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| From: | SP52948 owner |
|---|---|
| To: | Robert Crosbie, Stuart Greene |
| Subject: | OFFICIAL COMPLAINT SP52948 Lot 202 window frame on 20Dec2020 |
| Date: | 20/12/20, 16:07 |
Good afternoon,
Evidence has been collected that Lot 202 has metal element leaning outside of frame towards roof area in townhouse 202 for quite a while.
As immediate (and overdue) professional engineering report is required for buildings, it has to be done for townhouses too.
Male tenant of Lot 202 said today that he would make an official
complaint and concerns to their real estate agent as nobody wanted
repeated event like Lot 190 had recently.
Regards,
Good afternoon,
Thank you for not responding and not informing all owners.
We note that the request to pass on details of NCAT 20/33352 web access details ("sp5294... "to all owners was ignored, making all owners UNINFORMED and KEPT in the DARK.
Follow-up requests (for court evidence) as this is a serious repeated "offense":
a) SP52948 has been extremely lucky that female tenant of Lot 190 let go off sunroom frame before it was blown in front of the building. She tired to hold onto it but was too weak to prevent the disaster. Otherwise, we would have had major or even fatal incident.
Lot 158 obtained statement from Lot 190 tenants - the female owners was extremely distressed by the whole event.
While we are at Lot 190, two other complaints were receive from them:
(1) Due to poor ventilation in bathrooms (reported by Lot 158 number of times and still not resolved in Block A) , the smell of food and other foul smells was plaguing them inside the unit.
(2) Wall cracks, especially one in the bedroom.
They were not even aware of the frequent water-related repairs that most units on top floor of Block A continuously have.
Please provide full professional incident report which includes root cause analysis.
Breaking of glass windows and frames during strong winds is mainly due to the following three reasons:
(1) impact on the windows by hard windborne debris;
(2) the pressure exerted by winds (i.e. wind loading) directly on the windward side of the building exceeds what the glass window can withstand;
(3) high winds blow across buildings leading to a difference in air pressure between indoor and outdoor and the glass window cannot withstand the induced force (Bernoulli's principle). The Bernoulli's principle is derived from the law of conservation of energy (the sum of kinetic energy, potential energy and internal energy must be kept constant). The simple interpretation is: when a fluid (in this instance air) increases in speed of motion and its height remains the same, its pressure will decrease.
Provide full details of OH&S professional reports since July 2012 when Napier & Blakeley were commissioned to review the status at cost above $12,000.00, and especially since Lot 158 Motion 25 for Special By-Law was approved at AGM 2016 (49 votes YES and 11 votes NO) and should have been registered with Department of Land. Waratah Strata Management failed to comply with the strata regulations.Lot 158 is quietly collecting evidence about persistent non-compliance with fire-safety separately (for example, both smoke alarms are not operational in Lot 158 and one of them was replaced by owners corporation in 2008/2009).
It is recommended to have process of regular property inspections. The aim of these inspections would be to identify and prioritize any site-specific factors that might affect building performance in future severe storm events. Works carried out would make the building more resilient and safer.
b) The sunroom frame fell sideways along 0Block A 5-6 meters away, and it was an extreme luck that no children were injured or killed as they played in and near the BBQ area at the time.
Please provide details if any owner or tenant lodged complaint about this event. Video evidence that Lot 158 collected for court shows how dangerous and scary the whole incident was.
c) Please provide details of insurance claims for this event, and also all insurance claims (included the ones that were rejected by the insurance providers) for the last seven years.
Provide full details of OH&S professional reports since 2011, and especially since Lot 158 Motion 25 for Special By-Law was approved at AGM 2016 (49 votes YES and 11 votes NO) and should have been registered with Department of Land. Waratah Strata Management failed to comply with the strata regulations.
It is recommended to have process of regular property inspections. The aim of these inspections would be to identify and prioritize any site-specific factors that might affect building performance in future severe storm events. Works carried out would make the building more resilient and safer.
Providing an insurer with evidence that an independent inspection has been conducted and actions taken will demonstrate a reduction in risk and a corresponding reduction in premiums and excess (reminder: SP52948 has $10,000.00 excess for each and every water-related claim and ownrs are deliberately prevented from having such information).
If significant defects of a part of the structure are found then a grace period of continued insurance should apply while rectification works are undertaken.
d) Provide full evidence of alleged comprehensive upgrades in 2017 and window child safety devices in 2018, and that they included professional assessment of improved safety in the complex and warranties that accompany them.
On 28 June 2017, at 19:28, Lot 158 made the following report and forced Palmersglass to rectify gaps between window frames and walls, BUT this was not done for other units throughout the complex. Lot 158 had significant engineering knowledge to realize that such remediation work was critical (Waratah Strata Management, building management, and committee members ignored that advice for other units):
Now that the windows in three bedrooms are repaired, there are two outstanding tasks to be completed:
1. As Palmersglass staff lifted the window frames from their original position, there are gaps under the frames from the outside.
