Under the Environmental Planning & Assessment Regulation 2000, the owner of the building (in this case the owners corporation) must ensure that each of the items listed in the Fire Safety Certificate have been assessed annually and are still installed and operating to the relevant standard.

An Annual Fire Safety Statement (AFSS) must then be submitted to the Local Council and NSW Fire Brigades, as well as a copy being prominently displayed in the building.

The majority of items listed on the AFSS are usually common property and the responsibility of the owners corporation. However, smoke sensors/detectors may often be the exception.

If the smoke detectors are connected to a common fire board/panel, then they are the responsibility of the owners corporation to repair and maintain.

If the smoke detectors are stand alone and are NOT connected to a common fire board/panel, then they are the responsibility of the owner to repair and maintain (similar to light-fittings). This is the case regardless of whether they are battery operated only, or hard-wired to the lot’s electricity with a back up battery.

The Summer 2012 E-Newsletter has just been released. It includes the following articles:
- Welcome to Strata Choice E-Newsletter
- Home Building Legislation Amendments, what does it mean for you?
- Strata Choice – Gold Sponsor at Griffith University Conference
- Digital Television

If you are not already registered to receive our quarterly E-Newsletter, please register here www.stratachoice.com.au/newsletter

To view all articles in this edition please click here

New national Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws have been developed to replace the existing state based Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) laws. The WHS laws mean that the same safety protection and the same penalties for safety offences will apply across all locations in Australia, starting from 1 January 2012 for all States except Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania.

Nature of work has changed over the years. Places of work have varied greatly and it is becoming more common for some workers to work from their home. Alternative employment arrangements such as labour-hire, contractors and the use of volunteers are also becoming more widespread. The national WHS laws have been developed to reflect these changes and information can be found on the Safe Work Australia Website at www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au.

Owners corporations need to demonstrate due diligence by creating systems and processes so that they may be seen to be doing things to improve health and safety within their strata scheme.

The NSW Government recently announced plans for a review of strata and community title laws in 2012 and is providing an opportunity for anyone involved or interested in the strata community to provide input to support the reform.

Global Access Partners (GAP), which is an experienced facilitator of online community consultations, is hosting on Open Forum, which closes on 29 February 2012.

This is a prospect not to be missed to raise your concerns or offer suggestions. Log onto www.openforum.com.au/strata where you will find a range of questions to comment on.

Every child drowning is a tragedy as most are preventable!

In an endeavour to increase the safety of very young children around backyard swimming pools, the Division of Local Government has issued a Swimming Pools Act 1992 Review Discussion Paper and is seeking from pool owners, local councils, and all stakeholders an indication of their support on a range of proposed amendments to this Act and other relevant legislation.

Some suggested amendments include:

1. New requirements for private swimming pool owners (which will include multiple dwellings) to register their pool with their local council and to self-certify the pool barrier’s compliance with the Swimming Pools Act;
2. New requirements for councils to undertake private swimming pool inspections within their local government areas; and
3. Increase to penalty amounts for most offences under the Act.

Submissions are invited by 5.00pm Friday 24 February 2012.

Further responsibilities and obligations on owners with swimming pools have also been addressed in recent amendments to the Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation 2010 and the Residential Tenancies Act 2010.

Further information may be found on the Division of Local Government Website:
http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/PublicTopicsIndex.asp?mi=0&ml=10&id=12

Strata Choice was recently visited by a group of Chinese Government Delegates to discuss and compare strata related issues in Australia and that of China. The delegates included representation from the Assets Supervision & Administration Committee of the State Council in China, Strata Management Division of Light Industry and other state owned department representatives.

Group Managing Director of Strata Choice, Daniel Linders, commented on the visit “It was interesting, but not surprising that community living in China presents itself the same challenges of those in Australia.” When Mr Linders quizzed the delegation on what they viewed were the three toughest challenges, they responded with ‘disputes amongst owners in residential properties, difficulties in collection of levies due to the lack of legislation providing a simple solution for recovering the debt from owners and the policing of parking on common property due to the lack of street parking in older residential areas. ‘

The delegation spent about 3 days in Australia and hope to return soon.

With popular TV shows such as Jamie Durie’s The Outdoor Room, The Renovators, The Block and many others, there is an ever increasing demand for apartment owners to embark on the daunting, but rewarding task of renovating. Leading strata lawyer Colin Grace discusses how to navigate through the process in strata living. Click on the link below to read the full article…

http://www.stratachoice.com.au/apartment-renovations

Chatswood Rangers Sports Club held its annual end of season ‘Big Day Out’ at Naremburn Park in Sydney on Sunday, 18th September 2011. Strata Choice are proud sponsors and our association has been strong with Chatswood Rangers for more than 10 years.

Strata Choice has not had this much fun supporting the club in years. Free slushies were handed out in the hundreds to young aspiring soccer players during the heat of the day. A competition was held for the closest guess of how many balloons could squeeze into the Strata Choice car…..and the guess was an exact 77! One lucky winner scored themselves a $150 Rebel Sport gift voucher.

Best of luck for the next season Rangers.

Strata Choice was proud to once again support the Griffith University Strata & Community Title in Australia 2011 Conference as a Gold Sponsor. The conference was held on Queensland’s Gold Coast between 7 to 9 September 2011.

The conference, run every two years by the Griffith Business School, is the only one of its type that includes university grade attendance and content. The attendees included practicing representatives of strata & community stakeholders such as government, owners, committees, architects, planners, lawyers, developers, accountants, strata and community managers, building managers, insurers, suppliers, contractors and many others.

Strata Choice presented in two sessions of the conference. Licensee in Charge and Director of Strata Choice CBD, Patrick Saad, discussed on a panel session how to build a better partnership between the executive committee and the strata manager. A topic which Strata Choice has a passion to achieve with their clients. Carole Hardin, Senior Strata Manager, presented on managing complex design strata schemes, being the Strata Choice managed King Street Wharf precinct in Sydney. Carole discussed how complex entity structures co-exist and the challenges stakeholders face in maintenance, finance and community.

For further information on the conference please visit here – http://www.griffith.edu.au/conference/strata-community-title-australia-21st-century-iv

We are pleased to announce the launch of our CBD branch which opened in May 2011. Strata Choice CBD is headed up by Licensee in Charge, Patrick Saad.

Strata Choice CBD is located at King Street Wharf and manages a number of Sydney’s most prestigious properties.

Strata Choice Group is a group of strata management companies servicing Sydney and the greater New South Wales strata and community title properties. The group consists of four branches:

• Strata Choice Associates – located on Sydney’s Lower North Shore
• Strata Choice CBD – located in Sydney’s Central Business District
• Strata Choice Linders – located on Sydney’s Lower North Shore