be done if you do nothing. How about you offer the owner the choice between agreeing to a by-law that passes responsibility for the balcony to them, or they resinstate the balcony to its previous state at their expense. When they refuse, take it to NCAT. Asking them to take responsibility for work that they did illegally is a prefectly reasonable request
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.
In the type of case described it is the owner who would seek Council approval, but the OC would have had to approve the application to Council, i.e. it needs the OC seal (am assuming this is NSW).
So it is unlikely the Council approved the works. But you can check by having a look at Council records for the property.
Jimmy is right – the OC can require the owner to reinstate the balcony, so I think the easiest route is for the owner to agree to a by-law. That leaves the matter of Council approval, and if I were the OC I would be requiring that as well.
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