Question: A pest inspection raised a few issues for owners to rectify. How does the owners corporation ensure the owners complete the required tasks?
Our strata plan has had a pest (termite) inspection. The inspection raised a few issues for lot owners to address within their lot property. Some of these issues have been around for a couple of years.
A few owners are reluctant to tend to the issues due to costs and other factors.
How long can the owners put off addressing these issues? If they are not addressed satisfactorily, what remedies are there? Do we put a timeframe in place and tell them they must rectify the damage by a certain date? Should the owners corporation organise the work and seek reimbursement?
Answer: It is almost always beneficial to speak with the lot owner and explain why pest treatments should be undertaken.
It is difficult to ascertain exactly what is required of the lot owners in regard to pest treatments required to the lot property. As far as I am aware, most pest treatments are done externally to prevent pests from entering lots. Therefore, it is usually a common property issue and an owners corporation’s responsibility to prevent the entry of pests. Even when done within a lot, the treatments are usually still the responsibility of an owners corporation.
Whilst the owners corporation has a strict duty to repair and maintain the common property, including regular pest inspections and treatments, a lot owner does not necessarily have a positive obligation to repair and maintain their lot property.
If the owners corporation’s failure to repair and maintain the common property causes damage to lot property, the owners corporation is liable for that damage. Similarly, if an owner fails to repair and maintain their lot property and this causes damage to the common property, the owners corporation would have an action against the lot owner for the damage suffered to the common property.
In these situations, it is almost always beneficial to speak with the lot owner and explain the reasons why the pest treatments should be undertaken, i.e. if they are not undertaken, the rectification of the property may be substantially more expensive. The owners corporation should attempt to persuade the lot owner to do what they have to do, and if that fails, they should seek mediation through the Office of Fair Trading and then NCAT orders if mediation is unsuccessful.
This post appears in Strata News #672.
Matthew Jenkins
Bannermans Lawyers
E: enquiries@bannermans.com.au
P: 02 9929 0226
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