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We bought a townhouse and want to renovate it. There are water ingress issues with most windows and they need to be fixed first before we start the renovations. I approached the strata manger 10 weeks ago and she said she would arrange two quotes for the committee to decide between.
I am still waiting for the second quote to be submitted to the committee. The strata manger has no sense of urgency nor any drive.
The strata committee are also quite slow to respond back to her.
This is costing me additional money as I am currently renting until the renovations are completed.
I would be grateful for any suggestions on what I can do to expedite the process please.
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I think enough time has expire for you to make an application to NCAT (or threaten to) under section 232(d)
The committee cant sit on their hands for ever.
It may be better to go to the tribunal in any case, as they can make orders which are enforceable (which a verbal agreement by the committee is not)
The orders specify what needs to be done and by when (but you have to provide the text for the orders, so a lawyer to help you draft this is useful, though the lawyer does not need to represent you at the tribunal)
I think enough time has expire for you to make an application to NCAT (or threaten to) under section 232(d)
Are you sure it’s not 232(2): Failure to exercise a function?
And the expired time would be two months.
232(2): Failure to exercise a function
For the purposes of this section, an owners corporation, strata committee or building management committee is taken not to have exercised a function if—
(a) it decides not to exercise the function, or
(b) application is made to it to exercise the function and it fails for 2 months after the making of the application to exercise the function in accordance with the application or to inform the applicant that it has decided not to exercise the function in accordance with the application.
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.
Another approach might be to claim the additional rent incurred due to the delay in fixing the leaky windows by way of damages as per s.106(5) SSMA 2015.
Warning the strata committee of this intention may be sufficient to get them moving.
It’s one of the anomalies of the complaint system that a lot owner can’t lodge a strata complaint naming the strata manger. Only the committee can be named.
Butbremember it’s ultimately the committee that directs the strata manager .
Whilstbthere are hopeless strata managers out there, there are equally hopeless committees.
Maybe the committee needs a nudge to get out of its comfort zone and look at selecting another strata manager.
Be nice. Keep at it. Put reasons behind your timing enthusiasm so they are aware there’s more to it than just you thinking they are going too slow. If they run out of enthusiasm and you feel it’s gone a bit slow you should write things in a Motion of precisely what you seek done. If that doesn’t inspire them, or it goes to pot for some reason thereafter you will have your Motion in hand as evidence you’ve tried should you thereafter seek adjudication. In Qld if they don’t vote your Motion in 6 weeks the adjudicator will consider they decided No and need reasons why, or proceed if reasonable to push it through for you.
As the secretary of a strata committee in an apartment building with a lot of repairs and maintenance required currently, I can confirm it is really hard at present to get tradespeople to provide quotes. The smaller the job the less interest. I presently approach about 5 companies for a job, with the hope of getting 2 or 3 quotes. Usually a lot of the companies approached do not even reply.
So the partial solution to your problem to to arrange 2 quotes yourself, and provide those to the strata manager and strata committee. Advise the manager you are doing this, and that may well speed them up. But otherwise, arrange the quotes, and advise the tradies that the quotes are being referred to the strata manager and committee once you get them. The strata committee at worst will end up with 2 quotes (which is now legally required for big jobs), and at best have 4 quotes.
While you are doing this, check the strata AGM minutes and the minutes of strata committee meetings. You should see your problem as an agenda item in the SC minutes, and in the AGM minutes check the building’s financial position and budget. Does the building have the money to make your repairs, or will it need to hold a general meeting to raise a special levy? A strata committee cannot sign off on a big expenditure unless all the money is in their back account, so a shortfall in levy income could also be a sign that there are other factors delaying your repairs… If your problem doesn’t appear in strata committee minutes, and if there are budgetary problems, prepare for a more complicated outcome…Does the building have the money to make your repairs, or will it need to hold a general meeting to raise a special levy?
Or raise a strata loan which shares the financial burden on owners more fairly.
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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