Question: During floorboard replacement work in my unit, the builder identified that the subfloor is not level and requested it be fixed before proceeding with the repair. As the subfloor is common property, is this a lot owner’s or owners corporation’s responsibility? Is a lot owner allowed to do repair work to the common property?
Answer: The owners corporation is responsible for the cost to re-level the concrete slab so that flooring can be installed properly on top of it.
Owners corporations have a statutory duty to repair and maintain common property under section 106 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) (‘the Act’).
The concrete slab forms part of the common property, as does any levelling compound applied to it.
The owners corporation is therefore responsible for the cost to re-level the concrete slab so that flooring can be installed on top of it properly. The concrete slab must be fit for purpose.
Assuming the flooring works (being a minor renovation that must be approved in accordance with section 110 of the Act and clause 28 of the Strata Schemes Management Regulations 2015 (NSW) (‘the Regulations’)) have been properly approved by the owners corporation, a solution could be to ask the installer to quote on re-levelling the floor. You could provide their quotation to the owners corporation to consider engaging the supplier directly. This gives the owners corporation the rights to warranties and control over the tradespeople it uses to repair its property.
If an owner wishes to undertake work to common property, they must seek approval under section 111 of the Act. In this article about unapproved changes to common property, we explored section 111 in more detail.
Tim Sara Sara Strata E: tim@sarastrata.com.au P: 04 8500 7960
This post appears in Strata News #669.