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In our strata complex of townhouses one resident decided to change his own antenna which was strata property with one from bunnings and in the process he fell and broke some tiles.
The secretary didn’t have the bill for the repair added to the resident’s account as they have long standing friction. So the OC has ended paying the bill as the managing agent said since its an accident and common property we have to pay the bill.
So hopefully someone can clarify who is correct?
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Strictly speaking, the resident has changed the Common Property (antenna) without first obtaining the written consent of the Owners Corporation (O/C), and they could be required to restore it to its original (presumably non-operating) state, whereupon the O/C would be required to have it replaced again .
All quite silly really – like how much money are we talking about?
It sounds like the O/C only paid for the roof tile repairs, in which case I’d be inclined let sleeping dogs lie.
However as the O/C is held responsible to maintain and repair whatever style / quality of antenna and cabling the resident has installed, your Executive Committee Secretary should instruct the Strata Manager to advise that resident in writing that they’re not to make any further additions or changes to the Common Property, and that whilst for safety reasons any future maintenance and repairs to the newly installed antenna must be arranged by the O/C, that will be at cost to the resident (as its their antenna).
… only my suggested approach as I don’t like recommending that strata dwellers rock the boat when they’re floating in a rubber ducky.
On a more serious note, it sounds like you have one of those Strata Managers who runs with their own agenda when that makes their life easier. You, or better still your E/C, should remind your Strata Manager that she’s contracted by the Owners Corporation to do as it instructs provided that’s in accordance with the Act; and what I suggested is.
Without you or or Secretary obtaining a copy of the Claim – who would know?
Whilst I doubt that any Strata Manager would be THAT foolish, you need to have a look at the nature and costs of the Claim, and as I said before, because you have one of those Strata Managers who runs with their own agenda when that makes their life easier, your E/C needs to place some limits upon both the functions and the extent of those that the Owners Corporation delegates to her in the Strata Management Agency Agreement.
So in advance of the next AGM, obtain a copy of that Agreement and have your E/C Members have a very close look at the Clauses that delegate certain functions of the Owners Corporation (and the E/C) to the Agent.
There will be a Clause similar to “Appointment of and Delegation to Agent”, and after reading that and then considering how much involvement Members really want to accept, re-assess your Strata Manager’s authority and any limitations that you need to place upon those in the context of her past actions, and put a Motion to sensibly “review” the Agreement to reflect that re-assessment at the next AGM.
I’m siding with the Manager.
Our SM usually makes insurance claims without informing the Committee. He sees it as his job when he judges that a claim is appropriate and, according to our strata agreement, he is allowed to make that judgement.
It doesn’t matter HOW the damage to the common property happened, the OC must repair it. The OC can pursue cost recovery if it so chooses. In the case of accidental damage to common property this would be usually though an insurance claim.
As the whole building by law must be insured against accidental damage, a lot owner can request the OC to submit a claim for any accidental building damage they are responsible for and the OC must oblige or risk being taken to VCAT (you appear to be in Victoria). It is after all, every owner’s building insurance policy too. The insurance company can then chase the person that caused the damage if they so choose. Whether the work on the roof was approved or not by the OC is likely to be irrelvant – if it was accidental that would be enough to be covered according to my OC’s insurance policy.
The OC can however charge the lot owner any insurance excess. VCAT has ruled on this – the OC generally pays any excess, but if a lot owner/resident/guest or a lot’s private property caused the damage, the lot owner can be (in fact should be) charged the excess. I suspect the OC could also charge the owner for the full cost of repairs if the whole claim was refused by the insurance company.
And as for the argument that too many insurance claims could increase an OC’s insurance premiums – it seems there’s not too much an OC can do about that. In reality, so our SM tells me, the insurance companies tend to increase the excess amounts rather than the premium. This excess can be charged to the lot owner if they caused the damage.
Austman said “you appear to be in Victoria”
Sorry – I now see it’s NSW. None-the-less I think the Manager is right for the reasons I stated.
The part “VCAT has ruled on this – the OC generally pays any excess, but if a lot owner/resident/guest or a lot’s private property caused the damage, the lot owner can be (in fact should be) charged the excess.” is true for Victoria and likely to be similar elsewhere.
Austman – I agree with your proposition where an Owners Corporation properly delegates some of its functions to a competent Strata Manager who then exercises those in accordance with Strata Law, and touches-base with the Executive Committee when exceptions or atypical situations arise.
If you had read all of Colosus’ posts on this topic and the others where it’s clear that the Strata Manager that you’re siding with has demonstrated a propensity for taking the easy way out and acting autonomously despite the contrary requirements of the Law, then like me you may have taken a different line.
