Preventative Maintenance
Sometimes even experienced strata property owners can forget the importance of preventative maintenance. Strata properties need to be maintained in order to function efficiently and stay protected. If building maintenance is not attended to, it will not only decrease property value over time, but it could also stand as a ticking time bomb for an accident or safety hazard. The best way to ensure your strata property is being looked after is to check that your building’s maintenance is up to date and repairs are being carried out regularly. It is important to have a quality body corporate maintenance plan in place to prevent serious damage and safety hazards arising in the future. Below we have provided some tips on strata building maintenance and responsibilities:
• Your body corporate is generally responsible for painting the building exterior, gardens, lawns, pests, gutters, common areas, utilities and essential structural elements of the building depending of the structuring of your schemes registered plan
• For long term maintenance of capital expense items, it is a legislated requirement for a body corporate to prepare a Sinking Fund Forecast with a minimum projection of 10 years capital expenditure. The forecast informs the body corporate of maintenance works that will be required for completion in the years ahead and the levies that need to be raised to accumulate adequate funds for the listed works
• Short term maintenance will include items budgeted for in the Administration Fund and usually reoccur on an annual or shorter term basis
• Short and long-term planning reduces the risk of deterioration and the possibility of sudden unplanned expenses
• Preventative maintenance will also help a property retain and possibly increase its value over time
• A well maintained building provides a pleasant place to live for all residents
This article was contribute by Grant Mifsud – Partner, Archers the Strata Professionals.
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You made a good point when you shared that strata properties require to be maintained from time to time in order to function efficiently and stay protected. This goes the same for the transmission tower that needs to be repainted to keep functioning. I would like to think if a company has a transmission tower that is no longer in good condition, it should consider hiring a reliable service that can help repaint it.