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The owners corporation must look after common property and do all repairs (unless it decides by special resolution that it is inappropriate for a particular item and its decision will not affect the safety or appearance of the strata scheme). This includes replacing and renewing common property when needed [s. 62].

The following is a checklist for common property:

  • floor includes a ramp or stairway
  • boundary wall includes any door, window or other structure within the wall and their working parts
  • ceramic tiles originally attached to a common property surface (eg. the floor or boundary wall)
  • pipes in the common property or servicing more than one lot are common property
  • electrical wiring in the common property or servicing more than one lot
  • parquet and floor boards originally installed
  • vermiculite ceilings, plaster ceilings and cornices
  • magnesite finish on the floor
  • balcony doors are usually common property if the strata plan was registered after 1 July 1974 (you must look at the registered strata plan)
  • the slab dividing two storeys of the same lot, or one storey from an open space roof area or garden areas of a lot (eg. a townhouse or villa), is usually common property if the strata plan was registered after 1 July 1974, unless the registered strata plan says it is not.

 

The owners corporation can decide at a general meeting by special resolution to do or allow a lot owner to add, alter or erect a new structure that improves or enhances common property. If the ongoing maintenance for any alteration, addition or erection is to be the responsibility of a lot owner, a by-law must be created. Otherwise the owners corporation becomes responsible for the ongoing maintenance [s. 65A].

When deciding on the areas of common property in a strata scheme, you must look at ‘structural cubic space’. Structural cubic space includes:

  • cubic space occupied by a vertical structural member, not being a wall
  • any pipes, wires, cables or ducts that are not for the enjoyment of a single lot
  • any cubic space enclosed by a structure enclosing any of these pipes, wires, cables or ducts.

Structural cubic space will be common property unless the registered strata plan shows that it forms part of the lot.

 

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