This article is about the importance of a good renovation by-law.
Do your strata by-laws keep pace with strata law changes?
In Nov 2016, every owners corporation was required to review its by-laws within 12 months.
Most owners corporations completed their by-law review by 2018.
Since then, there have been numerous changes to the laws affecting strata buildings.
Strata law changes affecting strata buildings
- Short term rental accommodation arrangements – a by-law can now ban short term lettings in certain circumstances;
- Pets – a by-law can no longer ban pets and by-laws that do are not enforceable;
- Renovations – the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 now applies to many renovations. Do your renovations by-laws require owners to comply with the Act?;
- Fire Safety – new fire safety laws will be introduced to increase fire safety standards for strata buildings. Do your by-laws allow your owners corporations to recover fire safety upgrade costs from owners?;
- Sustainability Infrastructure – new strata laws relax the requirement for approval of sustainability infrastructure such as solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations;
- Levy Recovery – there remains controversy about recovery of debt collection costs. Do your by-laws allow these costs to be recorded in an owner’s ledger and recovered by the owners corporation?
Do your by-laws take into account these changes to the law?
If not, they might not be enforceable or they might simply be outdated.
So is it time to again review your by-laws? We have conducted 100’s of by-law reviews for owners corporations across NSW.
Adrian Mueller
JS Mueller & Co Lawyers
E: adrianmueller@muellers.com.au
P: 02 9562 1266
This post appears in Strata News #658.
If you have a question or something to add to the article, please leave a comment below.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is provided for your personal information only. It is not meant to be legal or professional advice nor should it be used as a substitute for such advice. You should seek legal advice for your specific circumstances before relying on any information herein. Contact JS Mueller & Co for any required legal assistance.
JS Mueller & Co Lawyers has been servicing the strata industry across metropolitan and regional NSW for over 40 years. We are a specialist firm of strata lawyers with in depth and unmatched experience in, and comprehensive knowledge of strata law and levy collection.
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This article has been republished with permission from the author and first appeared on the JS Mueller & Co Lawyers website.
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