Experience has shown that early involvement of strata managers in the design of a multi-unit complex can significantly improve saleability. Reducing the possibility of contested issues with an owners corporation post sale makes sense for owners and developer alike. Consultation with a strata management company at the design stage can enhance residential life, and maintain [...]
Many strata managers are charging the owners corporation ‘fines’ or ‘arrears notice fees’ and seeking to recover these charges against the lot owner, pursuant to Section 80 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 (SSMA.) This author has been involved in recent Supreme and Federal Court Appeals and has just run three Local Court matters before [...]
On the 16th September 2010 Queensland Parliament formally passed The Building and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2010, which introduced Stage 2 of the Queensland Government’s pool safety laws. These laws are expected to be enforced from early summer 2010, and mainly affect existing swimming pools. They include: Replacing the 11 different pool safety standards previously in place with [...]
The Owners Corporation Act 2006 has been in force now for a couple of years, after commencing on 31st December 2007. Since the introduction of the Act the Government has accumulated a number of various suggested amendments to the legislation. Following a limited amount of public consultation the Government have seen fit to introduce a [...]
Property owners invest large amounts of their savings into property purchases. This creates an emotional connection to a property, which can lead to owners becoming outspoken when issues arise. Disputes in strata and community title complexes can arise for many reasons – noise, safety, levies, maintenance issuesaesthetics and plain old pride. They generally arise between [...]
(Queensland) New covenant and body corporate by–law rules (Queensland only) Since 1 January 2010, new and some existing covenants and body corporate by–laws have been prevented from banning energy efficient features or fixtures and requiring certain design elements in houses, townhouses, units or enclosed garages. The law on these issues was further amended on 23 [...]
Millions of people around the country live in strata developments. In Sydney alone there are currently over 40,000 strata schemes containing almost 600,000 individual lots. Approximately 28% of Sydney residents currently live in strata schemes and this figure will grow to 45% over the next 25 years, if plans under Sydney’s Metropolitan strategy to build [...]
Thinking about major capital works in your strata common property can be daunting. How does the average strata owner deal with the complexities of aging or faulty major plant and equipment such as lifts, air-conditioning or pools or infrastructure such as windows, balconies, roof and facades? And if you live in a community title scheme, [...]