Boundaries on our plan of subdivision are typically exterior face, including apartment walls and fenced gardens backing onto a common area. Our special rules govern exterior fixtures, planter boxes, and colours of curtains but do not explicitly mention outward appearance (such as in the model rules 5.2(1)).
What are the owners corporation’s (OC) rights to dictate appearance, e.g. colours?
Our three-floor apartment building is neutral with brightly coloured decorative poles. Without consultation or documentation, the owners corporation manager and resident's committee are changing the façade's colour to black and white. Is it a 'significant change'? Should this have been a special resolution? I purchased my apartment because of the colour of the building. I stopped the repainting from progressing, and the poles are currently undercoat white.
My partner and I live in a townhouse in Brisbane, QLD. For years, our neighbour has parked their car in a common area space beside their house. After they sold that car, I parked in the space.
The neighbour complained to the body corporate, and the committee said that I am not allowed to park there. When we asked why, the body corporate did not supply a reason. The neighbour now uses the space on weekends without any issues.
I have an exclusive use car park. The by-laws state that the space must be used only for parking, not for storage. My understanding is that the committee can temporarily restrict access to my exclusive use area during maintenance or repairs to that area after providing written notice, unless it is an emergency.
Can the body corporate use my exclusive use car park for tradespeople to park vehicles or store equipment when they are carrying out repairs or maintenance on another part of the common property that is not physically located within, next to, or related to my car park?
In our large building, one owner emailed all other owners with false and misleading claims about the management team and caretakers. They urge owners to follow the caretakers, record or photograph any supposed breaches, and keep records for possible future legal action. They've also circulated misleading financial information about how the building is run.
Our standard format plan complex is more than 20 years old and consists of duplexes plus single-level and two-storey standalone homes. From the records we can find, the annual building insurance premium has always been paid by all lot owners, whether their homes are attached or free-standing.
Can an owner, who lives in the building and has no qualifications as a Building Manager and who isn’t registered as one, be hired as a Building Manager and be paid for their duties?
Can the Building manager receive an annual Honorarium instead of a salary?
If not, then can the person do the job, without remuneration?
Can the Building Manager be on the Body Corp committee or is that considered to be a conflict of interest?
Our Owners Corporation of 6 units is self-managed. Four of the lots are resident owners and the other two lots are investments. The resident owners all carry out voluntary work including all gardening, mowing, handyman jobs plus all the tasks usually carried out by strata managers (financial, secretarial, meetings, minutes, quotes, etc) to reduce costs. We have estimated this saving to be around $4000/pa, $666/lot per year.