Reno issues: Strata and drawings

[Azzy]

Hi all,

Planning to renovate my apartment. Need your help as its costing me money as I am renting two places.

For my reno I have to

Remove 1 wall to open up kitchen. Re do bathrooms and timber floors.
Oh I forgot to say: Balcony: Waterproof and tile concrete balcony. Remove exisiting pergola and add new one.

Strata wants: Written request with scope of works and before and after drawings. (The strata manager said to me its exactly like going to Council.)

My builder ( i suspect) is struggling to get the drawings done. Is this something that builders dont usually do?

If anyone has renovated have they got a project manager or how did they do the drawings?

 

[Propertunity]

For my reno I have to

Remove 1 wall to open up kitchen. Re do bathrooms and timber floors.

Strata wants: Written request with scope of works and before and after drawings. (The strata manager said to me its exactly like going to Council.)

It is actually worse than this. You do need to write to Strata to get permission.
They will write back requesting an engineer's certificate for the works.
Then you can get that and re-submit to Strata.
After that they will create a new by-law (probably) that makes you and subsequent owners of your property (should you sell), liable for any damage caused by removing the wall.
Don't expect any of this to happen anytime soon........

Have a read: http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67088

 

[Melbournian]

Hi all,

Planning to renovate my apartment. Need your help as its costing me money as I am renting two places.

For my reno I have to

Remove 1 wall to open up kitchen. Re do bathrooms and timber floors.

Strata wants: Written request with scope of works and before and after drawings. (The strata manager said to me its exactly like going to Council.)

My builder ( i suspect) is struggling to get the drawings done. Is this something that builders dont usually do?

If anyone has renovated have they got a project manager or how did they do the drawings?

before your renovations, you should have a floorplan scaled to size.
if you don't have one then you need to get a draftsman.

1. bathrooms renovations should be pretty straightforward as long as you get waterproofing done and the not moving anything that requires the configuration of the stack to be altered.

2. Timber floors should be easy enough to do as long as you comply with the strata's acoustic standards if they have any. Normally in melbourne, they try to enforce 5mm acoustic underlay to ensure neighbours below you don't complain.

3. the Wall you are going to remove (depending on how old the apartment is ) could be load bearing especially those old character apartments. And it requires a steel beam put in place, structural engineer's consent as well as strata's approval - i would reconsider doing it as it can be an expensive exercise which in consideration is for people who buy this character apartments as PPOR who intend to renovate.

4. depending on how old your apartment is - make sure that it is asbestos free

5. for a small renovation like this, you probably don't require a project manager as that should be the role of the builder.

Also - From the sound of things, the builder does not seem experienced enough to manage an apartment renovation as drafting up the plans should take maximum a day or two depending on the draftsman schedule.

 

[Azzy]

It is actually worse than this. You do need to write to Strata to get permission.
They will write back requesting an engineer's certificate for the works.
Then you can get that and re-submit to Strata.
After that they will create a new by-law (probably) that makes you and subsequent owners of your property (should you sell), liable for any damage caused by removing the wall.
Don't expect any of this to happen anytime soon........

Have a read: http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67088

I thought it would take two weeks or so! How long does it take for them to create a new by-law? Others in the block have done such renos.

OMG! today when I talking to the strata manager I asked if the builder could call him and he said he would be billing me for the time taken. !!!!!!!

 

[Azzy]

before your renovations, you should have a floorplan scaled to size.


if you don't have one then you need to get a draftsman.
Also - From the sound of things, the builder does not seem experienced enough to manage an apartment renovation as drafting up the plans should take maximum a day or two depending on the draftsman schedule.

Can anyone recommend a draftsman? Definitely I think my builder cant do the drawings.

 

[Azzy]

It is actually worse than this. You do need to write to Strata to get permission.

Have a read: http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67088

I read some of that long thread. Thank you Propertunity. Hope to read more of it tomorrow. There was some mention of fire rating and standards. I hope this wont apply to a simple renovation such as mine?

 

[Melbournian]

Can anyone recommend a draftsman? Definitely I think my builder cant do the drawings.

i normally use a guy called josh delaney for my last few apartment renovations. he is from this forum too. 0438 395 327 - delaney design. Only thing is he is in melbourne, and if you need someone to come and measure up it would be hard.

try to get the drawings from council first- it would be less costly getting someone in and then get the draftsman to draw it based on what you want it to be. then from there the strata would be able to understand what you trying to achieve.

