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HI,
I live in an 8 block apartment in QLD
I am on the committee
we have two stairwells
I recently went into the front stairwell t0 get a quote for some much needed new carpet
the lady at the top landing (there are only 2 units at the front) is using this space as a storage area
it is a large space and she has a huge wooden box – would take two people to move
whist it doesnt bother me (its not in my stiarwell)
and doesnt obstruct anyone – she can obviously still get into her unit
I would be concerned about it being a fire hazzard ?
if fire people needed to access the apartment it would be an obstruction
is there any building legislation i need to be aware of
I am aware of common property rules and storing things as per QLD strata law
but is there any other legislation ?
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My first questions are, is it an obstruction of a potential fire exit? And is anyone concerned about it’s presence? If the answer to 1 is yes, politely tell them to move it.
If the answer to 2 is also yes, I feel pretty sure you’ll have a by-law about not leaving goods on, or obstructing, common property without written permission.
That’s all the legislation you need and in any case there’s unlikely to be any other laws specifically about this kind of thing although there may be local council fire regulations.
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.
Hi Gabrielle, yep you probably need to make mention of this as a by-law breach with the resident. If you leave it there for two long and it goes to adjudication you will be asked why you did not seek they uphold the by-laws before now, and it also becomes a precedent for others to use. In this instance, if it was just temporary you might turn a blind eye but if it’s been there now for what may be considered an unreasonable length of time (6 weeks?) you should further it. A friendly word if your committee is up for it is the start but if you feel not to you will have a administrative company handling your body corporate stuff so call them and ask for a copy of your block’s by-laws so you can cut/paste the applicable one in your correspondence to the owner (or ask your b corp manager to write and they will quote this when doing so).
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