Respectfully Holding a Party or Get-together in Strata

Most by-laws have a law in them relating to noise. If you have a situation like the one described where the BBQ is very close to the units, it is easy to imagine this by-law being breached.

Food smells aren’t usually covered under the by-laws, although they often are a source of complaint. However, smells can be classified as a nuisance, and the body corporate or the affected owners could look to take action on that basis. Section 167 of the Act states:

Section 167 Nuisance

The occupier of a lot included in a community titles scheme must not use, or permit the use of, the lot or the common property in a way that—

1. causes a nuisance or hazard; or
2. interferes unreasonably with the use or enjoyment of another lot included in the scheme; or
3. interferes unreasonably with the use or enjoyment of the common property by a person who is lawfully on the common property.

The smoke drift from the BBQ could also fall into this category. If it was severe enough, the smoke drift could perhaps be classified as a hazard, which would help escalate any complaint.

So, if lots close to the BBQ are having an issue, there may be some legislative grounds to take action. They can make a complaint to the body corporate, and the committee can consider what action to take.

The other side of this is that as the body corporate has a common property BBQ, there is some expectation that people will use it. If you were an occupant at the site who used the BBQ for a quiet family gathering one day, you might be quite annoyed to get a letter from the body corporate advising that the smell from your BBQ had breached the legislation. You might well ask why the body corporate had a common BBQ in place if it was going to complain about people using it.

As such, I think the committee may need to evaluate whether the BBQ should stay in place or whether it could be removed. Alternatively, maybe there should be some clear rules around using the BBQ – times of use, cleaning requirements and so on. If there is a middle ground where reasonable use of the BBQ can be established, it may be that the owners of the lots closest have to put up with some disruption from time to time. On the other hand, if the use of the BBQ creates ongoing disputes, the body corporate may need to consider if it is fit for purpose.