By The Paddocks Club Team

Below are examples of two questions on the Paddocks Club discussion forum. We want to show you what is available to our Community members!

Amending sectional plan

Member’s question:

An owner the body corporate received permission from the other owners to extend their section.

The municipal plans were passed and the extension was completed. However, to date the owner has not used a surveyor for the amendment of the Sectional Plan to be registered at the Deeds office. As the trustees are anxious to have this matter finalised a surveyor was contacted and he has issued a quote for his services which was sent to the owners.

Please can you answer the following queries:

Can the body corporate undertake to amend the sectional plan and charge the costs involved to the owner?

What leverage has the body corporate got to get the owner to complete the process?

At what point in time can the Participation Quota and levies be recalculated.

Carryn’s answer:

Section 24 makes it clear that it is the owner who must cause the land surveyor or architect to submit the draft sectional plan of extension. Therefore the body corporate cannot initiate this process.

This illustrates the importance for the body corporate to ensure that an owner who proposes to extend their section follows all the requirements before passing the special resolution.

The body corporate can claim the amount that levies would be from the owner since 2013 as the body corporate suffered a loss since the owner extended the section.

The body corporate can make it clear to the owner that they will not issue a levy clearance certificate until all the requirements in section 24 are complied with.

Finally the body corporate can obtain an interdict from court to compels the owner to comply.

Must body corporate get involved in carrying out section repairs?

Member’s question:

Our trustees agreed to a settle a consequential damages claim. The offer was accepted by the owner via the owners lawyers.

The owner however now insists that not only must the body corporate pay but also physically arrange and do the repairs inside the section. (Painting, repairing of tiling grout, new flooring etc.)

The owner is a perfectionist to the point that any person entering the apartment must remove their shoes and I feel that whatever work done will not be accepted as good enough.

We want to avoid getting involved and feel that the owner must arrange and oversee the work and it is not our obligation?

Any legal considerations that we have to be aware of?

Graham’s answer:

Your concerns appear to be absolutely valid.

Check the exact terms of the offer that was accepted to make sure that it involved only the payment and not the obligation to carry out the work. Then, having got the trustees to consider and confirm the issue, go back to the owner formally to advise her that the body corporate is only going to do what is has agreed to and is not going to accept responsibility to carry out / oversee / supervise any work in her section.

At the same time, check if the scheme’s rules have any provisions controlling owner renovations and, if so, point these out to the owner


Article reference: Paddocks Press: Volume 9, Issue 10, Page 6.

Professor Graham Paddock, Anton Kelly and Carryn Durham are available to answer questions on the Paddocks Club discussion forum for Community members. Get all your questions answered by joining Paddocks Club.

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution license.

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