Aircon Installation Body Corp

[ds4]

In Jan, my tenant asked for an Aircon to be installed in the unit. I asked the PM to get a few quotes for the aircon. Not knowing we had to get Body Corp approval, the aircon was installed without any approval. The next door neighbor who happens to be in the Body Corp committee saw the aircon and reported it to the Body Corp.

The body corp was on my back to put in an application to get approval for the body corp committee. The application was rejected and wanted me to remove the aircon and repair any damage (paint, holes, etc.).

Here is the email from the body corp

please find below the list of conditions if the Committee were to approve the air conditioner:

1. The Lot Owner shall at all times comply with the conditions of this approval as well as the provisions of the body corporate by-laws.
2. The cost of the insurance and all maintenance and repairs of the Air Conditioner will be the responsibility of the Lot Owner.
3. The Air Conditioner will be kept in good working order to ensure it does not cause a noise problem to adjoining owners.
4. The overflow from the unit should be properly drained away from the building into a drain, downpipe or gutter and not onto Common Property or any other Lot.
5. The Air Conditioner must comply with the decibel rating in accordance with the local authority regulations.
6. That the air conditioner complies with the energy efficiency rating in accordance with government regulations.
7. The Air Conditioning unit be wall-mounted to the rear of the balcony on the western side of the building.
8. All conduit and electrical cabling be installed via the western side of the building.
9. The water pipe for the overflow be connected off the balcony on the western side of the building to the downpipe.
10. This approval may be withdrawn at any time should these conditions not be met.

The air conditioner would need to be moved to the back balcony and mounted on the wall, along with all conduit, cabling and water pipe for the overflow to be connected/installed on the western side of the building.

The committee have also asked that electrical cabling and piping for the water outlet be removed from the front and any damage caused to the building be repaired and were necessary painted and that this work be undertaken prior to re-installation (if approval is obtained).

Had the PM gave the right advise to get Body Corp approval, I would not have to go this trouble and pay the extra costs to reinstall the aircon. Has anyone had this kind of bad experience? Can I ask the PM to pay for the costs to reinstall and repair any paint damage, holes, etc?

Many thanks for the advise.

DS

 

[wylie]

In Jan, my tenant asked for an Aircon to be installed in the unit. I asked the PM to get a few quotes for the aircon.

I'd say the PM did what you asked... get some quotes. Who made the decision to install it?

I'd say the body corporate are now being picky as they were not asked, but maybe the way it was installed is ugly with water dripping where it should not. If it is in similar position to other air-con units in other units, then you may have a case to push for yours to be left as is, but if it is at the front (and no other units are at the front), then perhaps you just have to do as they ask.

But it sounds like you've got them off side and they want to "win".

 

[beachgurl]

The PM is responsible for managing your property, not for giving you body corporate advice. While some PMs wouldn't have even considered whether they were any BC issues, they would most likely assume you had permission to get the install.

Sounds unlucky that your next door neighbour is in the committee, otherwise you probably would've gotten away with it no questions asked.

Can you ask them why the air con cannot stay where it is? I'd be working on that angle rather just to get this over and done with. If there are no by-laws about the positioning of the air con I would think you'd have good prospects of keeping it in that spot. Good luck! I've been on the wrong side of committee members and it can be challenging at times.

 

[mattysavager]

I agree with the above. It is a shame that they've got their knickers in a twist about the location.

In my experience, most body corporate committees (including my own) are made up of people with too much time on their hands. It sounds like you have already had a motion defeated (in relation to approving the A/C as-is), so I don't know what options are left open to you.

Lastly, your PM is in no way responsible for this error. It's unfortunate that nobody thought about it. I generally remind owners to check with committees before doing things like this, but that's just because I've had the same issues at my own property. PMs and Body Corporates have almost no interaction, as Body Corp managers almost always refuse to speak to the PM, and insist on dealing only with the owner.

At this point I would resort to bribery before taking the A/C out, but that may be your only option.

Matt

 

[Coldspace]

Hope it gets resolved smoothly, whenever we get a request to install /electrical and aircon units in bodycorp complexes I always ask the owner that they make sure where the body corp wants the unit and noise levels of the machine and other approvals before we even go to the job site to quote let alone install.

It amazes me how many poor owners have been caught out then sometimes this gets ugly with the owner/body corp/ property manager/ installer.

Plenty of installers here in Brisbane who won't go back and rectify so we have gone in and fixed these stuff ups for owners.

Hope you get it resolved.

