There is airflow coming up through a drainage hole in my shower, accompanied by a sewerage or gas smell. During mosquito season, mosquitoes also come through this outlet. Both the strata company and the builder have told me that it is my responsibility to hire a plumber to fix the issue. I’ve had to tape over the drain and stopped using the ensuite. Who is responsible for investigating and resolving this problem?
Our strata manager resigned due to a dysfunctional council of owners. Instead of appointing a new manager, the council called an EGM. It passed a motion to self-manage the 72-lot property using an accounting firm, a maintenance company, and AI as the manager. They passed the motion without disclosing details or costs despite repeated owner requests.
The ARPC (reinsurance pool) definition classifies a strata property as residential if 50% or more of the total floor area is residential. By that measure, our building should be residential. However, our insurer has classified the property as commercial because just over 20% of our lots are commercial, even though that space only accounts for about 18% of the total floor area. Other insurers seem to apply different criteria. Is there an official definition or industry standard that determines how to classify strata properties for insurance purposes?
How do you see vertical integration evolving in the strata space? If a company does management, maintenance, insurance broking, and utilities billing, what are the risks for owners and committees, and what protections or transparency measures should be in place?
Our retirement village along the Maribyrnong River cannot get insurance for flood. Do we need to self-insure against flood? If so, what procedure should we follow?
In our scheme, levies are due on the first day of the month following the quarter. We must wait until the end of the month to confirm that all owners have made their payments. Why can't the due date be set as the last day of the previous month instead? Is this timing required by law or government regulation?
Can a records request be made by email, or must it be submitted in physical form and delivered to the strata company's registered address? My understanding is that the strata company has three days to respond to the request. If they fail to do so, what is the correct process to enforce the penalty under section 109(1)(b)? Does this require an application to the State Administrative Tribunal, or is there a simpler way to take action?