@Whale said:
Austman – I agree with your proposition where an Owners Corporation properly delegates some of its functions to a competent Strata Manager who then exercises those in accordance with Strata Law, and touches-base with the Executive Committee when exceptions or atypical situations arise.If you had read all of Colosus’ posts on this topic and the others where it’s clear that the Strata Manager that you’re siding with has demonstrated a propensity for taking the easy way out and acting autonomously despite the contrary requirements of the Law, then like me you may have taken a different line.
Thanks Whale – I did read the posts. I think there are at least two issues here –
(1) The unauthorised alteration of common property and
(2) An insurance claim for the repair of accidental damage to other common property.
Issue (1) should be an EC issue, perhaps with the SM’s advice. It’s clearly not allowed.
But issue (2)… I can’t see how the SM acted illegally, which is what
Colosus01 claims. No SM has ever asked me (I’ve been on the committee where I live for 10 years) before submitting an owner’s insurance claim. What are the “contrary requirements of the Law” here?Are you saying that because (1) happened, (2) should not be allowed? It seems that Colosus01 wants the owner to pay for the repairs. My argument is that the owner would be allowed to claim from the OC’s building insurance regardless. I don’t see how a claim application could be denied by the OC. Who pays if the insurance company denies the claim or approves it with an excess is another matter. I think that any further costs after submitting the insurance claim would be for the claiming owner to pay.
Re issue (1), I can’t see anywhere that the SM went ahead and approved the cost of the new antenna. Perhaps Colosus01 can clarify this?
Thanks Austman, but my observations about the Strata Manager were based purely on the basis of Colosus’ posts, where he said that it was a tenant who changed the Common Property, and by his wording hinted that notwithstanding that the Executive Committee (or at least some Members) expected that person to be invoiced for the resultant damage, the Strata Manager took the easy decision to eventually make an insurance claim due to her past “long-standing friction” with that tenant.
It was Colosus, not me, who suggested some illegality as the Strata Manager may have stated that it was a tradesperson/contractor as opposed to the tenant who caused the damage which was the subject of the Insurance Claim. My response was “who would know” without taking a look at the Claim.
My observation about the Strata Manager acting contrary to the Law was a reference to another of Colosus’ posts where she, in her delegated role of Secretary, convened an Executive Committee Meeting to push-through a Member’s proposal to appropriate a section of the Common Property to expand their driveway. In NSW that’s something that needs to be considered by way of a Special Resolution at a General Meeting, and so the Strata Manager was acting contrary to the Law.
As always, it’s good to have your input and I reiterate that where Owners Corporations are dealing with a good and cooperative Strata Manager then your approach and opinions would be entirely valid; sadly in Colosus’ examples that’s not the case – hence my contrary opinions.
@Colosus01 said:
@Austman said:Re issue (1), I can’t see anywhere that the SM went ahead and approved the cost of the new antenna. Perhaps Colosus01 can clarify this?
Hi Austman, Just to clarify that last part in your post you are referring to the new antenna from bunning’s that the resident put up?
Hi Colosus01. Yes that’s what I meant. Did the SM approve payment for the antenna?
If it’s the insurance claim that is the issue, I can’t see that the SM acted illegally. SMs, in my experience, typically handle tasks as “job in – job out” if they are within their authority. They just see it as doing their job and might not see any bigger picture.
And here is a cut-and-paste quote from a letter to me from an earlier SM about the block of 12 apartments where I now live:
“However, I remind you that the fees being charged represent only around 30 minutes a week. If the body corporate has higher expectations, it should set out clearly the additional duties beyond those set out in the Institute of Body Corporate Manager’s Agreement, and obtain quotes to this.”
So, just 30 minutes a week is allocated for ALL the SM’s tasks for our building. The strata management company considers most SM work is “job in – job out”. A Committee, considering this, might need to give the SM specific instructions not to make an insurance claim.
Austman asked…. Did the SM approve payment for the antenna?
Colosus replied …. No She did not. The secretary also showed me via email (where) the mans wife bullied the SM to send out a antenna tech twice after the accident since there (sic) newly installed antenna needed to be fine tuned.
♦ my emphasis / comment in italics.
So in summary, a tenant with “history” climbed up on the roof to remove an existing common TV antenna and to replace it with their own, damaged the common roof (tiles) in the process, and the Strata Manager without any prior advice to or discussions with the Executive Committee decided to engage a contractor to “tune” the tenant’s TV antenna and to submit an insurance claim to repair the damaged roof (and goodness knows what else).
As I suggested earlier, Colosus’ O/C should re-assess their Strata Manager’s delegated authority and perhaps consider some limitations upon those in the context of her past actions, and then put a Motion to sensibly “review” the Strata Manger’s Agency Agreement to reflect that re-assessment at the next AGM.
Might be enough on this topic now don’t you think?
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