Hi, everyone, it’s Allison Benson here from Thoughts from a Strata lawyer.

What am I talking about today? Well, by-laws. I had a client ask me, what is a by-law? And I thought, you know what, that’s a really good question.

Why is it a good question? Because not everybody’s a lawyer. Lots of people have got lives. But also, lots of people, even if you might live in a strata scheme, have never actually thought about what your by-law are, why they’re required, how they’re registered, and may also not have been in a strata scheme before, for instance.

So, really good question. What is it then to answer the question?

Well, a by-law is a rule or a regulation. I suppose they are other words to use for it or familiar words. But it’s a document that prescribes how behaviour or works, are to be regulated within a strata scheme. Now, it’s a statutory document because it’s required under the Strata Schemes Management Act. 2015.

It’s a document that is registered on title of the common property of your strata scheme. So you can search these documents. When you buy a property that is a strata property, you’ll actually get a copy of the by-laws as well as long with a copy of the common property certificate of title (a title search).

As I said, they are enforceable documents. They’re enforceable against lot owners, against the Owners Corporation, against occupants of a lot, mortgagees who’ve taken possession of the lot and covenant charges.

Now, there are a few limitations on by laws, and these are set out in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. The prime one, which you probably seen me talk about before, is contained in section 139(1) of the Stata Schemes Management Act 2015 (the harsh, unconscionable and oppressive restriction).

But section 139 also has other restrictions. As I said, the main restriction is that by-laws must not be harsh, unconscionable, or oppressive. By-laws must not restrict the devolution of a lot and that could mean the lease of a lot or the sale or transfer of a lot. By-laws can’t unless it’s a retirement villages scheme,  can’t restrict children being in lots and by-laws can’t restrict the use of and the keeping of, I should say, of assistance animals.

So a few more restrictions there, but basically by-laws are there to regulate behaviour or the conduct of work or to authorise the conduct of work by lot owners within their strata schemes.

If you were wondering what applies to your scheme, what are the rules by which I must live in my strata property? First step should always be to have a look at the by-laws.

If you want to do work to your lot, then you might want to check out your by-laws as well to see what works have been approved in the past, whether there has been a minor works renovation, by-law past, that gives authority to the Strata Committee, to approve minor renovations , where they there have been blanket works by-laws passed.This might be a by-law that says, for instance, all lots may install air conditioning units and must follow, the installation must follow certain conditions . There may be by-laws that are specific to lots that just authorise certain works to be done. And if you want to do works, you need to make sure that you’ve got the right type of work and the right type of by-law is set out in your registered by-laws. And by that I mean, if you were going to do work, for instance, to conduct a bathroom renovation and to change waterproofing, you really should have a by-law unless there has been some sort of blanket by-law for bathroom renovations and waterproofing passed in your scheme. But you also need to set out in your by-law , the scope of work that you wish to conduct and as much detail as possible, and that’s to protect you by giving you the authorisation to do that work, as well as to protect the owners corporation and future lot owners because they know what work was and conversely, was not authorised under your by-law .

So that’s a quick dive into the world of by-laws, as always, if you need advice on a by-law or on how to regulate behaviour or works within your property, your strata property that is, please seek legal advice.

Thank you.

Allison