Question: We are tenants in a commercial strata complex. Who is responsible for the necessary cost of upgrading our power board, considering that a neighbouring unit also utilises it for its power? Is it the strata company or our landlord?
We are commercial tenants of unit A in a commercial strata complex. According to a licensed electrician, for safety and compliance reasons and to ensure sufficient power without interruption, the power board for our lot is full and requires an urgent upgrade. Unit B’s power comes through our power board as well. Unit B has a meter and contributes to power usage but has no power source of its own. This is noted on the Certificate of Title.
Is the strata company or the owner/landlord responsible for the cost of the upgrade?
Answer: The electrical provision to the tenant should be detailed within the lease agreement.
In regards to the power board being full, this could be one of two situations:
- Is it that the power board is spatial/physically full? Or
- Is it that the electrical capacity of the board is full?
The electrical provision to the tenant should be detailed within the lease agreement. The lease agreement is with the property owner. Therefore, once the lease has been reviewed, you should raise the situation with the owner.
A meter audit and capacity review can be undertaken to determine the power board upgrade requirements. If the power board is just spatially/physically full, this is a smaller upgrade project. If the electrical capacity has been reached, a full switchboard design upgrade and Western Power Submission and Approval are required.
This post appears in the June 2024 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.
Damien Moran
EnergyTec
E: damien.moran@energy-tec.com.au
P: 08 9382 7700
I own and live in a 59 unit strata complex. Some of the units are owned by the Housing Commission who insist upon using their own contractors for Pest Inspections and Repairs. Recently the Strata Committee received a letter stating one of their units has extensive termite damage and cite the Strata Regulation that puts the onus of the repair back to the strata company. However, the Strata Company had not had access to the unit to complete any inspections nor repairs. Who would be responsibile in this case?
Hello
I am the owner of a lot with more than 30 lots.
Some of intercom systems are not working and require replacement.
Only about 1/3 – 1-4 of the apartments utilise these systems as the remaining lots use the ones at the security gates – they have are at the rear of the property so do not have street access foyers where the intercom systems in question are placed. These Intercoms service 4 or 5 apartments each.
A member of the council is trying to have the foyer intercoms removed as she doesn’t want to pay for the intercoms she doesn’t personally have access to.
I would have thought that as the strata company must repair, maintain or replace common area items, there is a duty to do this.
Currently, myself and some other owners/tenants have no way for visitors to contact us. As there is no access to the lobbies without a key, and my unit is in the second floor. In my view this is also a safety issue that must be rectified as a matter of urgency.
Secondly, these facilities have always been part of the property, and they are also part of overall purchase and marketing of the lots as facilities that are included.
I feel strongly that removal is an inappropriate stretch and should not be entertained.
Can you please advise and tell me what rights I ought to have in this matter?
Thank you !!
Hi Liz
The response in the above article may assist:
Question: I own a unit in Perth. The building is about 20 years old. The intercom handset in my unit is not working. The strata committee says it’s up to me to replace it. Is this correct? The handset is part of a strata-wide system of comms for the front entrance. How can this be the owner’s responsibility?
When the lot boundaries are the centre plane of the walls and each apartment front door is set in the boundary wall, is the front door common property or individual lot?
We recommend you view the following recording of a webinar: WA: What have we here? It’s a strata plan! presented by Shane White from Strata Title Consult.
A strata created in 1976 has awnngs on its carport which is allocated for use by the lot user/owner. Who pays for replacement awnings, the Owner or the Strata body.
Hi Barrie
We suggest you refer to the strata plan for your scheme.
Thanks
Can you advise on the following. I purchased a new unit 5 years ago. It was fitted with a wall mounted clothes dryer as a part of the construction.
The clothes dryer has fallen off the wall damaging the wall and the clothes dryer and a washing machine (my own) situated below the clothes dryer.
Who is responsible for the repairs
Hi Peter
Andrew Chambers, Chambers Franklyn Strata Management has responded to your comment in the article above.
I live in my mother’s apartment and had to relocate back to Perth to oversee her administration, for the past 6 years her strata company has had in place strata management, in the past couple of years her levies have been almost $5k annually, she has just paid a extra roof levy and had her roof restoration done. The gutters however have not been cleaned properly in the last few years, so much so that her upstairs bathroom ceiling has mould on it and outside under the eaves she also has mould and mildew. Who do I take this to as the property management and COO are not interested in the complaints.
Hi
I have a unit which i bought in 2005. it is a three story block and i am no the first floor. when i purchased the unit it has a designated parking bay for each ground and first floor units. the bay is marked clearly on my title documents. I have not lived in the unit for some time. I have been advised by the strata company they had a strata meeting and it was voted by the COO to remove the numbers of the bays, rearrange the parking bays at a different angle and create a new bay (I am not sure why the new bay was created) and the parking rule was changed to a first come first serve bases. As you would no doubt agree this causes a lot of stress and has even resulted in one of my tenants being clamped. I believe the strata compeny (even with a majority vote by the COO) would not have the authority to remove a designated parking bay which is part of a lot. this we also result in a problem when i ever sell the unit as no longer have a numbered parking bay. Can you advise please. Thank you and Regards Sonia
Hi Sonia
The following resppnse has been provided by Shane White, STRATA TITLE CONSULT:
Without first seeing the “Title Documents” you refer to I am unable to comment as to whether the parking bay is yours or it was common property.
The strata plan is the document that shows ownership of an additional car bay as a “Part Lot” or “Pt” on the strata plan. This would mean that you owned the Part Lot car bay and it is your property.
