Without a strong set of trustees and a management agent, illegal changes can get out of hand.
If you allow one person to enclose their balcony, then somebody else would want to do the same and it may go on and on.
Another person may want to build an extra garage or an extra bedroom.
Alterations can be done provided that proper plans are presented to a general meeting and the item is noted as a special item of which notice has been given, detailing what permission the owner wants.
It often requires a unanimous decision to be approved, especially if it covers part of the common property.
While approval can be given by the owners, the person asking for permission must also comply with all building regulations and town planning.
For example, you cannot build a shop on a residential site.
Problems may arise because the sites bulk — total building size — has been exceeded or the coverage is too great.
Assuming planning approval, the owner must complete the alterations and then obtain an occupation certificate.
After this they need to have the sectional title plans amended to show the new area of the altered unit.
All this must be done at the cost of the owner doing the alterations.
What happens if the owner does not follow the system or builds without permission?
If the owner goes ahead with alterations without following procedure, the trustees can get an order for them to either stop building or demolish the illegal alterations.
Local authorities cannot give approved plans without the body corporate approving the alterations.
Trustees do not make such approvals.
The Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) is a very cost-effective route to take but urgency may dictate an urgent application to the courts.
The CSOS provides a dispute resolution service, regulates and monitors the quality of all community scheme governance documentation, provides training and consumer awareness.
Some local authorities may still be effective enough to stop the building work.
Any owner building without permission must understand that they will have to cover all the legal costs and will not be compensated when they are forced to demolish what they have built illegally.
- Mike Spencer is the founder and owner of Platinum Global. He is also a professional associated property valuer and consultant with work across the country as well as Eastern Europe and Australia.