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We live in a block of 12 units. The residents upstairs have a well behaved large dog. During the colder winter months the owner of the dog has taken to using the balcony for the dog to relieve itself at about 4am each day.
The balcony doors are noisy with faulty rollers and wakes us up. Later that morning the balcony is hosed down and drains in front of our garage door, with staining, and flows into the stormwater down to the street and ultimately Coogee Beach.
I checked with Council about stormwater runoff and a ranger from Randwick Council was excellent in their response last week by meeting with the resident about the matter but nothing has changed – I was woken up again at 4.30am this morning.
I have written to the Strata Committee who said they would arrange mediation through the strata manager but this has not happened. I emailed again today requesting action on this matter and have offered to contact the resident directly but was previously told by the Chairperson that they would look after things. What can I do?
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The first thing that occurs to me is that it’s the door, not the dog, that’s the major problem. From what you say, the runners need to be replaced. That’s an owners corp responsibility and they should get on to it pronto before the rollers damage the tracks.
Generally speaking, however, your committee has two months to respond (or not) before you can begin action to compel them to do something under Section 232 (2) of the Act.
But I would think fixing the door runners and retraining the dog (there are professionals who will do that) may be the best way forward.
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.
Surely it’s the owner who’s the major problem? Allowing their dog to urinate directly on the balcony and then hosing it onto the lower levels cannot be considered acceptable in any way.
The owner should get the dog to wee on a pad/newspaper and then dispose of them properly as they surely do for its excrement.
That the noisy door announces the commencement of the wee issue surely compounds the whole matter?
As for the timing, well the dog isn’t the only animal that needs to empty their bladder in the early morning. 😉
You could be right but in my experience, what’s easier to fix, in descending order, is doors, dogs and dolts.
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.
Keeping of the pet should have conditions set when the committee approved it. I doubt midnight leaking on the balcony would be agreed so it’s likely a by-law breach. In Qld you send a form 1 to your committee outlining what you feel is the breach, and they then have 2 weeks to get it addressed if it is – if they don’t proceed to adjudication. If it not finalized it risks being a fined offense if it gets to a Magistrates court. You might suggest ways forward but you don’t really care so long as the issue is resolved to your satisfaction. If not: rinse and repeat. but allow this to be the committee’s problem to solve, not yours.
Larry lives in Sydney (I removed the suburb because it too closely identified the building – my bad!).
The dog owner would only be in breach if there was a by-law covering the canine urination (rather than there not being a by-law or clause allowing it). And it may well be that their pet by-laws cover the animal’s behaviour.
That said, the balcony is common property so the strata committee should be able to find something on the books for which he could be pinged.
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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