News & Publications
Owners Corporations beware – Take Care when Terminating a Caretaker’s Agreement
Did the resident caretaker’s behaviour amount to gross misconduct to the extent that the Owners Corporation was entitled to terminate the Caretaker’s Agreement? If it did, were there provisions in their Agreement which could reserve the caretaker’s rights upon...
What Can an Owners Corporation do if an Owner or Occupier Breaches the By-Laws of the Scheme?
The by-laws for a strata scheme are binding upon the owners corporation, owners and occupiers. If an owner or occupier breaches any of the strata scheme’s by-laws, the owners corporation can take steps to enforce those by-laws. Before commencing proceedings, we...
Hill v Construction Occupations Registrar; Jones v Construction Occupations Registrar (Administrative Review) [2021] ACAT 21
On 10 December 2019, the Building and Construction Legislation Amendment Act 2019 amended the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004 (COLA) among other things to allow for rectification orders to be made in relation to directors of licensed corporations. The...
The Owners – Units Plan No 3115 v The Trustees of the Master Builders Fidelity Fund Scheme [2019] FCA 115; The Owners – Units Plan No 3115 v The Trustees of the Master Builders Fidelity Fund Scheme [2019] FCAFC 227
These cases involved a large residential apartment complex in Bruce called Elara Apartments which suffered from significant building defects. Elara Apartments was constructed by B & T Constructions (ACT) Pty Ltd (the Builder). Initially the owners corporation...
Davies & Anor v Capital Homes Pty Ltd (Civil Dispute) [2017] ACAT 111
Benjamin John Davies and Prue Davies (the applicants) signed an ACT Home Building Contract on 2 March 2014 with Capital Homes Pty Ltd (the respondent) to build a home at Coombs, ACT. On 7 March 2015, the applicants notified the respondent of defects in an area...
Sarri v The Owners – Units Plan 1260 [2006] ACTSC 83
This ACT Supreme Court decision involved a lot owner who tripped and fell on the edge of a path which was located in an area for which the owners corporation was responsible. He wished to claim against the public liability insurance of the owners corporation to...
Dwyer & Anor v Civium Property Group Pty Ltd (Unit Titles) [2020] ACAT 9
This matter relates to a units plan development consisting of two townhouses. The owners of the two units brought this claim in their capacity as the owners corporation against the respondent, Civium Property Group Pty Ltd (Civium), who they incorrectly thought was...
Woolmer & Ors v The Owners – Units Plan No 346 (Unit Titles) [2019] ACAT 95
Units Plan No 346 consists of 16 Class B residential units and common property. The applicants are unit owners of three of the 16 units, collectively holding 17.88% of the total unit entitlement. At its reduced quorum annual general meeting on 14 January 2019 (the...
Bennett v Owners Units Plan 932 (Unit Titles) [2016] ACAT 57
The air conditioning system in the unit owned by the applicant was not operating. While the owners corporation acknowledged that it would usually be responsible for the repair and maintenance of the air-conditioning unit, in this instance the owners corporation...
Smith v Owners Corporation – Unit Plan 3115 (Unit Titles) [2021] ACAT 28
The applicant was an occupier of a unit and claimed he had a bike stolen from the common property area under the control and management of the respondent. The applicant claimed he locked his bike on the bike stand located on the common property because he was unable...
Nasser v The Owners – Units Plan No 3063 XD 794 of 2014 [Unreported ACAT decision – 17 September 2014]
The apartment building contained building defects. The applicant was the owner of a unit in that building (the Unit). As part of the process of identifying the defects, investigating the cause and engaging in a collaborative repair process with the original builder,...
Castro v The Owners – Unit Plan 246 (Civil Dispute) [2016] ACAT 111
The applicant was an owner of a class A unit who sought to recover the cost of repairing damaged electricity cables leading to his apartment caused by rodents and/ or other pests. The basis for this action against the owners corporation was that the electricity cables...