Question: In a residential building, is the body corporate obligated to regularly remove severe brake dust buildup in a large underground, two-level car park?
Answer: Most people expect body corporate property to be reasonably clean and tidy.
The body corporate must maintain the common property in a good and structurally sound condition.
This isn’t a structural condition, so you have to consider what is ‘good’. You may get a different range of answers here, but I think most people expect body corporate property to be reasonably clean and tidy. Most body corporates will arrange periodic cleaning of the car parks to achieve this. Perhaps there are some health or safety concerns if the dust is sufficient to affect the physical condition of users of the site or equipment, such as vents in the area.
So, what can you do as an owner? The starting point is to contact the body corporate and ask for the cleaning to take place. If that request doesn’t progress, you may need to formalise matters. If possible, it would be helpful for you to get a quote for the cleaning. If you are just one owner and the scheme is large, it is not always easy for a job like this. You can then submit an owner’s motion for the committee to vote on at their next meeting or via a VOC. Once you submit a formal owner’s motion, the committee at least have to consider this within six weeks or provide you with a reason why they can’t. If you have a quote, the motion could be to approve it. If not, the motion could be that they get quotes and vote on one. Alternatively, you could submit a motion to the next general meeting for all owners to vote on. Bear in mind the meeting could be over a year away, depending on where you are in your AGM cycles and the needs of your scheme.
You can also submit a claim through the Commissioner’s Office. If you do so, it is helpful to have submitted a committee motion first. If your motion has been rejected, you will have a definite point to dispute – a fulcrum for the case rather than just a general complaint. Follow the disputes procedure and see where you get to: Queensland Government: Disputes in a body corporate.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924