We live in an equal dual occupancy apartment. The other owner agreed and signed the submission to council to renovate the common property garage. They now say that they don't want to go ahead with the renovation even though it has been approved by council. We desperately want it done as parking is extremely difficult.
Leading up to the renewal of our strata manager's contract, we received the following notice:
I recently moved into a pre-1980s strata complex that needs regular building maintenance. The committee and strata manager appear to be working reactively, organising expensive engineers when items become major, rather than using local trades to maintain the property.
Is there a requirement for strata managers or committees to have a planned maintenance schedule for buildings? Should we organise a yearly on-site walkaround and discuss what's needed, then develop a budget to hire local trades to do the work?
I'm not on the committee yet, but hope to be for the next AGM.
Mark Joseph is the founder and Managing Director of MJ Engineering Projects, a Sydney remedial engineering consultancy established in 2007. He has over 25 years of remedial engineering experience, much of it investigating and rectifying defects in strata buildings. Mark is a Registered Design Practitioner, an accredited inspector under the NSW Strata Building Bond and Inspections Scheme, and a licensed builder.
We recently held a meeting for owners to vote between two companies to appoint a new strata manager. Before the meeting, the committee had already decided to go with one company. They called the second company and told them not to bother attending, as the pre-selection had been done. On the night of the vote, owners were misled and told the second company had failed to appear, implying they weren't interested in managing our strata. The pre-selected company received 100% acceptance and was awarded the contract.
We have 10 owners and 6 are on the strata committee. At a recent vote, only 2 committee members replied in the affirmative, 1 voted no and 3 didn't reply. Does the motion carry in the affirmative?
Relevant considerations include quorum requirements for committee votes and how majority is calculated based on members present.
We self-manage our 7 townhouse complex and have been doing so for about the last twelve years without any complaints. With all the changes in strata law and the responsibilities of the committee, is there somewhere we can go to check what we should be doing and whether we are doing things right?
The end of the financial year for my building is 30 June. The AGM date for this year is 14 October, which is three and a half months after the end of the building's financial year. I thought an AGM should be held within two months of the scheme's financial year end.
Is there a legislative requirement under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (the Act) for the timing of the AGM in relation to the building's financial year end?
One of our ground-floor lot owners has a large balcony that's part of the common property under exclusive-use rights. They've erected a portable beach cabana on it despite being directed to remove it. Several of our owners have written to the committee raising concerns that it's affecting the building's aesthetics, obstructing views, potentially affecting property values, and creating occupational health and safety concerns.
Does an apartment's dishwasher form part of the building insured value? And if so, is it insured under the strata building insurance? Does that mean when the dishwasher is retired, the body corporate's sinking fund must replace it with the same model? Are there replacement model and value bylaws required?
Or, do individual apartment dishwashers fall under lot owner's contents insurance?