VIC: Q&A Get started with sustainability in your building!

This Q&A article is about sustainability upgrades in our Vic strata buildings.

Table of Contents:

• QUESTION: Is it worthwhile investigating external roller shutters for energy efficiency and weather protection?
• QUESTION: Would changing old aluminium windows for thermally efficient windows fall under the category of sustainability? Can the committee reasonable refuse sustainability upgrades like this?
• QUESTION: What percentage special resolution do you need for EV infrastructure investment in Victoria? Is it 75% or 50%?
• QUESTION: My hybrid car requires an AC charger but my building only has DC chargers. I use a common property power point to charge the car but have been told that this is not allowed. What do I do now?
• QUESTION: If we were planning to fully focus on just one sustainability option to start with in our Vic strata building, what would be best to get the ball rolling?

Question: Is it worthwhile investigating external roller shutters for energy efficiency and weather protection?

Our 9 level building is investigating options to reduce heat and weather on windows, including installing external roller shutters on East and West windows for apartments with balcony access. The shutters would be attached to the external frames of the windows. What are other buildings doing to provide shade and protect against weather?

Answer: It may be easier for the interested owners to obtain a quote together and then engage the contractor directly.

Installing external roller shutters is a very common request in owners corporations for security and weather control. However, it is more common for individuals to approach the owners corporation rather than for this to be arranged across multiple lots or the entire building.

There are a few things individuals applying need to consider, outlined below:

1. The Owners Corporation Rules – We suggest you review the rules for your development as they may have specific requirements, such as a particular colour or style.
2. Consistent Appearance – It is important that developments maintain a consistent appearance, so we encourage you to see what has already been installed and ensure your proposal is in keeping with the overall aesthetic.
3. Owners Corporation Approval required – Under the Model Rules, all changes to the external appearance of a lot must obtain the written approval of the owners corporation. We note that an owners corporation cannot unreasonably withhold approval but may give approval subject to reasonable conditions to protect the quiet enjoyment of other lot owners, structural integrity or the value of other lots and/or common property.

To increase your chances of quick approval, we encourage you to supply a quotation and an image of what you want to install to the committee of management. You may also want to look into window tinting if your owners corporation does not wish to approve the installation of roller blinds. This will also require the approval of the owners corporation.

You have noted you wish to install roller shutters across several lots with balcony access. Roller shutters installed on balcony windows would be private, not common property. Under Section 12 of the Owners Corporation Act 2006, an owners corporation may only provide a private service to lot owners via a special resolution. It may be easier instead for the owners who are interested to obtain a quote together and then engage the contractor directly.

Alex Smale
Melbourne Owners Corporation Services
alex@mocs.com.au
P: 03 9818 2488

This post appears in Strata News #711.

Question: Would changing old aluminium windows for thermally efficient windows fall under the category of sustainability? Can the committee reasonable refuse sustainability upgrades like this?

Our 1980s building has aluminium windows with thin glass that are not in line with current building code standards. I would like to replace my old windows with thermally efficient windows and draft-proof window frames. Does this work fall under the banner of sustainability. If so, would it be unreasonable for the committee to refuse under current sustainability rules for body corporate environments?

Answer: While window upgrades are not specifically mentioned, it stands to reason that windows which will ‘reduce a reliance on non-sustainable energy sources’ would constitute a sustainability item.

In 2021, the Owners Corporations Act was updated to include section 138B(2):

2. An owners corporation must not make rules that unreasonably prohibit the installation of sustainability items on the exterior of a lot.
3. For the purposes of subsection (2)—
   
   1. a prohibition on the installation of a sustainability item only on aesthetic grounds is taken to be unreasonable; and
   2. a requirement that the location of, or the works involved in installing, the sustainability item must not impede reasonable access to, or the use of, any other lot or the common property is taken to be reasonable.
4. In this section—
   
   sustainability item means any thing that eliminates or reduces a reliance on non-sustainable energy sources and includes—
   
   1. a solar hot water system; and
   2. solar energy panels; and
   3. a roof with colours having a particular solar absorption value.

While window upgrades are not specifically mentioned, it stands to reason that windows which will ‘reduce a reliance on non-sustainable energy sources’ would constitute a sustainability item under this section.

If your rules prohibit upgrades on aesthetic grounds, to have your window upgrades exempted you could share this perspective with your committee. If best efforts are made to match the new windows to the existing ones, your committee would have even less grounds to refuse.