 

[beachside]

The requirements of the body corporate (executive committee) seem reasonable and not over the top, they have allowed you to keep it provided you minimise the impact of it. It would appear its location is more visible than where they would like it installed. The conditions are similar to what we have set, and the owner wanting the a/c basically came up with the list of conditions to be one step ahead of any issues raised.

With all the Foxtell cabling, air conditioners and TV satellite dishes you see planted all over some blocks of units, plus many balconies turned into Chinese laundries, it is a shame that more people don't give more thought to the appearance of their block. If you did not have a balcony to sit the a/c on you would probably have to get a bylaw to fit the a/c if a bylaw did not already exist. Just make sure that it can blow the hot air into an open area and not bounce back of a wall/brick balustrade which is too close which will hinder the unit cooling.

It's unfortunate that you did not think to check with strata, a lesson learned, but I find it hard to believe that your PM did not think of it - but then again there are many useless PM's. I would grill PM on why they did not at least confirm with you if you had checked with strata to see if any issues with installing, they know conditions apply to strata as they should be giving out copies of the basic bylaws with each new tenants lease.

 

[ds4]

Thank you so much for your input.

The by-laws do not mention anything about aircon location but it looks like the Body Corp refers to the 'Appearance of the lot' and probably 'damage to common property' section of the by law.

It looks like the only way to resolve it is to meet their conditions and learned the lesson. What is the rule of thumb regarding Body Corp approval, do I have to ask approval for anything that impacts the outside of the unit only?

Many thanks,
DS

 

[AlexChidiac]

Briefly you need approval for anything that affects components that are housed externally including any external walls of the building. Also any fixture that will affect the look of the lot and is visible from outside the lot generally needs approval.

 

[wylie]

Also need approval for any changes to internal layout, moving walls, doors.

 

[Lil Skater]

I actually think this is part the PM's fault.

I've never had an issue speaking to BC on behalf of an owner, and I believe it is a PM's responsiblity to know that when dealing with a property that has a BC that anything that would change the appearance extenally is to go through BC.

I would firstly try to get in nice with the BC members to see if you can keep as is, or get them to conduct a vote amongst all residents, and if you still need to move it see if the PM will pay half the cost.

You gave approval for it to be done, but any decent PM knows external alterations need to to through BC. However bare in mind they take a long time to give you a yes or no!

 

[tgan]

Hello ds4,
I agree with previous posters, some of these committees are people with too much time and love exercising some power!
Without knowing anything about your unit, have you had a look at your title?
Is the wall that the air con is mounted on, your wall or is it a common wall?
Is the air-con encroaching on to common property?
If its your wall as per title, and its not physically encroaching on to common property, then I would seriously look at putting a strong case forward and appealing their descision. On what grounds was your application rejected?
You also have rights.
Good luck!
Tgan

 

[beachside]

You need to read the strata laws for the state you are in (which you don't seem to have done ), consider every aspect of how installing the the a/c might be affected by the standard bylaws, plus any additional applying to your strata plan. (Council will also have regulations such as noise output relative to ambient noise). You will then see that the executive have not been unreasonable. Not all executive committees consist of unreasonable people with too much time on their hands, and some are also full of idiots who have NFI and just waiting to get ripped off by any tradie looking for easy pickings.

Some/many people also forget that it is the executive committee who spend their time and effort looking after the entire property for the lazy people who treat the property like Club Med (owner residents) and sit back and watch others looking after their interests without lifting a finger, and those investors who never give any thought to who looks after their property, or choose to do nothing like the Club Med residents. Even in the case of large complexes with building managers/caretakers, it would be a damn good one that would care as much as a caring owner as far as the quality of work that is carried out on the property and making the effort to keep costs to a minimum and doing things efficiently. A strata property requires all the sort of maintenance and other issues which affect a normal house, plus more. If a house owner treated their property like Club Med and did nothing, expected the neighbour across the road or down the street to look after everything, what would it look like after a few years. Oops, better put the soap box away

 

[marg4000]

We owned a unit in a complex where one owner installed an air conditioner without BC approval.

It dripped water on the external wall leading to staining and the location of the external unit created a noise issue for a neighbour.

He was forced to remove the air conditioner and rectify the damage caused to the external wall.

Lesson to be learned that ANY alteration to a unit should be run by the BC to see if it is an issue for them, rather than fight it out afterwards when everyone is annoyed and not in the mood to co-operate.

And as said by Beachside, get yourself on the committee if you think that they are simply people with too much time on their hands, and find out what really goes on. We have found most BC members do a lot of unpaid work for the complex and are on the committee to ensure that the standards of the building are upheld.

Marg