Whether you’re a first-time buyer or long-time owner, few things are as exciting as the prospect of upgrading your living space.
Yes, the rush of viewing new fittings, trying out different colours, and selecting new furniture or appliances is unmatched.
However, most people don’t realise the immense amount of preparation and compliance requirements that must be met before first ground can be broken in a project.
In this article, I am going to highlight just how important it is for bodies corporate to have a comprehensive set of rules and regulations in place for when owners seek to do any alterations and/or renovations to their unit.
A good place to start is, of course, the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011 (“the STSMA”), and its Prescribed Conduct Rules (“PCR”) in terms of Annexure 2 of its Regulations.
Can owners change the external appearance of a section or exclusive use area?
PCR 5(1) provides that the owner or occupier of a section must not, without the trustees’ written consent, make a change to the external appearance of the section or any exclusive use area allocated to it unless the change is minor and does not detract from the appearance of the section or the common property.
In light of the above, it is clear that no changes may be made to the outside of a unit without the prior written consent of the trustees, but changes to the inside of a unit are clearly not regulated in terms of the STSMA or the PCR.
This is why it is so important for bodies corporate to have an updated set of conduct rules with an extensive and comprehensive set of rules and regulations that specifically address any building works to be undertaken by owners within the scheme, whether on the inside or outside of their unit.
In this regard, we insist that all proposed works are submitted by written application by the applicant owner. Furthermore, that this written application includes a detailed sketch plan indicating all and any proposed changes to take place within or outside of the unit.
Depending on the scope of works proposed to be undertaken, we further insist that the trustees be provided with the relevant powers to seek advice of a relevant architect, engineer, plumber, etc. for professional input on the proposed building plans as to how the proposed changes may have an impact on the building or the body corporate as a whole, and that these professional costs be recovered from the relevant applicant owner.
Once the trustees have the full detailed application, including relevant professional reports, if applicable, they must apply their minds to the applicant owner’s application and either approve or reject same by majority resolution.
What if the application is approved?
If the application is approved, the applicant owner bears the onus on submitting the relevant building plans to the Local Authority for their approval, if applicable.
Work will only be able to commence once the Local Authority has provided the aforementioned approval and stamped the applicant owner’s plans.
What is the application is rejected?
If the application is rejected, the trustees must provide the applicant owner with valid and reasonable answers for why, as well as potential recommendations on how to correct the application, if appropriate and/or applicable.
We further insist that a body corporate includes “building times” in their conduct rules, such as to regulate when pre-approved building works may take place within a scheme.
The traditional position is between working hours on a Monday to Friday, with schemes having a mixed view on permitting building works to take place on a Saturday morning to early afternoon. Sundays and public holidays, however, are still very much off-limits, except in the instance of an emergency, of course.
In addition to the above, we further recommend implementing rules that indemnify the body corporate and other owners in the scheme against any damage to common property or other sections that may arise during an applicant owner’s building works, as well as requiring that an applicant owner pay a reasonable building deposit, relevant to the scope of works being undertaken, in the event that any damage to common property is experienced during the building works process.
The above rules are just the tip of the iceberg in the considerations of the rules and requirements that bodies corporate could implement to strengthen their alterations and/or renovations application processes.
We know it might seem overwhelming when you’re trying to implement some of the aforementioned recommendations yourself, so why not reach out to us and let one of our consultants assist you? Contact us today on +27 28 312 4474 or at hpm@hermanus.co.za.
We look forward to helping you and your scheme gain a firmer grip on regulating building works within the body corporate moving forward.
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