To further support this, 2023 updates to the National Construction Code focused on energy efficiency and reduction of energy usage in buildings, extending to windows. This means that when replacement works are being considered by your owners corporation, thermally efficient windows will be a requirement.

We encourage our committees to support proactive requests for sustainability improvements wherever possible. Here’s hoping your committee sees it the same way.

The Knight
Email
P: 03 9509 3144

This post appears in the March 2024 edition of The VIC Strata Magazine.

Question: What percentage special resolution do you need for EV infrastructure investment in Victoria? Is it 75% or 50%?

Answer: 75% of all owners for a final resolution, or 50% of all owners for an interim resolution.

A special resolution is required:

• to obtain a loan that exceeds the amount of the current annual fees of the owners corporation
• to raise a levy that is more than twice the current annual fees
• for a significant alteration to common property that is not in the maintenance plan and is not an immediate threat to safety or will prevent significant damage.

As installing EV infrastructure is likely to fall under these headings, a special resolution is required.

A special resolution is passed as a final resolution by 75% of the total lot entitlement voting in favour if a ballot or poll is taken. In any other case, it is passed by 75% of the total votes of all lots voting in favour.

It’s important to note that a special resolution can also pass as an interim special resolution if at least 50% vote in favour and no more than 25% vote against a resolution.

An interim special resolution can be taken as a special resolution once:

• A notice is sent to all owners (within 14 days of the meeting or the ballot close date) and
• Within 29 days of the meeting or ballot close date, no petition amounting to 25% of votes against the resolution has been received.

Alex Smale
The Knight
Email
P: 03 9509 3144

This post appears in the June 2023 edition of The VIC Strata Magazine.

Question: My hybrid car requires an AC charger but my building only has DC chargers. I use a common property power point to charge the car but have been told that this is not allowed. What do I do now?

One of the main reasons I purchased my apartment last year was because the building has EV charging stations. I recently bought a hybrid car. Since then, I found out there are only DC fast chargers available, while I need an AC charger.

I have checked our owners cooperation rules, but there is not any reference to EV chargers. 

I’m paying owners corporation fees but I’m not accessing the facilities.

The DC EV charger is common property and makes up part of my levies, so I’ve been charging my car from a power plug on common property near my parking lot. My car only needs 7kw to charge and I’m using a certificated charging cable that is safe in a common area.

I’ve received an email from the building manager stating I can’t use the power point because it is common area power, and not for private use. 

I’ve ignored the building manager’s email, continued to charge my car via common property power and sent a complaint to the owners corporation. I have not received a response from the committee. The building manager has sent me another email with a second warning.

What should I do? Surely this issue will become more prevalent as a growing number of lot owners purchase EVs.

Answer: The most effective recourse would be for you to engage with the building manager and strata manager to investigate charging options that would be acceptable to the community.

Many apartments now are wrestling with how to accommodate EV charging, particularly as many apartments were built well before the concept even existed. Residents with electric vehicles should ensure there is adequate EV Charging for their needs before purchasing or moving into a property. This means also checking the number and type of chargers that are suitable for your needs.

You cannot use the common property power to charge your car. It effectively means that all the owners at your building are subsiding your private car charging.

The most effective recourse would be for you to engage with the building manager and strata manager to investigate charging options that would be acceptable to the community. This could involve engaging a private company to install an EV charger in your car space. This installation should be at your cost, as it is for your benefit only. Alternatively, if there is enough demand in the building, you could ask your strata committee to investigate installing an AC charger on common property.

Alex Smale
The Knight
Email
P: 03 9509 3144

This post appears in the February 2023 edition of The VIC Strata Magazine.

Question: If we were planning to fully focus on just one sustainability option to start with in our Vic strata building, what would be best to get the ball rolling?

Answer: An LED upgrade is low hanging fruit.

An LED upgrade is low hanging fruit. It’s just very sensible. It’s bizarre to me that anyone is still installing fluoro lights at this point.

If you’re in Victoria, certainly make use of the VEU scheme: Victorian Energy Upgrades program. That’s a really great way to upgrade because it could even cost you nothing.

Even if you are paying for the upgrade, the return on investment is really clear, it’s quite easy to figure out. I would really highly encourage you to look into that. Send an electrician out there and see if you’ve got fluro lights. That’s probably the best way to start.

Alex Smale
The Knight
Email
P: 03 9509 3144

This post appears in the November 2022 edition of The VIC Strata Magazine.

Have a question or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.

This article is not intended to be personal advice and you should not rely on it as a substitute for any form of advice.

Read next:

• VIC: Q&A Embedded Networks, Common Power & Smart Meters

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