News

There have been recent changes to the Home Building Act 1989 and the Home Building Regulation which are due to commence on 1 December 2014.

What this means for your strata scheme is that many building defects currently covered by a 6 year warranty period will be reduced to a 2 year warranty period. The amendments to legislation are retrospective so for some buildings the 2 year period may have already lapsed.

Under the new legislation, only “Major Defects” will be covered by a 6 year warranty period.

A “Major Defect” is defined as a defect in a “major element of the building” that causes or is likely to cause: • The building or part of it to be uninhabitable, or • The destruction of the building or any part of the building, or • A threat of collapse of the building or any part of the building

A “major element of the building” is defined as “internal or external load bearing components of a building that are essential to the stability of the building or any part of it; or a fire safety system; or waterproofing”. All other defects which are not classified as a major defect will only have a 2 year warranty period applicable.

This would include defects such as: • Wall/floor cracking and façade issues • External waterproofing • Guttering faults • Defective roof coverings • Defective plumbing works • Tiling issues • Defective balcony balustrades • Electrical issues

Due to these changes to the Home Building Act, we are strongly recommending that all of our buildings that are less than 6 years old and have not commenced any legal action against the original developer/builder convene an Extraordinary General Meeting to consider and discuss how any defective building work is to be addressed. Failure to consider instructing engineers and solicitors to undertake inspections and prepare reports to preserve the Owners Corporation’s legal rights to recover against the original developer/builder may leave owners exposed to bearing the full cost of any remedial works required to fix those building defects.

Should the Executive Committee have any further queries please contact your strata manager immediately who will assist in obtaining fee proposals from structural engineers who can assist in identifying any defects in your building and also fee proposals from strata lawyers who can advise the Owners Corporation of their legal rights.

Last night Bright & Duggan hosted over 120 executive committee members to our forum on the role of the strata manager, committee members and building managers. The owners in attendance represented 75 of the buildings under our management, who collectively represent over $1.5Billion in assets (approx 10% of our portfolio). Mixing with 23 of our strata management staff, the opportunity to learn, share and build relationships is another way that Bright & Duggan is supporting our clients.

If you or your committee have interest in Bright & Duggan tailoring and delivering an educational forum for you- simply get in contact with us and we'd be happy to arrange.

Cronulla office opens it's doors. Media Release can be found here

Bringing together the best and brightest strata managers in Sydney, our new Cronulla office -located in the heart of the mall on Cronulla Street above Gloria Jeans- promises to deliver the strata owners in Sutherland Shire a new level of transparent, accountable, professional and customer-centric strata management.

Strata owners will now have access to the market leading strata services provided by Bright & Duggan, and delivered on ground by local strata management experts with a combined 30 years experience in serving the Sutherland Shire.

Just another way that Bright & Duggan is Supporting Your World.

B&D continues to turn heads- this time by introducing our latest staff member, Cleo.

Look out for her around town.

As of the 1st September 2014 it will be compulsory for most new multi-level buildings to be designed for individual metering of units. These requirements will be shown in Sydney Water's Notice of Requirements letter and complying developments letter issued for all Section 73 applications received after 1 September.

Sydney Water has now accredited two metering suppliers for the provision of metering systems. These are Enware Australia Pty Ltd and Itron Australasia Pty Ltd.

Both Accredited Metering Suppliers will be able to provide Advanced Metering Infrastructure (for buildings 4 floors or more) and Automated Metering Reading system (for buildings 3 floors or less).

Sydney Water will now allow meters to be installed on an optional basis where units are not subdivided. Their Multi-level individual metering guide will be updated in the near future.

For most new multi level buildings, it will be: -mandatory to provide the plumbing for individual meters -mandatory to provide individual meters for strata and stratum subdivided buildings -optional to provide individual meters for non subdivided buildings.

Most commercial buildings are exempt. All existing buildings are exempt.