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Recently I bought a unit and neighbours are complaining about noise transmission.
I was told the unit was renovated when purchased. The managing agent tells me that the OC approved the renovation but it
seems like someone shortchanged the OC because there is little in the way of specifics in the strata records.That is, papers given owners to vote on were incomplete. I have been told or, more correctly, threatened that rectification works will be demanded by my neighbours to stop the noise. My question is: who would have to pay for this? Me who bought in good faith?
The OC who voted blind or those who ran the strata (strata mgr? SM?) who it seems concealed key renovation information from the OC when asking them to vote.
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Don’t panic. There are a couple of issues to unpack here. I am assuming you are referring to wooden flooring being installed by the previous owner. Installing floating wooden floors is a “minor” type of renovation, under Strata law. Depending on your building’s by-laws, this can be approved by a normal resolution at a general meeting, or in some instances by your strata committee. So you need to check the agendas and minutes of general and strata committee meetings, to see if a motion was put for the owner of your Unit to install wooden floors, and if that motion passed (a majority of the owners at the meeting would need to approve it.) Talk to members on your strata committee to find out what happened, and don’t take the strata manager’s word, without corroboration.
The approval might have been done with some conditions, so you need to check the actual wording used, and if the owner complied, then that is all done and dusted, and can’t easily be revisited. But it sounds like the approval was not done? That means the minor renovation is an unauthorised renovation. One option in response is for the Owners Corporation to require you to reinstate the original type of flooring, which you (as owner) will need to do and pay for – but the OC will need to go and get an Order at NCAT to require this. A common alternative is for you to apply retrospectively to have the renovation approved. Make a fresh application, with all the supporting material, and the OC at the next general meeting can approve it, if at least half of the owners attending vote in favour.
If the owners at that meeting unfairly disapprove the application then you can go to the Tribunal and ask it to overrule the owners. So you need to get the majority of owners on your side – probably some of them have wooden floors or may want them, so they will probably side with you, or make sure the flooring is good, and not making too much noise. Of course, if your wooden floors are a problem then you should consider how to fix that – put down rugs, replace the underlay, carpet the worst affected room, etc?
The second issue is that strata law requires you not to create a nuisance, and disturb your neighbours. Noisy wooden floors can be a trigger for this action. Again, they need to go to NCAT to get an Order, which might involve you reinstating carpet, or perhaps using rugs etc. Again the other side will need to prove the nuisance, and you can dispute it.
Of course, you don’t want to get lawyers involved, or waste a lot of time representing yourself in these matters. It’s best to negotiate with the OC (and your neighbours). Is it just one, or is it a majority? If one, are they influential, or might the Strata Committee be on your side rather then theirs? Is the strata manager being fair, or are they biased to the complainant? Find out. They can’t force you to change your floors without taking action at NCAT – which takes time and money, which the OC would not want to waste unnecessarily, but hopefully you can find a solution that all parties accept. If you need help, talk with a strata lawyer, or your building’s strata manager if they are helpful, or else to another strata manager for some independent advice.
Try taking your shoes off when you are at home. It makes a huge difference – lots of people do it.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
According to the SM, there is no document mentioning wooden floors or any insulation installed.
Is there a by-law? If not, the previous owner has done nothing wrong.
apparently my kids’ piano and saxophone playing can be clearly and loudly heard by neighbours.
Hmmm. You are joking, aren’t you? If you want your kids to be able to practise at home, you should be looking at soundproofing the apartment, not just the floor. Or at least one room. Carpets on the floor and special sound-baffling wall and ceiling panels would be the go.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
I would think you could get retrospective approval for installing properly insulated wooden floors, because the Owners Corporation cannot unreasonably refuse a renovation request. Have you checked to see if your floors are noisy? Talk to your neighbours, and visit there, while you get your wife and kids to walk around on your floors. If you find a problem, then there is one, and it’s your responsibility to fix it.
And I have to agree that letting your kids practice with musical instruments in a Unit seems, perhaps, a trifle unreasonable. Electronic keyboards can have headphones! Excess noise issues come and go – you need to deal with the current problem. There is unlikely to be negligence or incompetence in past strata committees – it was your responsibility to recognise the potential problem with noisy floors (& musical instruments) when you bought the Unit, and you failed to check if there was any renovation by-laws in place. In a strata building you are part of a community, and so you have to consider your neighbours.Go for mediation. Tell the committee that they allowed the previous owner to remove the insulation in the floor and therefore restoring it is their problem. Then negotiate a solution that means they are sharing the cost of carpeting (by far the best sound blocker) or proper insulation.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
do you mean the committee should pay for the work or the owners corporation?
The committee is essentially the Owners Corporation and can make some decisions on the OC’s behalf. You should probably accept that you aren’t going to get this resolved at no cost. When you buy into a strata scheme you inherit a lot of the responsibilities and commitments left by the previous owners. It’s up to purchasers to do their best to make sure everything is clear and unencumbered.
There are theoretically ways you can make the people responsible for a fault pay for remediation, but they often aren’t worth the time, energy or financial cost of pursuing them. For instance, you might be able to make the vendor pay for the unauthorised renovations, but it would cost you more in legal fees and hassles to do so.
Nothing is simple or clear cut in strata disputes.
I strongly recommend that you go to the Fair Trading Living In Strata web pages and have a thorough read of what your rights and responsibilities are, as well as how complaints are handled.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
those who did not know all the facts about the renovation eg me as the buyer and others who I am informed were not given particulars about the renovation should not have to pay for the rectification. Do you think this is a strong argument?
In a word, no. The key phrase in property purchases is caveat emptor – buyer beware. Unless you can prove that the strata committee or owners corp knew that the renovations were substandard and deliberately withheld that information from you as a purchaser, then you will probably be part of the collective responsibility for remediating any defects.
There are too many grey areas involved for you to hang your hat on this as a reliable legal argument that won’t end up costing you more money than it would take to fix the issue. And be careful that you don’t paint yourself into a corner where the OC demands the right to reinstate common property to your disadvantage.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
Jimmy thanks for the tip on the website pages to look at. I will be speaking to neighbours on this issue in the next few days and am of the opinion, and I may be wrong as I am not legally trained, but think that if the OC has to pay to rectify the problem, that is install insulation, then those who did not know all the facts about the renovation eg me as the buyer and others who I am informed were not given particulars about the renovation should not have to pay for the rectification. Do you think this is a strong argument?
I’d suggest asking the neighbours if they had ever formally complained before about noise transmission, if they have and its not part of the strata records then you may have recourse against the company that did a strata search for you.
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