Question: Our committee recently refurbished the pool. They are happy with the work, but I feel there are safety concerns. As an owner, how do I raise my safety concerns?
The committee refurbished the pool last year. There was no contract for the $53,000 job. The quote included a handrail, but an underwater grab rail has been installed, and the pool floor is uneven. In the pool area, the provided bench seating has a broken slat, and it is unsafe.
The committee are happy with the work and don’t feel the broken seat is a liability. As an owner, should I organise a health and safety check on these worrying issues?
Answer: You can make a formal submission to your body corporate advising of your concerns and requesting a safety officer be appointed.
If you have concerns about the safety of your pool, you should probably contact your local council for advice. They may send out someone to inspect.
You can also make a formal submission to your body corporate advising of your concerns and requesting a safety officer be appointed. You could submit a letter or an owner’s motion to the committee. I think submitting a motion is better as it forces the committee to vote on the matter.
Alternatively, you could book an independent inspector yourself. I’m not sure how easy this would be. The body corporate usually arranges pool inspections. Contractors may not want to work for an individual, but perhaps someone would provide you with a report. We can’t recommend anyone specific, but I would google local inspectors and see what they say.
Regarding your complaints, a broken slat on a seat sounds like a relatively easy fix for the body corporate. If you raise the issue, a repair should be arranged. Have you asked about the change of the handrail? There may be a good reason for this. The contractor who did the work may have recommended the change, perhaps as a safety issue rather than a matter of preference.
Your pool should be inspected annually, and there should be a notice of the due date somewhere near the pool. You could wait until that inspection. If there is a problem with the construction, you would expect it to be identified and, if necessary, a rectification notice issued.
Beyond this, you raise issues over the quality of the work done and the process behind the approval. There seems to be some disconnect in the idea that you are unhappy with the work done while the committee is happy. Have other owners voiced complaints? It’s hard to tell from the outside. It sounds like there is a bigger issue going on. Tit for tat battling over the minor repair of a bench is a classic sign of this kind of thing. Still, as an owner, you have the right to raise a dispute, so if you have concerns, you should follow the dispute hierarchy of submitting letters and owner motions, and if you cannot get a satisfactory answer, make a filing with the Commissioner’s Office.
This post appears in the December 2023 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924