Question: I live on the ground floor of an apartment and we have a patio and garden area. I would like to build a roof over the patio area. What do I need to consider? What approval do I need to seek?
Answer: This would need approval at a General Meeting of all owners and a Special by-law to be put in place.
Owners Corporation approval for the enclosure of your patio is likely required for a number of reasons and it is suggested this would need approval at a General Meeting of all owners and a Special by-law to be put in place.
Consideration would need to be given on what is defined as your air space on the strata plan for your property. This will specify what is common property vs your lot property air space.
As the patio roof would likely affect the appearance of your lot and it is assumed it is going to be required to be attached to part of the common property (e.g. external walls) an application would have to be made as a renovation affecting common property under Section 108 and 111 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.
This requires approval for the works by Special Resolution and a By-law adopted, both of which would need to be considered at a General Meeting.
This post appears in the March 2022 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Robert Fothergill Strata Life E: Robert@thestratalife.com.au P: 02 9456 9917