Question: With regards to maintaining the land which abuts the body corporate area, e.g. the grass verge on the footpath, would a body corporate committee have authority to request its service contractor to mow this area?
With regards to maintaining the land which abuts the body corporate area, e.g. the grass verge on the footpath, would a body corporate committee have authority to request its service contractor to mow this area? This is given that the footpath is technically outside of the common area and so technically outside of the control of the body corporate.
Answer: The obligations of a service contractor, and the body corporate’s entitlement to direct a service contractor to perform additional duties, hinges on the wording of the body corporate’s agreement.
The obligations of a service contractor, and the body corporate’s entitlement to direct a service contractor to perform additional duties, hinges on the wording of the body corporate’s agreement, including:
- whether the duty regarding mowing is stated to include the grass verge (or if it states that the requirement for mowing relates only to the common property); and
- whether the agreement includes a clause enabling the body corporate to direct the service contractor to undertake additional duties (which may be for additional remuneration) and, if so, whether that clause is sufficiently broad to enable such a direction to relate to the grass verge (which is outside of the Scheme land).
This post appears in Strata News #485.
Hayley Gath
Mathews Hunt Legal
E: hayley.gath@mathewshuntlegal.com.au
P: 07 5555 8000
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