Question: Our complex wishes to paint the exterior of all townhouses. The painting of one townhouse will incur extra costs due to a pergola that has been added to the exterior of the building. Who should pay this extra cost?
We are members of a strata corporation made up of two-storey townhouses. The Strata Corporation wishes to paint the external paintwork. One unit has installed a pergola along the back of the unit, which is making it costly for painters to undertake the strata painting, especially the eaves of the second level of the building. Who should pay the extra costs for the painter to access the building for the unit with the pergola to undertake the external painting?
Answer: In many cases when approvals for alterations are carried out, many Corporations record in the approval that any costs associated with the structure will be at the expense of the unitholder.
The Strata and Community Titles Act is silent on this situation. In many cases when approvals for alterations are carried out, many Corporations record in the approval that any costs associated with the structure will be at the expense of the unitholder. If this is the case for this pergola, you may be able to state that the costs have increased due to the installation of the pergola.
If there is no reference on how expenses in the future would be handled, I suggest common sense should prevail and if owners have made alterations to the building, then those units should be covering any additional expenses the corporation incurs as a result of the alterations to the unit.
This post appears in Strata News #567.
Carrie McInerney Horner Management E: carrie@hornermanagement.com.au P: 08 8234 5777