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