Property owners in unit blocks that lean on old standards for balcony safety could face an upgrade bill after a recent case in the NSW Civil Administrative Tribunal.
There used to be a general principle in strata that even if your balcony balustrades weren’t up to standard, you didn’t need to fix them unless there were other major works going on in the block that required local council approval.Updated applications of strata law in NSW could affect apartment owners.
The current standards have been in place since 1997 and require a balustrade to be at least 1 metre high, not have openings wider than 12.5 cm and not to be constructed in a way that makes them easy to climb.
There was also a history of maintenance neglect which, at one point, led to the compulsory appointment of a strata manager, who took over all the responsibilities of the owners corporation and its committee. And even though the owners corporation can decide via a special resolution not to maintain, renew, replace or repair the property, that’s only if its decision will not affect the safety of the building or detract from its appearance.
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