Our strata village has a new operator. The previous operator prepared an evacuation plan for the village and practised it twice a year. The new operator asserts that as village residents live in independent units, in NSW they are not legally required to prepare and practice an evacuation plan. The Act seems to indicate they DO have an obligation for an evacuation plan. What is the legal position?
We live in a large Class B townhouse complex in the ACT with 185 lots.
After 20 years, the picket-type fences separating the townhouses from the common property need replacing. The total length will be about 1.5 kilometres and no small cost. The cost of replacing the fences will be shared between lot owners and the owners corporation. Further, not all owners are affected equally, as some fences are longer than others.
Are strata managers required to issue receipts for payments made by lot owners? My water and gas usage is never over $50, but my strata fees average $1800 per quarter. I have never received a receipt. When I inquired why, I was told it would not be cost-effective. I can log into our strata portal, but this only shows me one transaction.
To ensure we are proactively preventing water damage in our building, who is accountable for the routine inspection and upkeep of plumbing components like taps and flexi-hoses within each lot? What further action could the committee consider?
We live in a retirement village with 170 lots comprising four stages. It is a layered scheme with four body corporate committees (one for each stage) and a principal body corporate (PBC). The PBC is one member (chairperson) from each stage. The stage committees seem rather irrelevant, as the PBC makes all the decisions. Until I brought it up, the PBC wasn't distributing minutes to the stage committees. I find it strange that the PBC (4 people) makes all decisions involving a large sum of owners' levies.
A resident in our building has approval from the body corporate to install a car stacker in one of their car spaces in the underground garage. The body corporate states that, because the total cost is less than $3000, it does not need to go to an EGM.
What does the total cost include? Does it include the engineering report, the cost to purchase and the cost to install?
I am a resident strata unit owner and general committee member in six lot building in Sydney. Do we need to approval from the strata committee and a by-law to replace our gas freestanding stove/cooktop with a similar electricity powered stove/cooktop?
Are strata management companies legally required to engage a professional for a WHS report generated by default? Is the strata management company required to provide comparable quotes, consultation and lot owner approval?
Lot owners in our strata scheme asked our strata company not to arrange WHS reports without approval, and the strata company arranged the same report again, ignoring instructions. What can we do?