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Our Q&A posts this week:
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Create Your Own Premium Listing
We recently completed a major update to the Australian Strata Services Directory. You can now create your own Premium Listing in just a few minutes! Be part of the Strata Marketplace. Your listing is extremely quick and easy to set up. Begin the Listing Promotional Package and increase your strata business exposure today.
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Our Strata Services Marketplace provides a dedicated database of businesses and services for strata managers and lot owners.
Looking for a strata lawyer, financial advisor, plumber and electrician or maybe maintenance work is required?
Australia wide - you'll find what you're looking for here.
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NSW: Q&A Window locks for strata – admin or capital works fund expense?
Leanne Habib, Premium Strata
Question: What costs are associated with the two respective Funds, in this instance the fitting of window locks for strata? Should expenses relating to installing window locks be charged to the admin or the capital works fund?
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QLD: Q&A The First rule of Visitor Parking in Apartments – umm, it’s for visitors!
Frank Higginson, Hynes Legal
Question: I am just looking at how I go about reporting, or even whether I am able to do so, residents in my building using visitor parking in apartments almost every night. Two of our guest parking bays continuously taken by residents of units.
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ACT: Q&A Rules Around How to Chair a General Meeting. Can this be done by an Independent person?
Christopher Kerin, Kerin Benson Lawyers
Question: We have several contentious issues coming up for discussion at a General meeting. Due to this what are the rules around how to chair a general meeting? Can this role be undertaken by an independent person?
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NSW: Q&A No safe access to roof cavity
Peter Berney, Solutions in Engineering
Question: I have no safe access to roof cavity in my townhouse. Does the responsibility for safe access to roof cavity and the rectification of this problem fall to me or to the Owners Corporation?
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WA: Q&A Ceiling falling in – is this a Strata Council cost?
Gary Phillips, StrataGP
Question: The unit beside ours have had their ceiling falling in. There is $6000 worth of damage and our strata manager says the repair is to come out of our strata money because the ceiling is common property. Insurance said they won't cover it because the ceiling falling in is due to wear and tear.
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SA: Q&A How to change strata management companies
Tony Johnson, Horner Management
Question: We are unhappy with our current strata manager and I'd like to find out how to change strata management companies. What is involved in changing strata managers? How do we call a meeting? What quorum do we need to meet?
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$5,000 rebate available to ACT owners corporations for efficiency upgrades
Lara Lloyd, Actsmart Business Energy and Water Program
Owners corporations in the ACT are invited to upgrade inefficient common area lights to LEDs with help from the ACT Government’s Actsmart program. It’s a win for the environment and a win for the owners corporation’s bottom line.
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QLD: Can a body corporate be allergic to pets?
Frank Higginson, Hynes Legal
Animal dander has a very serious meaning to some of our readers, particularly when it comes to keeping pets in community titles schemes. For those with serious allergies, animal dander can be a genuine threat to their health and wellbeing.
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Nothing happens without a decision
Bailey Compton, Leverage Group – Solicitors & Academy
If you want to do something in a community living arrangement, you must always look to your legislation to ensure that you can do it. There must be a meeting, and you must identify who can make the decision.
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Understanding Office Bearers Liability Insurance
Tyrone Shandiman, Strata Insurance Solutions
Office Bearers Liability Insurance provides cover for the Body Corporate’s Office Bearers should they become legally liable to pay compensation for any wrongful act they commit while carrying out the functions of their position.
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Last Edition's Star Article
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NSW: Q&A Are there template renovation bylaws available?
Leanne Habib, Premium Strata
Question: We have regular applications from owners proposing to renovate their apartments and we are looking to update quite cumbersome processes with respect to the approval by the Owners Corp of proposed renovations by owners. We were wondering if there are template renovation bylaws available?
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Sue Williams, Domain
The City of Sydney has changed its original stance on Airbnb and is now in favour of owners having the final say on whether short-term lets should be allowed in their apartment buildings.
We have some discussion around this happening on our Facebook Page. Take a look and join in the conversation: https://www.facebook.com/lookupstrata/
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9News
Residents of a Melbourne apartment block are being forced to pay to remove combustible cladding covering their building, which is the same material used on London's deadly Grenfell Tower.
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ABC News (ACT)
On 28 February 2018, the ABC News (ACT) ran an in depth story on a well-known ACT developer and the problems various ACT apartment owners have had in getting building defects rectified.
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Aust Wide: Duress & Emergency Lift Phone Service
With the nbn roll-out in full swing, we provide the seamless & simple solution that enables your emergency lift phone to operate 24/7, 365 even in the event of an nbn outage.
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Aust Wide: A better online strata experience
Stratabox is an online platform that enables committee members, owners, residents and strata managers to efficiently and securely manage their communications and administration.
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We sometimes receive interesting questions into the site which aren't quite long enough to create into a post. We thought we'd share some here. We recently received the following question:
I have heard a Strata Plan (SP) be abbreviated as PS, not sure what the abbreviations stands for, nor which states they belong to. Do you have a list of abbreviations and what each state call their Strata Plans.
Kaylene Arkcoll, Leary & Partners replied:
I don’t have a current list of all the various abbreviations as I believe WA has just added (or is about to add) a few more. PS stands for Plan of Subdivision and is the standard term used for survey plans in Victoria. I am not aware of it being used as the formal name of the survey plan document in any other states but I would need to spend a couple of minutes to check for sure.
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