The Responsibilities of Lot Owners in a Body Corporate
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Owning a lot in a body corporate comes with responsibilities that extend beyond looking after your own unit or townhouse. Lot owners must comply with the body corporate by-laws, maintain the parts of their property they are responsible for, use common property appropriately and meet certain financial and administrative obligations.
Exactly what an owner is responsible for can depend on the scheme’s survey plan, regulation module, community management statement and by-laws. This means responsibilities can vary between body corporate schemes.
Follow the body corporate by-laws
Lot owners must comply with the body corporate by-laws contained in their scheme’s community management statement.
By-laws regulate how lots and common property can be used. Depending on the scheme, this can cover things like:
- pets
- parking
- noise
- smoking
- renovations
- balconies and external appearance
- rubbish
- use of common property and shared facilities.
Owners should be familiar with their scheme’s current by-laws.
If an owner rents out their lot, the tenant must also comply with the body corporate by-laws. The owner or property manager must give the tenant a copy of the relevant by-laws when providing the proposed tenancy agreement.
Maintain the lot
Lot owners are responsible for maintaining their lot in good condition, except for parts of the property that the body corporate is required to maintain.
Determining where the owner’s responsibility ends and the body corporates’ begins however, is not always straightforward.
Maintenance responsibility can depend on:
- the boundaries shown on the registered survey plan
- whether the scheme uses a building format or standard format plan
- the regulation module applying to the scheme
- whether utility infrastructure is common property
- any relevant exclusive-use by-law.
This is why something being physically inside a unit does not necessarily mean it is the owner’s responsibility.
If maintenance is required, it is important to establish responsibility before arranging work or assuming who should pay for it.
Look after exclusive-use areas
Some lot owners have exclusive use of an area of common property, such as a courtyard, balcony, garden or car space.
The owner benefiting from an exclusive-use area may be responsible for maintaining it and paying associated operating costs, depending on the applicable regulation module and the wording of the exclusive-use by-law.
Owners should therefore check the exclusive-use by-law rather than assuming they are responsible for everything within an exclusive-use area.
Avoid nuisance and unreasonable interference
Issues include:
- unreasonable noise
- obstructing access
- persistent odours
- renovation dust or vibration
- regular smoke drift
- other behaviour that substantially affects neighbouring residents.
Pay body corporate contributions
Lot owners are responsible for paying the contributions, commonly called levies, set by the body corporate. These contributions fund the body corporate’s expenses, including administration, insurance and the maintenance and management of common property.
Owners should pay contributions by the due date. Overdue contributions can attract penalties and may ultimately result in recovery action by the body corporate.
Keep ownership and contact information up to date
Owners must give the body corporate the information required for its roll and notify it of changes within one month. If the lot is leased or subleased for six months or longer, this includes the tenant’s name and address for service, the lease term, and notice if the lease is transferred or ends.
Obtain approval when required
Depending on the proposed work, the part of the property affected and the scheme’s by-laws, one or more approvals may be required for changes that:
- affect common property
- change the external appearance of the lot
- involve improvements to an exclusive-use area
- affect shared infrastructure.
Before starting work, owners should check the by-laws, survey plan and any renovation approval requirements that apply to their scheme.
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