Hi everyone,
Urgent help needed!
To make the long story short, we notified the strata about our renovation work 5 weeks before the work started, we never heard back from the strata since then. Renovation work was carried out as planned, then suddenly we received a note from the owner's committee that they demand us to cease all work immediately and that our renovation was not approved. We were also told we need to submit a formal proposal to the owner's committee and strata and we can only proceed renovation after their approval. We did it immediately to show good will, but strata just told us to cease work immediately again.
Renovation is only cosmetic, as the condition of the unit was really bad and not livable. We have also put up a new wall to divide the living room into living + study/family area. The owner's committee is arguing that they don't like the wall as we are drilling into the ceiling of the unit, which is common area.
Anyone who has put up a wall in a unit had this issue before? Is the ceiling common area? Can they force me to take down the wall?
If we have to put down the wall we'll lose at least thousands of dollars of labor cost, plus weeks of holding costs, rescheduling tradie works etc.
Any suggestion is welcomed! Thanks a lot!!!!
Hi Danviv
I hate to say it but you really should have waited for strata approval. As much of a pain in the a** it can be – you have to play by their rules.
Cheers
Jamie
Jamie Moore | Pass Go Home Loans Pty Ltd
http://www.passgo.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeMortgage Broker assisting clients Australia wide Email: [email protected]
hmm, have you submitted a DA? if you are erecting a wall, it needs a DA, which means body corporate must consent to the plans & engineering drawings, additional floor loading. You need to pay body corporate’s costs & the cost of submitting the da.
Didn't you put in a kitchen? I wouldn't call that cosmetic.
Body Corp rules and guidelines are strict, they can be a bugga to deal with, but unfortunately they can make you demolish anything they haven’t approved. Let us know the outcome, it will be valuable to others on this forum for sure
Holly
Ceiling is part of the common area- as the foundation of the ceiling is connected to the next level up.
So yes strata can stop you; but as long as you change the plan – get DA approval the should approve your work wit the required changes ie partition wall only – not touching the ceiling etc- But at the end of the day it’s strata’s rule you play by as Majority rulesRegards
MichaelMick C | Shape Home Loans
http://www.shapehomeloans.com.au/
Email Me | Phone MeSame Banks. Better Rates. Served With a Passion.
hi michael, how much does the DA normally cost? and do we need a council DA too? are they different?
hi holly, when you mentioned 'they can make you demolish anything they haven't approved', do you mean they can even make unreasonable decisions like force me to demolish the new kitchen and put the old kitchen back in? then i will have to go through their approval process (which may take months), then finally get the approval, then demolish the old kitchen again, then install the new kitchen again? and if we planned to live in the unit, our family would have to live there with half painted wall, leaking toilets and no kitchen? if the decision is unreasonable, can i appeal it to fair trading?can someone help me to clarify exactly what work require their approval?
— change a ceiling light ( i'll touch the wires for 5 second)
— install curtain rail to the wall (i'll need to drill 4 holes on the wall)
— change a leaking toilet (i'll need to drill 2 holes on the wall)
— change carpet (it will create some noise)
— tiling (it will create some noise)
— have a pet fish (bylaw says no pet allowed)The more research I do the more confused I become, it seems strata/executive committee rule the whole building and i have no right at all? what if the strata/executive committee abuse their power?
Generally if the work involves the penetration of the building fabric ie the common property (this includes drilling into walls/ceiling/floor) or the work requires development approval by council (eg erection of a wall or exceed certain expenditure), then you will require BC consent.
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