In two bedrooms they are very obvious in some areas, so much so that when painters used water gun spraying to clean external walls today, some water entered into the bedrooms.
Please organise the waterproofing (sealing) under the window frames as soon as practicable. I am not sure if painters can do it, or somebody else?e) BCS Strata Management and Waratah Strata Management failed to disclose to owners that the full contract with Townview Australia Pty Ltd was in amount of $630,846.00 (including GST).
Waratah Strata Management failed to disclose to owners the following breakdown of expenses for the painting project that they were aware of as early as 3 March 2017:
Block A: $117,700.00 (including GST)
Block B: $117,700.00 (including GST)
Block C: $117,700.00 (including GST)
Block D: $117,700.00 (including GST)
Various Structures: $66,000.00 (including GST)
Townhouses: $92,950.00 (including GST)
Total cost: $629,750.00 (including GST).
Motion 3 in the Minutes of EC meeting held on 20 July 2017 shows that around half of the project cost having been paid to date. Allegedly three quotes from RJ Bird Services to carry out remedial repairs required prior to painting were accepted at a total cost of $27,580.00. No details of the "remedial repairs", and no evidence or statements about multiple quotes being sought from different providers were provided to any owner.
Motion 3 in the Minutes of EC meeting held on 28 September 2017 shows that the painting project was complete and all accounts had been paid except the 5% retention amounts totaling $28,187.00 + GST.
No details of the total costs, warranties, and other details were provided to owners.
Agenda for the AGM 2017 sent to owners contained information that the total costs for the painting project were $646,200.00 plus GST (totaling $710.820.000).
Waratah Strata Management listed total costs in the Agenda for AGM 2017 on page 25 (Capital Works Fund) as $610.357,26 (plus GST). If one adds figure of $28,187.00 (retention amount of 5% as per Motion 3 in Minutes of EC meeting held on 28 September 2017), it totals $638,544.00 (plus GST).Since 2018, lot of extra work has done because the major upgrades were poor, incomplete, unprofessionally done, and at extra costs to owners. Garden beds are just one of good examples.
Please provide full evidence of the scope of work, warranties, including evidence of any significant work done on townhouses. Otherwise, we have around $92,950.00 (including GST) which are missing in owners corporation funds.
f) Lot 158 is aware of three serious events in regards to windows/frames in sunrooms in SP52948 (and there probably are some other hidden events that are not shared with owners):
Lot 186, shattered window glass on a quiet sunny day (no wind)
Lot 82 (blown frame and windows in 2011)
Lot 190 (blown frame and windows in 2020)
Please provide details of any other similar event.
g) Provide evidence that the current alleged rectification work for Block B (attachment "SP52948-basement-Block-B-extra-pop-rivets-in-sunrooms-photo-2-17Dec2020.webp") is approved and recommended through a full professional assessment (not by handymen or laymen!).
Regards,
On 30/11/20 7:04 am, SP52948 owner wrote:
And evidence of similar event in 2011:
Lot 82 windows sucked out.
- Minutes of committee meetings confirm that no owner received information about it:
SP52948-EC-Minutes-16Feb2011.pdf
SP52948-EC-Minutes-13Apr2011.pdf
SP52948-EC-Minutes-20Jul2011.pdf
- SP52948 made claim in amount of $9,190.50 but insurance covered only $6,355.00.
Attachment "BCS-Strata-Management-secret-insurance-claims-and-costs-2011.PNG" gives examples of secret insurance claims (huge losses of owners) that were never disclosed to owners and investors (we suspect it is because some believe it is democratic and good business practice to do so).
As Lot 158 received absolutely no responses or evidence from any legally-approved representatives of SP52948 in NCAT case 20/33352 (in non-compliance with NCAT Directions Hearing orders), we re looking forward to hearing in February 2021.
Regards,
On 29/11/20 8:01 pm, SP52948 owner wrote:
Good afternoon,
For the second time in this complex, large portion of frame was blown away in sun room. Similar event occured some years ago in Block C and it took many months to resolve it and claim insurance.
This time in was in Lot 190 today.
Tenants of Lot 190 were visibly shaken by the experience, especially the old lady who tried to hang onto the frame before it was blown by the strong wind.
Pure luck had it that nobody was hurt and that children and people in BBQ area were not affected.
Video and photo evidence has been collected for NCAT case SC 20/33352.
Attached photos are more than enough to show the seriousness of the event.
We repeat: PROACTIVE MAINTENANCE is the root of risk avoidance.
Regards,
