Hi,
My partner and I are owner occupiers in a strata title unit.
The building is quite old (built late 70s) and there are a number of maintenance issues.
First of, the lift. It is very old, and about a year ago each unit had to pay a 'lift levy' of $1000 on top of the usual $350 per quarter fee to 'upgrade' it due to constant break downs.
All that was done was to replace the lift motor, and the actual 'cage' /control panel etc still looks like from a horror movie. However, even after the upgrades the lift still breaks down very often. It seems to work worse after the 'upgrade' than before it, and they've actual made it look worse too (there's now holes in the original control panel, lights for certain floors don't light up etc).
You'd think that with $1000 levy with 80 units, = $80,000 would be enough to sort out these issues?
We went to the AGM in Dec 07, put forward our complaints, but were basically told that these things cost money etc, so nothing came out of it.
We are now pretty pissed off, the lift still looks and works as bad (or even worse) than before the 'upgrade', and there are numerous other maintenance issues (broken intercom, faulty lock on the main entrance door etc).
Anyway, we're not sure what to do about this? We've contacted the strata company, but they don't seem to do much. Is there anywhere we can complain, like a strata ombudsman?
Many thanks.
It sounds like it is time to review some contracts pijoko – start with the members of the executive committee. How many lifts in the building? What is included in the lift maintenance contract (if they are getting $100k pa). What sort of building/lifts (hi-rise with fast speed or low rise with low speed (hydraulic/underslung etc)). What works were addressed in the recent refurbishment works – just the replacement of 1 motor? or were other items upgraded (control equipment, door sensors, floor levellers)? Are there future compliance issues – eg fire safety issues or OHS? Write to the exec and request a reply. Do you know who is on the exec committee?
Did you volunteer to join the executive committee at the AGM (a role on the EC does not take up much time)?
Established body corps can become very political and be just as effective as a political party.
You may find the administrators are relatively ok and are acting on the interests of the committee and its the committee you need to work with.
If its a strong and tight committee be careful you dont get on the wrong side of them. They know the rules inside out and can make it hell for you if you dont work with them.
Not saying this is your situation, however I have been exposed this this and saw first hand how brutally an owner, well in their rights, was totally destroyed both morally and financially by the body corporate committee (this is another story).
So you can easily obtain from the administrators a copy of statements, contracts and service levels. You can challenge the administrator to ensure the elevator company live up to their service levels. However I think you will struggle to have a committee recognise their own incompetence.
Good luck and I hope its a simpler matter to resolve.
Oh, in terms of costs. I think a special levy of $600k was raised to replace 3 lifts of a 10 story block (in my example above).
Where is the block of units located?
Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender
The block of units are located in Perth. There is only 1 lift and the building consists of 7 floors.
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