Question: We seem to be the only apartment in our 70 lot building without TV reception in the loungeroom. Is it strata’s responsibility to fix this?
Our unit appears to be the only one out of 70 units that has no TV signal coming out of the socket in our loungeroom wall. The fire cupboard outside our unit door has signal to it but then it is failing somewhere between there and our wall socket in the lounge room.
The aerial guy that came to investigate said there must be a splitter box somewhere inside our unit but he cannot find it. It could even be in a wall or the floor slab.
We have a second aerial socket in the wall of our main bedroom that works. Apparently, the only way to get a signal to the loungeroom is to run a separate cable through the apartment. The quote is $1200.
The Strata Committee has said this is a lot owner responsibility and I must pay if I want TV reception in my loungeroom. Are they correct?
Answer: The general rule is that anything behind the TV wallplate is the responsibility of the owners corporation.
When it comes to the TV reception in apartment buildings, it can be complicated to determine who’s responsible.
At the end of the day, the strata contract should outline what equipment is the responsibility of the strata versus what is the responsibility of the apartment owner.
The general rule is that anything behind the TV wallplate is the responsibility of the owners corporation. On the other hand, if it is something inside the apartment that is causing the TV reception to fail (for example a faulty fly lead), that would be the responsibility of the apartment owner. In your case, this would probably mean that the hidden splitter or any other cabling that has failed behind the wallplate is the responsibility of the owners corporation to repair. If we are talking about a new outlet (not a repair of existing equipment), this would be the responsibility of the apartment owner.
There is a blurred line when there are accessible communications cupboards for each apartment (within each apartment) that are accessible. It is more often the case that if there is equipment (eg a splitter) located in one of these cupboards, this is the responsibility of the apartment owner. However, with your particular situation, this does not sound like it is the case.
The technician’s solution sounds plausible. There may also be a way to locate the internal cabling and install a tap or splitter so the new cable run isn’t as difficult. However, it is very difficult to determine a solution without an onsite visit to look at the exact circumstances of the apartment.
Jason Burgess
Install My Antenna
E: jason@installmyantenna.com.au
P: 0408 472 646
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