Strata managers stand out as life in the apartment becomes more popular

As more medium and high density properties are added to the Canberra housing mixture, the role of strata managers is under greater scrutiny.

The Government of the Law has committed to appoint a commissioner of buildings and strata to supervise the sector, that some units owners say that it is necessary to provide more clarity about the obligations of a strata manager to the owners.

Thomas Ockenfels bought his apartment in the Belconnen district more than two years ago.

When the complex was built in the mid -2000s, its balcony arrived without incorporated drainage, which means that the water can accumulate easily and can even filter into its main bedroom.

“I have my little and reliable Escobrilla that I have to have the helm when (the water) begins to get too close to the main part of my unit,” said Mr. Ockenfels.

The complex is administered by LJ Hooker Strata, and Mr. Ockenfels first reported its specific problem through the company’s application in January 2023.

Since then, he said that he had been asked for more information about the situation, and there was confusion about whether his balcony had been inspected.

OKENFELS said he was frustrated by what he called poor record of records.

“I really don’t think anything has been done,” he said.

In response, LJ Hooker Strata told ABC that he provided any report from the unit’s owners to the Executive Committee of a building.

“We act under the direction of the Corporation of Owners and the Executive Committee,” said a representative of LJ Hooker strata in a statement.

“We can only do what we are aimed at doing.”

The owners of units take strata to the court

Mr. Ockenfels is not the only owner of the Canberra unit who has complained about his strata manager.

The owners of another complex in northern Canberra led the LJ Hooker strata to the Civil and Administrative Court (ACAT) Law, looking for thousands of dollars in compensation for the consequences of an important water leak.

The ABC has seen the application submitted to the ACAT by the owners of the unit, which revealed that the company lost several water invoices, which would have indicated the escape, because it did not verify the corporate mailbox of the body.

The owners said that the leak resulted in “massive plumbing charges” of almost $ 7,000, water invoices in excess of almost $ 6,000 and “ruined” the landscape in a patio.

The ACAT granted the owners the usual maximum compensation of $ 1,000, after having rejected an earlier offer of the Hooker strata of $ 6,000.

In a statement, LJ Hooker Strata said that none of the parties appealed the decision of the court.

The ABC does not suggest that LJ Hooker Strata is the only company in the law where the owners of the unit have complained.

Almost ‘one in three people living in strata’

The promise of presenting a building and strata commissioner was agreed by the three main parties: Labor, Liberals and Verdes, during the election campaign of the law last year.

In a statement, an Act government spokesman said he was carrying out a preliminary work on the “potential scope and functions of a commissioner.”

The spokesman said that the government was also “very interested” in the findings of an imminent investigation of the Legislative Assembly of the Law on Strata Management.

The commissioners are already in their place in Nueva Wales del Sur and Queensland, and the industry has urged all states and territories to create a similar position.

The national president of Strata Community Association (SCA), Joshua Baldwin, said it was “critical” for the law to create the role, since the workload for strata managers was increasing.

He said that SCA welcomed the opportunity for a third party to provide guidance on what strata managers were and were not responsible.

“The strata manager is considered a bit of the Swiss razor when it comes to the management of the corporation,” said Baldwin.

“It is essential that the consumer understands where the roles and responsibilities of a strata manager begin and where they stop.”

Complaints about strata managers often ‘a matter of confusion’: lawyer

The construction lawyer and strata, Christopher Kerin, agreed that community awareness on the exact role for strata managers should be improved.

He said that his typical works included organizing corporate corporate meetings, collecting taxes and ensuring the building, but in some cases they would try to act as “an intermediary” of the owners of the Unit to the Executive Committee of the Complex.

He said that his law firm regularly presented consultations of people who raised complaints about their strata managers.

“Usually, once I get to the bottom, it’s really a matter of confusion,” he said.

But Mr. Kerin is not convinced that a commissioner will help or educate the owners of units.

He pointed to several other schemes that have been established to regulate the quality of the building in the law, which he continued without having resources.

Thomas Ockenfels said he expected a commissioner to provide objective advice to units owners on how to navigate problems in strata buildings.

“I want you to provide that impartial and not affiliated third party that I feel that all this industry needs at this time,” he said.