Question: Does current legislation offer any protection to complexes regarding unauthorised renovations if there is no by-law in place?
Our complex does not have a by-law relating to renovations to lots. The addition of a new by-law is proving difficult because of the voting rules for a Special Resolution. Our main concerns are renovations which affect the structural integrity, plumbing and electrical installations, as well as the installation of hard flooring. Does current legislation offer any protection to complexes regarding unauthorised renovations if there is no by-law in place?
Answer: A good approach is to be proactive, get ahead of a proposed renovation, work out what is proposed and see if it requires approval, or will breach the legislation.
Regulating renovations can be difficult. Special purpose by-laws help, but architectural and landscaping codes are better. The former requires a special resolution, the latter a resolution without dissent. Not having either, your recourse is to the other by-laws and the legislation.
By-laws regulating noise or nuisance for example, if breached, can stop a renovation in its tracks (assuming the body corporate takes prompt and proper action!). By-laws regulating external appearance of a building, or placing things on the common property (e.g. skip bins) without approval, can provide the means to impose reasonable conditions on renovations.
The legislation contains many ‘tripwires’ which, if triggered, can have dire consequences; for example, requiring part of a renovation encroaching onto common property to be removed. Structural, plumbing or electrical works are just as likely to be regulated by other, indirect by-laws and special provisions of the legislation as any other works. A good approach is to be proactive, get ahead of a proposed renovation, work out what is proposed and see if it requires approval, or will breach the legislation. It’s far better to try to head an inappropriate renovation off at the pass, than to try to get an Adjudicator’s order that a renovation inside a lot be undone!
As for what parts of the legislation may be helpful, that will always turn on what the renovations entail. For example, if a renovation is extensive enough and involves the floor coverings, then the renovations may have to be compliant with the current transmissible noise standards. Plumbing, electrical and structural works can trip other parts of the legislation, again depending on what is proposed; for example, inappropriate structural works may breach the statutory easement for support.
When I hear of push back on a renovation by-law, its usually because the proposed by-law goes too far – committee members are (generally!) not building professionals, and they don’t automatically have a mandate to, for example ‘preserve the aesthetics’ of the building/s on the scheme land. The consent of the governed is required, and to get that consent a by-law should be reasonable in scope, clear in application and deliver fair and consistent outcomes.
This post appears in the July 2022 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.
Michael Kleinschmidt
Bugden Allen
E: michael.kleinschmidt@bagl.com.au
P: 07 5406 1280
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