Legal Liability of Body Corp Committee for Renovations
I have a question about legal liability of a Body Corporate committee, terms of the decisions it makes on behalf of all owners, particularly if owners not on the committee are not prior notified of some of committee decisions or not invited to participate in the decision making process on certain matters.
Consider this demolition of a unit internal wall scenario. Owner A wants to do some major renovations to his / her unit. The work requires engineers reports, building certificates of contractors etc... to be presented to the committee and Body Corporate management and registered to file, prior to the committee's approval of any construction / demolition works on their unit. Non committee owners are not notified of the works. The committee casts a vote with the majority of votes giving approval for construction / demolition works to begin.
The unit renovation goes ahead and unexpected damage from jack hammering of one wall, impacts on other walls that adjoin other units, which results in wall cracks. Also the ceiling over the wall being demolished over time starts to buckle. Even though the engineers report gave the OK to go ahead based on strict wall re-construction / support specifications, building damage still results.
The question then becomes, who's liable for the damage and to what extent ? if the builder and or engineer screw up the job. The owner of the unit being renovated ? The committee for voting in favour ? Or just those committee members who voted in favour ? Or all owners, even though they had no idea of the works. Even if the owners were prior notified of the works, does their liability increase and if all owners were part of the decision making process, does there liability increase further ? Does the Body Corporate Management have any liability for such an incident ?
These are some of the questions I would appreciate your views on.
Thanks,
I have a question about legal liability of a Body Corporate committee, terms of the decisions it makes on behalf of all owners, particularly if owners not on the committee are not prior notified of some of committee decisions or not invited to participate in the decision making process on certain matters.
Consider this demolition of a unit internal wall scenario. Owner A wants to do some major renovations to his / her unit. The work requires engineers reports, building certificates of contractors etc... to be presented to the committee and Body Corporate management and registered to file, prior to the committee's approval of any construction / demolition works on their unit. Non committee owners are not notified of the works. The committee casts a vote with the majority of votes giving approval for construction / demolition works to begin.
The unit renovation goes ahead and unexpected damage from jack hammering of one wall, impacts on other walls that adjoin other units, which results in wall cracks. Also the ceiling over the wall being demolished over time starts to buckle. Even though the engineers report gave the OK to go ahead based on strict wall re-construction / support specifications, building damage still results.
The question then becomes, who's liable for the damage and to what extent ? if the builder and or engineer screw up the job. The owner of the unit being renovated ? The committee for voting in favour ? Or just those committee members who voted in favour ? Or all owners, even though they had no idea of the works. Even if the owners were prior notified of the works, does their liability increase and if all owners were part of the decision making process, does there liability increase further ? Does the Body Corporate Management have any liability for such an incident ?
These are some of the questions I would appreciate your views on.
Thanks,