The devastating effects of ignoring building repairs was highlighted to the world on 24 June 2021 with the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South residential building in America.
Identified as the third largest building failure in US history, 98 people lost their lives when part of this 12-floor beachfront condominium in Surfside, Florida collapsed.
Could a similar disaster occur in Australia?
Ageing strata properties can be found world-wide, Australia included, and building dilapidation is an acute and widespread problem.
Strata Managers who attended Strata Community Insurance’s 2024 Autumn Forums around the country heard from Dr Nicole Johnston, Founder and Director of Strata Knowledge and formerly a lecturer at Deakin and Griffith Universities, where she revealed her research findings on Building Care Action in Ageing Strata Properties: Facilitating Better Outcomes.
Dr Johnston confirmed building dilapidation has been an acute and widespread problem in countries like Hong Kong and Singapore, with concrete spalling, water leaking, structural and non-structural cracking being common failures in buildings aged over 30 years. Similar issues have been observed here with Australian buildings.
Dr Johnston’s research revealed that maintenance and repair proactivity is low in most schemes, patchworking repairs is the preferred method, Owners Corporations tend to defer repair works and are generally poor financial planners, contributing to building care inaction in Australia.
Also lacking is repair and maintenance strategies. Although sinking/capital works funding and planning provisions facilitate building care action, there are limitations in these frameworks that potentially undermine the statutory obligations to repair and maintain.
So, it begs the question… what can Owners Corporations do to effectively and adequately attend to common property repairs and maintenance?
Recommendations for strata educators
Dr Johnston recommends strata educators help with the barriers of effective rectification works in ageing strata properties by:
- designing and delivering a customised training program that focuses on building components, infrastructure, systems, contracting and licensing requirements and project management;
- provide guidelines for recording accurate meeting minutes, particularly repair and maintenance decisions; and
- provide a training program that enables strata managers to better assist Owners Corporations when making decisions regarding repair and maintenance works.
Recommendations for Strata Managers
- Best practice – use sinking fund plans in conjunction with regular building inspections to address repair and maintenance requirements.
- Present projected expenditure for the current and next two years, based on sinking fund plan, at every committee meeting.
- Owners Corporations to seek legal and financial advice and funding options for building works contracts over $10,000.
- Create a historical maintenance and repair register that, at minimum, details building works, variations, warranties, contractor information including licensing checks, product information.
- Encourage Owners Corporations to undertake sinking fund reviews regularly, especially if improvements are being considered or anticipated at a future date but are required early.
- Discuss with Owners Corporations any improvements that might be considered in the coming years, so they think more strategically about improvements and how they are funded.
- Institute a process for building contractor engagement and referrals.
- Better educate owners regarding asbestos and fire safety when undertaking renovations.
Managing effective rectification works can prove challenging, and research results indicate that education and upskilling is required all-round. Dr Johnston recommends Owners Corporations conduct a comprehensive building inspection at the 20-year building registration anniversary and every 10 years thereafter.
For buildings over 20 years old, the Owners Corporation is encouraged to arrange an inspection and include the costs of these inspections in the sinking fund forecast.
- For more information on ‘Defects and Maintenance Register’, visit the Strata Toolkit article here.
- For a handy list on what items should be considered for a ‘Building Inspections and Maintenance Checklist’, visit the Strata Toolkit article here.
- ‘Explaining Building Maintenance and Defects to Owners’ is another handy article which can be located in our Strata Toolkit here, to assist your committee on the importance of routine maintenance.
This page’s content was last updated on 23 September 2024.