Best Practice / Hints & Tips

COMMUNAL LIVING – CHRISTMAS SURVIVAL GUIDE

Well, it’s that time of year again – will there be Christmas Cheer or Tears?

It is the time of year where we put aside our differences and disputes over dogs barking or the neighbouring apartment smoking. Instead, we take the opportunity to argue about Christmas lights on balconies, parties that run until the early hours of the morning, that same unit taking up all the visitor car parks, and hordes of those visitors taking over the pool area during the day.

5 COSTLY MISTAKES OWNERS MAKE WHEN MAINTAINING THEIR BUILDINGS

As apartment building remediation specialists, we understand the common mistakes that can easily be avoided and save apartment owners tens of thousands of dollars.

OCCUPATION AUTHORITIES—VALIDITY, ACCESS, EXCLUSIVITY, PROFITS AND TERMINATION

A caretaker or letting agent is commonly granted the right to use part of common property to conduct their duties or provide letting services by ordinary resolution of the Body corporate. This is called an “occupation authority”.

Common problems we hear about occupation authority areas include…

ESSENTIAL WATER INGRESS TIPS FOR STRATA PROPERTIES

In strata buildings, each component and each element has its specific role, interacting with the others like pieces of a puzzle. This article explores the essential areas of knowledge to consider when selecting a contractor to resolve water ingress problems in constructions.

BUILDING LEAKS – THE NEED FOR SPEED TO SAVE COSTS AND PREVENT STRUCTURAL DAMAGE

Too many times we are called as the last resort to fix building leaks. The building has had numerous contractors from roof plumbers to window washers come to a building to patch a hole or put silicone throughout the building, and still the building continues to leak. It seems like the arcade game of ‘Whack ‘Em All’ – plug one hole here and another springs up over there.

Yesterday, I was at a building that had spent $30,000 over the past year trying to find recurring leaks in several locations on one side of the building. The building is 7 storeys high, and leaks were presenting on the ground floor and level 3 apartments. The thoughts were that the damage occurred via 2 separate leaks. This may be the case, but as this was the first inspection and we could not gain access to all areas, we could not confirm this is the case at this early stage. But it did intrigue me that no contractor had even looked at the roof – which upon inspection had major defects.

WHEN AN ERROR IS DISCOVERED AFTER A GENERAL MEETING

What happens if there was an error, mistake or oversight in the voting process that is discovered after the result has been declared and the meeting has been closed?

Most of the time, an error won’t change the result because most general meetings are uncontroversial and the few who attend them simply go through the motions of recording inevitable results.

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING TO SELF-MANAGE

Bodies corporate are not required under the legislation to engage a body corporate manager to assist with administrative services. Instead, bodies corporate have the ability to self-manage. While this may save the body corporate some money, there are many key factors the body corporate should consider when making this decision.

THE CRITICAL ROLE OF BUILDING VALUATIONS FOR STRATA INSURANCE COVERAGE

Conducting regular building valuations for your strata property is extremely important. If you haven’t had a building valuation in the past 3 years, there is a high chance your building is underinsured.

Underinsurance has long been identified as an issue for many strata communities. It occurs when the sum insured does not meet the true cost of rebuilding, leaving properties vulnerable in the event of a major claim.

THE WORLD IS RUN BY THOSE WHO TURN UP

It was Benjamin Franklin who said the two certainties of life are death and taxes. In the strata industry we’ve always added one more: apathy.

Those of us inside the industry often talk about owner apathy. We find it extraordinary that general meetings will be adjourned where there might only be 10% of people (or even less!) who choose to participate in the decision-making over what can be a very valuable asset.

CAN A LOT OWNER BE IMPRISONED FOR FEEDING BIRDS?

Can a Lot Owner be Imprisoned for Feeding Birds? It seems like it would be a pretty straightforward answer of “No”.

However, we recently acted for a Body Corporate that obtained orders in the Magistrates Court of Queensland that in effect, stated if a Lot owner continued to feed the birds at the scheme, he would be subject to imprisonment for a period of three months.