 

[Melbournian]

I read some of that long thread. Thank you Propertunity. Hope to read more of it tomorrow. There was some mention of fire rating and standards. I hope this wont apply to a simple renovation such as mine?

Does your apartment have a fire sprinkler system? if it is two sprinkler heads cannot be within a certain distance of each other and it needs to be verified by a fire safety engineer. Also if you erecting walls - all the areas need to be covered by the sprinkler system.

If it is one of the low rise ones where there is no sprinkler system- the fire hose needs to be able to reach the furthest area of the apartment.

these on based on personal experience on renos done in melbourne.

 

[Melbournian]

if you kept it to a comestic renovation- you could get away with not having to deal with the strata.

 

[Phiber]

I agree with the comment above - in your situation I would probably stick with a cosmetic reno: quick and easy, much less hassle, no need to deal with Strata.
You could go timber floor, repaint, new bathroom and new kitchen: will be very neat already.
Just remember that when you want to take down a wall in a strata complex (especially older) it's gonna be a long and painful path.
Have you checked with strata regarding the tiling on the balcony? Depending on the complex, if there are waterproofing issues, strata might fix it for you.
Worth a check

Good luck

 

[Wake]

Actually, in NSW you do not require a by-law to remove an internal wall as long as you have a structural engineer's certificate. An internal wall is not a common wall and therefore the owners corp has no authority over it. You do need to give the owners corp 14 days notice of your intention though. The following extract from the Strata Schemes Management Act removes the need for a by-law. You just need to comply with this section:

STRATA SCHEMES MANAGEMENT ACT 1996 - SECT 116
Owners, occupiers and other persons not to interfere with structure of lot or services to lot
116 Owners, occupiers and other persons not to interfere with structure of lot or services to lot

(1) An owner, mortgagee or covenant chargee in possession (whether in person or not), lessee or occupier of a lot must not do anything or permit anything to be done on or in relation to that lot so that:

(a) any support or shelter provided by that lot for another lot or common property is interfered with, or

(b) the passage or provision of water, sewage, drainage, gas, electricity, garbage, artificially heated or cooled air, heating oil and other services (including telephone, radio and television services) through or by means of any pipes, wires, cables or ducts for the time being in the lot is interfered with.

(2) The owner of a lot must not alter the structure of the lot without giving to the owners corporation, not later than 14 days before commencement of the alteration, a written notice describing the proposed alteration.

(3) In this section, "lessee" of a lot in a strata leasehold scheme means a sublessee of the lot.

This means you can remove internal walls as long as it does not affect the units above or below you - hence the need to have a structural engineer involved. Many strata managers do not understand that this section of the Act removes the need for a by-law, and that an internal wall cannot be the subject of a by-law as it is not common property.

Wake

 

[Azzy]

Hi Wake

Thank you very much for that important piece of information. I certainly will send it off to strata if there are any dramas.

The strata block I live in 7 apts

Any idea on the procedure for approval?
Why does it take so long?

 

[vaughan]

Hi Wake

Thank you very much for that important piece of information. I certainly will send it off to strata if there are any dramas.

The strata block I live in 7 apts

Any idea on the procedure for approval?
Why does it take so long?

Probably because the body corporate are "normal" people, and running the strata isn't their day job.

Also they may want to show the plans to engineers etc for comment, and there may be mandatory periods of notice that need to be complied with (e.g., 2 weeks notice for meetings etc).

 

[Azzy]

Also they may want to show the plans to engineers etc for comment, and there may be mandatory periods of notice that need to be complied with (e.g., 2 weeks notice for meetings etc).

Well fair enough for eg 2 weeks notice for meetings etc.

They would go thru the expense of showing plans to engineer?

I have given them my engineers drawings..

Owners corporation = committee members of strata? is that correct?

 

[vaughan]

They would go thru the expense of showing plans to engineer?

I have given them my engineers drawings..

Owners corporation = committee members of strata? is that correct?

If I were on a strata committee I'd be passing things through to an expert for comment. The expense would probably come out of the strata funds, not the committee members personally. Heck, it might be possible to pass them back to the person making the application (could be considered fair).

Another cause for delay could be the necessity to get a quorum together for a meeting. If not enough people show up to vote...