Owners of apartments and townhouses should assess the new model by-laws to determine whether these may be suitable for their strata schemes.
The reforms seek to change the by-laws in relation to the following:
- Smoking that intrudes into property;
- Housing of pets;
- Misuse of parking spaces;
- Excessive noise; and
- Overcrowding of strata schemes.
Strata schemes must review their current by-laws by 20 November 2017. Adoption of all or some of the new model by-laws are subject to approval by the owners strata scheme. The owners strata scheme may decide to draw ideas from the model by-laws and make changes to suit their strata scheme.
By-laws cannot be adopted into a scheme unless they are first formally adopted by the owners corporation and registered with the Office of the Registrar-General.