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Our OC has been very reluctant in doing repairs and maintenance over the years, despite my requests. I seemed to be the only one who asked for them .
In the past couple of years, one unit was sold on and this owner also wanted repairs to be done. So works started getting done, but they have taken so so long with many emails backwards and forwards.
We have now a list of repairs to be undertaken and they will be done in order of priority and when there is money. I dont know how long that is going to be.
Shouldn’t money be raised to attend to these repairs in a reasonable amount of time. If the money is not sufficient, shouldnt our budget be adjusted accordingly? Thanks.
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Section 46 (below) of Victoria’s Owners Corporation Act states absolutely clearly that the OC must maintain and repair common property.
Sections 36 to 45 of the Act also state that you have to establish a maintenance plan and then provide the funds to effect the plan.
It’s pretty clear. Your committee (and owners corp) need to survey common property, make a plan then raise the funds – either by levies or loans – to make it happen.
46. Owners corporation to repair and maintain common property
An owners corporation must repair and maintain—
(a) the common property; and
(b) the chattels, fixtures, fittings and services related to the common property or its enjoyment.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.
Sections 36 to 45 of the Act also state that you have to establish a maintenance plan and then provide the funds to effect the plan.
Except that only applies to “A prescribed owners corporation” which, in Victoria rules out most OCs. For the rest it’s optional.
The OP should really get on the strata committee and see to it that the works are funded and done.
I missed “prescribed”.
A prescribed owners corporation is one that governs a building of 100 units or more (as defined HERE). It is similar to a “large” block in NSW. There are some pretty big blocks in Victoria.
I think it’s also the case that large blocks in Vic must have strata managers, so the problem described above might not arise anyway.
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 am on the Committee. Current situation is we are told to add the repair to a list and then there is a vote as to the order to when it will be done according to the money we have. I was told that it could take to up to a year.
Who is telling you this? Is it a committee decision? No-one in the committee has more authority than another in the committee unless there’s a hung vote. But if the committee as a whole considers the works to be non-essential or unnecessary then you might have to convince them otherwise.
When raised with the Strata Manager, he has said that he takes direction with the Owners Corporation as to which repairs works are undertaken and that is based on majority rule.
That’s correct to a large extent but the SM should also be advising the OC on their legal obligations regarding required maintenance.
What looks to be essential maintenance to you might not be seen that way by other owners. So to some extent it can be up to you to establish that the works really are required.
Getting There wrote:
There is a so much more but I think it is best if I can private message to discuss this.
Sorry, but that’s not what this forum is about. One of the main reasons we insist on anonymity is so that other owners and residents can benefit from the discussions here and you can explain the details of your issues without potentially defaming anyone. We really can’t offer private consultations.
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.
Just because maintenance plans are only mandatory for large schemes in Victoria doesn’t mean smaller schemes can’t have them.
Propose to your strata committee that the building employs a surveyor to establish and prioritise future maintenance work, then you can budget accordingly.
Then propose a by-law that only licensed and certifted tradespeople be used for any work done.
Obviously you are going to get some resistance from the person who wants to avoid repairs and then do them on the cheap but if you can persuade enough other owners and /or committee members that this is a false economy – the value of your property is deteriorating – then you should be able to out-vote them.
The opinion of a couple of local real estate agents about how much poor maintenance is costing the owners in dimished vale would help.
Having said that, arguments about re-sale value will cut no mustard with owners who are not planning to sell any time soon (like, I guess, your “head honcho”) in which case you may have to get political and either out-vote them or vote them out.
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.
When there is disagreement as to what is or is not essential maintenance, how can that be resolved?
Do a bit of work yourself, engaging professionals, and present the findings to the committee/SM/owners.
Speculation doesn’t help much. Professionalism does.
In my decades as an OC chair around Australia, I’ve had countless owners complain to me about “crucial” building issues. When professionally investigated, they were often found to be not so crucial.
Get to know your State’s legislation regarding upkeep on your building, and also your by-laws. Committee folks don’t seem to know much and are able to just make what they think are good, obvious decisions. Points of difference can get settled faster when you point out things you feel don’t match the legislation or your by-laws, and hold firm, get other owners on your side so it’s not seen as just you (with and maybe after you drag your Managers viewpoint into it), but even if it is just you be prepared to let it go if its not a big deal or stand and fight if it is. That will mean presenting paperwork that advises you are taking it beyond committee decision and out to a 3rd party such as an adjudicator. Often then they concede as they are just volunteers having a go so don’t want the exposure for not doing things to a standard and time-frame legislation requires if the concerns are genuine. I’m not a fan of needing to join the committee just to have your rights enforced and I think it can actually work against you if you dont often have issue with most of what goes or or are not up for the groupthink.
“When raised with the Strata Manager, he has said that he takes direction with the Owners Corporation as to which repairs works are undertaken and that is based on majority rule.”
For many years I owned a flat in a small building with only nine units. We fell into terrible disrepair partly due to a slugging management company, party due to a chairperson not taking control and not getting work done before suddenly selling up. (Keep an eye out for this hazard). Short advice: read the body corp rules, take control and give your OC direction. Bundle repairs into lots, get quotes and remember you do not need to accept the lowest quote or even get three quotes. Direct the OC to contract work and direct them to give the work to your chosen company. If you need to raise a levy, do so, and get the work done! Little will be accomplished if once a year go to your body corp meeting with a long list of stuff to do and ask the OC to get quotes. Someone needs to take control and direct work to be done. This advice comes with the warning that if you take control you may be the one spending tons of time meeting tradespeople, managing quotes, basically doing all the hard work for other owners. It is sometimes irritating but in the end worth the hours spent.
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