My villa has been flooding for three months and the strata manager won't reply. Can I organise a contractor myself?

By admin,

My villa was recently flooded.

I am still waiting for very urgent repairs to be carried out. Due to NSW receiving more and more rain, the villa continues to be flooded.

I contacted my Strata Manager when the flooding began 3 months ago and have contacted them a dozen times since then. I've received no response. I have sent photos in an attempt to highlight the urgency of the issue.

How do we comply with the duty to maintain common property when weather is bad and contractors are unavailable?

By admin,

A recent article on the LookUpStrata site by JS Mueller & Co states:

“... an owners corporation cannot delay any repairs that need to be carried out to fix defects in the common property that are causing water to leak into a lot. Even if it is impossible to find contractors who are available to repair those defects, that does not provide an owners corporation with a lawful excuse for delaying any necessary repairs to common property.”

Is the owners corporation responsible for repainting internal walls damaged by rising damp?

By admin,

Most of the lots on our complex have been affected by rising dampness. It has been advised the paintwork inside the affected lots is the responsibility of the lot owner. If a problem like rising damp causes damage to paintwork, is the Owners Corporation responsible to repaint?

If the affected area is inside the lot, i.e. on the internal walls, is it the Owners Corporation’s responsibility for the damage?

Can an owner unable to afford patio retiling pay the cost off through increased levies?

By admin,

Water ingress was found to be caused by a unit's patio garden. Strata paid for the garden bed to be removed but the unit owner paid for retiling of the patio.

Water ingress due to the patio garden has been discovered in another unit close by. We assume the garden here needs to be removed as well, but this owner cannot afford to pay for tiling.

Strata could pay for the retiling, however, is this fair to the adjoining unit who paid for their own retiling?

Our pre-1974 building wants to replace all windows and balcony sliding doors — are they lot or common property?

By admin,

Our 50 year old block of 12 lots was registered pre 1974. The Strata Committee wants to replace all windows and balcony sliding doors in the building. All windows face Common property. All sliding doors lead to individual balconies.

Do we need 100% of OC agreement to do this necessary remedial work? We are unable to tell from the strata plan if the balconies are common property, though the OC recently replaced all the balustrades.

Who is responsible for mowing the council verge adjacent to a small strata of townhouses?

By admin,

We are a small strata of three townhouses. We all have a council verge adjacent to the footpath. The verge is not connected to nor does it form any part of our common lot garden.

Our treasurer insists Strata has to pay for the mowing of the entire council verge. Are Strata under any legal obligation to mow and pay for the council verge under SSMA or should it be up to individual lot owners to mow?

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