Removing Paint from a ceiling

Hi,

Just wondering if I need to seek permission from the owners corporation to remove paint from the concrete ceiling in our apartment? I would like to return the ceiling to its raw state.

There is nothing that states the ceiling needs to be painted, in fact the developer was meant to leave it unpainted for us (as per a condition in the contract) – but the morons went ahead and painted it anyway!

The builders are refusing to remove the paint prior to settlement (even though they are legally obliged to) and have offered a $5000 ‘contribution’ (it will cost more than this) towards us removing the paint after settlement. 

Here is the rub however, they have told us that in order to do it after settlement we would need to seek permission from the owners corporation.

Now I don’t know how many apartments the developer owns, but i know there are a handful that haven’t been sold – and there are a bunch being leased through the one agent (so not sure if this is stock the developer has held on to).

Anyway, we feel it is unlikely that we will get permission from the owners corporation.

Can anyone offer some advice?

Thanks