The person responsible for utility infrastructure – whether it be an air-conditioning unit, electricity wires and cables, smoke alarms, plumbing or stormwater drainage – is one of the most common questions that arise in a community titles scheme. In order to answer this question, it is first necessary to consider who owns the infrastructure –…
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Back in November 2023, we wrote about the passing of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 2023 (Amending Act), which you can read about here. The Amending Act makes certain changes to the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (BCCM Act), and recent public focus has been around the amendments to towing, smoking,…
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There’s always a lot of hype in the build-up to legislative change, even when the changes proposed have been in the pipework for more than a decade and some of them, like pets and smoking, aren’t changing at all – they are just restating what adjudicators have been telling us for years. Legislative change in…
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The Body Corporate and Community Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 (the Bill) is set to take effect from 01 May 2024. History The Bill was introduced into the Queensland Parliament on 24 August 2023, and subsequently received Royal Assent on 14 November 2023. There are several noteworthy changes that will reshape the operations…
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Over the last few years, vaping has become increasing popular, especially amongst young people. Federal Parliament is currently looking at laws that may ban disposable and non-therapeutic vapes. But is there anything Bodies Corporate can do now to ban vaping? Smoking versus Vaping In 2021, the Commissioner’s Office looked at the issue of cigarette smoking…
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INTRODUCTION For a long time, Queensland strata laws did not specifically address keeping pets in strata buildings as there was no standard by laws and no legal sections covering them. Instead, if strata buildings made by laws restricting or banning pets or refused approval to keep a pet, those by laws and decisions could be…
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On Tuesday 14 November 2023, the Queensland Government passed new body corporate laws. The new laws will commence on a date yet to be announced, which is likely to be in early 2024. Three things to know about new strata laws regarding pets: The new legislation is extremely pet-friendly Existing ‘no-pets’ by-laws are confirmed as invalid,…
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Energy Regulator Announces New Review on Exemptions Framework For Embedded Networks The AER have announced another review of the exemption’s framework of the legislation for embedded networks. The reviewing was initiated on the 30th of November 2023 and is expected to be finished early 2025. We are seeing the strata industry shift towards the retail…
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Under the new laws, a body corporate wanting to tow a car will no longer require an order from the Commissioner’s Office before they tow. But the devil is in the detail. Find out what’s new regarding parking and towing in strata schemes, and how to ensure you don’t get caught out doing the wrong…
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Scheme termination, pets, smoking and more… Limits on developers invoking sunset clauses will better protect Queensland buyers New laws will also crackdown on smokers while making it easier for residents to keep pets New body corporate laws and protections for ‘off the plan’ buyers have passed in Queensland Parliament. Previously, if a contract included a…
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