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A couple of owners have written stating they are taking the EC to the tribunal over an outstanding matter in our complex. This matter regards a drainage problem at the back of these 2 villas. The EC obtained a plumbers report and an engineers report. The EC wanted to go ahead with the scope of works. The owners said they did not think the engineers report addressed the issue. The EC wanted to go ahead and see if it did. The EC arranged for someone else to inspect but was denied access to one villa.
THe owners state that this problem is causing them angst. However, they only ever bring up this problem at the AGM (without it ever being on the agenda). If this problem was so concerning, and the time taken to correct is too long, one would wonder why they only ever complaiin once a year.
The area with the drainage problem is under the villa behind a basement/storage/garage area. The owners state that there is mould problem destroying items stored in this area. The EC has been told that as this is a non habitable area and therefore not an urgent repair. The delay in attempting to do something is not on the side of the EC who were happy to attend to, and would have been happy to do more if first works not adequate.
Other units in complex with no drainage problem have to ensure any items stored in this area are suitable and are stored correctly (ie not in cardboard boxes and to provide air circulation between items) and owners would have to clean out this area each year to alleviate any mould.
If an owner wishes to use this area for whatever purpose, where does the responsibility lie for items stored that are affected by mould? Could people leave expensive items stored there unattended and claim on the EC?
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The EC are elected to undertake daily management within the budget and any caveats from the OC -passed at a properly convened AGM. If the work the EC wished to proceed with was not covered by either of the above and the owners did not call for an extraordinary AGM to stop it – then the EC was not doing its job (this is a tad legalistic but going on interventions by individuals etc can lead to where this appears to be going).
I would think that strictly speaking there is no such thing as a non-urgent repair; if an item of common property is dysfunctional then the EC should meet ASAP and either seek quotes or arrange repair. If anyone thinks otherwise then an AGM is called for to decide not to maintain this property. Otherwise a situation can arise where say a broken light/path/etc affects one unit only; EC members don't care and put off repair indefinitely.
My understanding is that owners cannot sue an EC, they can only sue an Owner's Corp and if they didn't ask for an AGM then they could only sue each other if it's a joint ownership.
Hi Struggler
Section 62(1) of the Strata Schemes Management Act states:
1) An owners corporation must properly maintain and keep in a state of good and serviceable repair the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation.
Consequently, if the mould is caused by defective common property, then the owners corporation is required to not only repair the cause of the mould but also compensate the affected lot owners for loss or damage incurred as a result of the defective common property.
So, the key question is, what is the cause of the mould?
Chris Kerin
Senior Lawyer
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TEYS Lawyers
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