Question: Our strata committee wants to introduce a bylaw stating everyone needs to maintain their own building including the facade, roof and balcony. Is this a common practice for townhouses?
We live in a group of 5 townhouses. Our strata committee wants to introduce a bylaw stating everyone needs to maintain their own parts of the building including the facade, roof and balcony.
Their intent is to save money by not having to pay for a strata manager.
Does this mean I need to take out additional insurance for areas that were the responsibility of the owners corporation? Is this a common situation? What are the advantages and disadvantages if this bylaw is introduced?
Answer: This is not an uncommon practice for townhouses that are physically detached from one another.
This is not an uncommon practice for townhouses that are physically detached from one another. It is recommended that you obtain building and other insurance if you proceed with this course but before you do also review your strata plan as surveyors often make notations on a strata plan providing that certain structures/elements are the responsibility of the individual owners (thereby displacing the usual categorisation of common property).
One advantage is that you do not need to wait for the Owners Corporation to effect repairs and maintenance as and when required and you can do so yourself. On the downside, the risk is that you might jeopardise the uniformity of the appearance of the building, the consistency and quality of materials used and aesthetics (eg colour, look and feel) of the townhouses and that one or more townhouses allow their property to fall into a state of disrepair thereby potentially affecting the value of the other townhouses.
You will need to engage an expert strata lawyer to address all such risks and we recommend that the Owners Corporation be given the power to compel individual owners to carry out requisite repairs & maintenance if they do not do so in a timely manner.
This post appears in the June 2022 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Leanne Habib
Premium Strata
E: info@premiumstrata.com.au
P: 02 9281 6440
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