What is not known is if the strata scheme is a pre 1985 vintage where a Surveyor has tried to allocate areas of land as car parking bays without having been an owner, without having a general meeting and no by-law for exclusive use is registered.
In this instance the parking area may be marked on the strata plan as “For the Use Of” which Landgate holds to be invalid as exclusive use or ownership.
If you have failed to attend General Meetings and vote on resolutions on the agenda, then it is quite possible that the Common Property car bay allocation has been changed around.
Clamping is no longer permitted so the infraction must have happened some time ago.
Rearranging of Part Lot owned car bays would require a Unanimous Resolution and then begs the question if the proper motions, decisions and actions have taken place at the meeting and subsequently afterwards.
At present my answer can only be generalised as I don’t have sufficient information on the what has happened.
You may need to seek Legal Advice on the matter if you can first ascertain that you have definitely owned the car bay as a Part Lot and not common property.
Sonia, The Strata Titles Act provides for 28 days after an AGM (for owners who weren’t present). I’m not sure what kind of meeting was held to reconfigure parking but it would be well worth investigating whether you can lodge your vote.
Hi there, my mother and I are renting and living in a complex of units. Our house is down the back of the driveway to the right. The people in the front units are apart of the strata committee and have told us we are “not permitted to have any non residential cars come down the drive”. The only reason why people come down the drive is to pick or drop myself or my mother home or someone on the odd occasion parks out the front of our garage (not in anyone’s way). My mother are starting to feel extremely hassled and uncomfortable with this matter, we received a letter outlining the above in our letterbox last week too. I was just wondering if this is true and enforceable? Every other unit complex’s my mother and I have lived in have allowed us to have non residential cars drive down the driveway, especially since we aren’t harming anyone or in anybody’s way.
Hi Tayla
Shane White from Strata Title Consult has responded to your comment on this post: Question: We rent in a unit complex at the end of a long driveway. We have been told we are “not permitted to have any non residential cars come down the drive”. Is this reasonable?
My Over 55 W.A. strata title Chair person says I do not own the outside brick work, only the internal , of my
double brick unit therefore cannot attach hose reels , safety hand rails etc . The exterior brick work is common
ground brick work . No plans I have say this . What is correct ?
The following response has been provided by Shane White, Strata Title Consultant:
Dear Kenneth
It is not possible to determine the boundaries of your strata plan without first seeing a copy of it.
The strata plan will determine where the boundaries are and who is responsible for maintaining the building and / or common property.
If it is important and necessary to you to be able to attach a hose reel and/or hand rails then you don’t have to let what is but chairperson-said stymie you from having them if your being informed that you can’t attach them can be interpreted as being “unreasonable” by the State Administrative Tribunal in your state/terrritory.
In the case of a fire ever taking hold [not hold of a hand rail ;^) ], a handy hose at the ready on an attached hose reel and hand rails for anyone who is infirm are never considered as being ‘unreasonable’ in a court of law (especially in a coroner’s court) or tribunal where the risk of injury to life and limb is at stake. Your local fire brigade officer and your doctor may be able to provide advice to your executive committee by promptly putting it on what appears likely necessary notice.
Question: I own a unit in a 40 unit strata scheme (in Western Australia) built in 2006 in which I have never lived. It has been tenanted and managed by the same company which also owns the Strata Management company and the unit is now vacant. I wish to sell the unit but have discovered that my unit’s covered courtyard floods with stormwater runoff from a large raised common garden area directly opposite my unit’s courtyard gate. There is no drainage from the common area at the foot of a 7 metre concrete wheelchair slope nor the 3step access to the same area, an obvious building fault since construction. The current property manager stated that tenants never complained but she did wonder where the huge water staining in my courtyard came from. I have reported this problem as urgent to the Strata manager (with photos of rainwater pooled in the courtyard) who said she would refer the matter to the Council of Owners. She also sent out a plumber to see if my courtyard drain was blocked, It wasn’t. It just couldn’t cope with the volume of rainwater entering the courtyard under my gate and anyway my private courtyard should not be the drainage for a common area. What can I do?
Hi Sandra
This article should assist:
WA: Q&A Steps to Take When Dealing With Defects From Water Leaks
All the best resolving the matter
I own & reside in my lot. My gas meter was recently replaced in accordance with the ATCO Gas Meter Replacement Programme. The ATCO technician detected a leak between the meter and my home, requiring me to contact & employ the services of my plumber/registered gas fitter before gas could lawfully be re-connected. Following a few hours of investigation the leak was roughly pinpointed, a section of the pipe (located in the external wall brick cavity) bypassed in my ceiling cavity, and the gas leak problem resolved. My gas was then re-connected, to the tune of $1000. Is this repair the financial responsibility of my strata?
We received a comment on this post via email:
MT
There is also a responsibility for common sense reporting to the strata company of any maintenance items that arise in areas where access is limited. The new legislation will require maintenance plans so, particularly with strata complexes where salt-laden winds are anticipated, lintel treatment should be automatically included.
Have a look at the strata plan – if it states the boundary of the lots extends to the EXTERNAL portion of the building then the lintel is clearly an owner responsibility, otherwise it may be open to interpretation.
Plus, unless not open to interpretation, exclusive use of external areas adjacent to the building marked on the plan does not mean the building becomes part of the lot. It is a confusing area for owners (& strata managers) and will become increasingly so as legislation changes yet again and new forms of ownership are introduced.
It would be wonderful to have each strata plan endorsed with the extent of responsibility clearly stated… maybe next time the legislation is amended… As one of the particularly experienced and competent strata consultants in WA has mentioned… when the legislation changed in 1985, we start planning for the next change… 1969 to 1985 to 2019… we’ll be waiting a while yet!