I received a letter from my strata manager today stating 1 of the 5 units in our group requires a re-roof. This has been requested by one of the other owners. He is willing to pay for costs associated with this providing he is excluded from future re-roofing activities and costs for other units. He gets to choose materials and I assume contractor.
I tend to think this should be a shared strata cost so as everyone has a right to vote on materials and quotes selected. There are not enough funds to cover the costs and a levy of some sort would be required.
Anyone had this happen before or have some suggestions?
this is technically a shared cost between all owners. By allowing one owner to decide who, what, how etc it will expose BC to an unacceptable level of risk should the work go pear shaped. This would best be arranged through the strata manager who would have better access to contractors and be more thoroughly versed in tender processes and contract administration.
Thanks Scott
Do you know if this type of decision normally requires unanimous agreement by all or will a majority vote be all that’s needed?
May depend on which State and the rules appling, however unless emergancy repairs and/or safety hazard would usually be an unanimous agreement. Best to discuss with the B/C manager
If this particular owner wanted to replace their roof with simular materials i.e. Replace colourbond with colourbond of the same colour or titles with the same type/colour etc a marjority may suffice.
However with the question of being excluded from future re-roofing, although this may seam to be fair, an unanimous agreement maybe requiredHello there .. I find that all owners should have a say on what quote to choose and what materials to choose from howerver it is up to your strata manager to give this to the executive commitee to choose.. anyone can be part of this committe as long as you let your strata manager know.. I have the same situation where I live.. we are behind on our insurance yet we have a very big problem with a tree that blocks all the pipes.. because both are too expensive we are holding a meeting with all the owners to talk about raising a special levy to cover this.. we are only a small block and I have informed the strata manager that all owners should have a say how the money is spent..
just be sure that before choosing the materials on the roof you look at your insurance policy for the unit to see it it complies.
If your scheme is in NSW then the roof is usually an owners corporation responsibility (quite rare for it not to be). The strata manager should get quotes to replace the roof with the same as existing materials (unless something unsuitable like asbestos of course) as the new work needs to be in keeping with the appearance of the rest of the compelx. The owner of that unit has no right to have the only say in what happens. Hhe would be stupid to choose to pay for it himself because there is no way of hin being excluded from paying for other roofs. All strata levies, whether normal or special levies, have to be paid by unit entitlement. You cannot chosse which you pay and which you don't.
Dafnny, there is no greater "sin" than the owners corporation being underinsured. A levy needs to be raised yesterday for this to be rectified. No discussion to be entered into. Not many owners know, but an owners coporation has unlimited liabilty, which means that there is NO limit to how much each owner in a scheme can be up for in the case of an insurable event where the insurance is inadequate. This could be a building fire, or a legal liability claim 15 years after a child gets hurt etc. That cannot be stressed strongly enough.
If your scheme is in NSW then the roof is usually an owners corporation responsibility (quite rare for it not to be). The strata manager should get quotes to replace the roof with the same as existing materials (unless something unsuitable like asbestos of course) as the new work needs to be in keeping with the appearance of the rest of the compelx. The owner of that unit has no right to have the only say in what happens. Hhe would be stupid to choose to pay for it himself because there is no way of hin being excluded from paying for other roofs. All strata levies, whether normal or special levies, have to be paid by unit entitlement. You cannot chosse which you pay and which you don't.
Dafnny, there is no greater "sin" than the owners corporation being underinsured. A levy needs to be raised yesterday for this to be rectified. No discussion to be entered into. Not many owners know, but an owners coporation has unlimited liabilty, which means that there is NO limit to how much each owner in a scheme can be up for in the case of an insurable event where the insurance is inadequate. This could be a building fire, or a legal liability claim 15 years after a child gets hurt etc. That cannot be stressed strongly enough.
It is usual that owners only 'own' the inside of the property (excluding the roof space. IE They only won and control from the first layer of paint inwards.
If you are worried about unlimited liability, I suggest that you convert the BC to a company with limited liability with each unit owner having a licence or share with the right to exclusvely occupy a nominated unit (with they can transfer).Colin, that is called Company Title, and as flawed as the Strata Title system may be in NSW, it is infinitely better than the old Company Title system. The expense and process involved to convert an old Company Title scheme to StrataTitle is big enough. Even if it were possible, no owners corporation would do the reverse process.
I doubt many owners in NSW are worried about unlimited libaility because they don't realise. There is a simple solution – maintain adequate strata title insurance at all times.
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