A question about BC or Owner responsibility

[Louwai]

I'm in a group of 5 townhouses. I am the only owner occupier. 3 of the 5 owners are very active, 1 lives in the UK & 1 just follows along.
The complex was built in 2001. I've been here 3yrs.
3 of the 5 are completely seperate & detached lots. The remaining 2 share a dividing wall.

The complex was built very cheaply & in may ways does not meet council regulations (Gas & Power only 200mm under ground, walls not waterproofed, Dividing block wall not core filled etc)
Also, when it was all set up it was done as a Building Format Plan rather than a Standard Format Plan.
This now causes great confusion as the BC tries to apply the BFP rules to a property that should really be SFP.
We are currently working through trying to get the Lot Entitlement changed & possibly the Format Plan as well.

One of the stand-alone properties now requires gutter cleaning.

In this situation is gutter CLEANING (not repair) still deemed to be BC responsibility?

 

[Melbournian]

is it common property?

 

[Louwai]

As far as I can see, that's the $1m question. Under a BFP the gutters are considered Common Property & are BC responsibility.
But under a SFP the gutters are the owners responsibility.

In our situation, the complex SHOULD have been set up as a SFP, but was actually set up as a BFP.

So legally following the BFP rules, the gutter is BC responsibility for REPAIR, but does that extend to cleaning the gutters out & keeping them clean??

 

[Peterw]

The government website has a number of fact sheets to assist both owners as well as body corporate managers. The challenge is, that the fact sheets confirm that the legislation takes precidence, however recent rulings by the ombudsman or QCAT give these guidelines. I believe sadly, that you have to follow the current rules, until they are changed.