Travels etc.

During more than 4 years dealing with various strata living issues I have got good experience working with committees, builders, strata managers etc. Almost always the good service - which is timely, reliable and doesn’t require further follow ups and re-visits - doesn’t happen at all. I don’t take to account when the job is just apply some paint and replace a light bulb. But operations that are even simpler i.e. getting to contact the builder or other people by strata manager very often takes weeks without any action. Though money is being regularly paid to them for the service. Low quality solutions are not good for multiple reasons They require time and effort to rectify after the work is done. So instead of productive activity we have to be engaged in fixing the problem which shouldn't exist in the first place They are equal to fraud, because almost always the money is paid for the solution and if it's low quality then it's obviously not the product...

Almost 8 months passed from the time of previous post and here's how the owners corporations activities looked like to "resolve" the defects/problems: 1. Independent inspection report was ordered and completed 1st June 2015. The report confirmed the defects that were known to owners corporation already. It should be noted that in the period between December 2014 and June 2015 the only attempts by owners corporation to resolve the issues were to convince the lot owner that it's the owner's personal responsibility. Therefore half a year gone with a couple of meetings only, because people were "on holidays", "busy" etc. 2. Between 3rd July 2015 and end of July 2015 the strata manager spent "contacting the builders for quotes". Until owner called the strata manager nothing have happend. 3. By the end of August 2015 all quotes were in place. The meeting of all owners was set up for the 7th October! Because as usual "holid...

When dealing with strata living and issues related to a unit or common property it is crucial to identify the responsible party as soon as possible! Having ceiling falling on your tenants or your beloved cat and dog? Need to paint the door to your unit? Waterproofing is not functioning? Other major or minor issues with the unit? Regardless of the severity of the problem, you can spend months before you realize that the reponsibility is not yours, but either a builder or owners corporation. In addition to that you may spend some money on investigation and/or fixing the problem which is not yours. Fortunately there is a tool which can help you out identifying who is responsible and where you can start your claims and/or fixes: http://strataboss.com.au The tool is simple - choose where the problem is located, what is the problem and see who is responsible - you as an owner or owners corporation as a whole (which will potentially save you a lot of money in some cases). Enjoy!

This post is a continuation of the long process that started in December 2011 and is still going. Here’s the link to the whole story: http://traveloga.blogspot.com/p/home-building-issues-sydney-experience.html An idea of this publication is to draw attention of people who are interested or involved in the building industry, property market, construction, property development and property management and ownership. That should help to raise awareness and to ignite conversations with relevant people in law making, business and other communities who could take this information to account when they dealing with relevant matters and think about quality of the work and of research and education. This matter is about building defects that are covered by statutory warranty, but in reality are covered by rather a joke. Well to be fair to all parties some minor defects (that are similar to paint a crack or to replace broken toilet paper roll holder) were brilliantly rectified by the resp...

I have finally built and installed to the phone my first Android app: It has got the following features at the moment: - call to remote Web service to retrieve data from the database; - display received data in a timeline; - cool floating button; - form to submit data to the Web service. This is also my first ever project to build in Java. My profession is mostly related to Microsoft .NET and this project was an interesting variation from usual. Cool stuff!

We all have probably seen on the Web pictures which may look like the following: It implies that if someone quotes to a customer low (or lower than average, I presume) price for the services or products it necessary means low/lower quality of the services or products provided. This is very interesting assumption and I had a short conversation a while ago on Twitter with another SharePoint specialist about it: Original Bjørn's article should be here http://t.co/36brwYq4Kf A study in Journal of Consumer Research http://www.jstor.org/userimages/ContentEditor/1351717003127/DevalRelease.pdf in regards to the subject clearly shows: '" Consumers rarely have complete information and use various strategies to fill the gaps in their knowledge as they consider and choose products. One of these strategies involves using naive theories : informal, common sense, explanations that consumers use to make sense of their environment. For example, consumers may believe th...

As I explained in the previous post , communal ownership like strata title implies duties and responsibilities of all owners. This is not quite comfortable idea for majority of property owners. If we consider current unit/apartment prices in Sydney as an example the reasons of it would become apparent. In addition there is a particular feature of Australian lifestyle which is politely described as being laid-back. Strata owners have to regularly contribute money into an account specific for administration and maintenance of the building and common property. Here’s where majority of property owners in such titles limit their duty and responsibility in relation with the communal well-being and problems. However this is not enough. Some owners contribute their time to present at the meetings as an executive committee and once a year for all owners meeting, i.e. out of 28 units there are 4-5 units that consistently are involved. That doesn't mean involvement after or in betwee...

I was walking down the street to get to work. My first working day in Australia. As I didn't know how the public transport work and merely out of curiosity I decided to walk from the place we stayed in Chippendale to The Rocks. Everything looked completely unusual to me. On the day we arrived to Australia, we went to try Thai restaurant which was near our hotel. Looking at the menu without any knowledge of what it is - apart from word "noodles" - we chose some dish. "Is it spicy?" we asked. "No, not spicy at all!" was the answer. When we brought it home and started eating tears ran out of my eyes! Then I thought - what is "spicy" then? With that experience in mind I walked past the numerous Asian eateries that populate George Street starting from Central Station and up to Town Hall. I was thinking what would I eat here? At that time I didn't know that "hotel" doesn't always mean accommodation, but a place to eat in...

The builder started demolishing the bathroom and shower 07/10/2014 (three weeks ago) and then proceeded to do waterproofing, bedding, tiling etc. As appeared, from the words of tradesmen who worked on the site there was barely any waterproofing originally. This is a question to original sub-contractors and certifiers who did the original work - how that might have happened? Anyway until last week everything went well when I went to check the shower drain and found that the water stays there on one side and doesn't flow out completely. The builders closed it with the grate and were about to finish the whole job, but I pointed that problem to them and said it should be rectified before they finish everything. They started saying that "it's normal and the water will evaporate". Then they started saying that they couldn't do another drain and this is the only possible solution. The whole floor and shower walls were ripped off - why the hell didn't the...

Yet another important milestone in the long process of fixing the building defects in the strata block - Fair Trading came out for second inspection last Wednesday 30/07/2014. New defects and old defects that were not yet fixed have been on the list. Major defect types are: - Water leakage in bathrooms/showers into bedrooms in 100% of reported units; - Cheap material used for tiling in bathrooms/showers that last only for 6 months and then require re-sealing; - Flooring issues - timber/bamboo laid out incorrectly, color mismatch; - Water leakage from the outside into units; - Efflorescence in tiling work in courtyards and pathways; - Negligent manner of work and absence of quality material and control of work - many defects have been somehow addressed by the sub-contractors sent by the builder, but without proper result. Some units have got tenants so it was not easy to organise for an inspection for them. Here I'd suggest to identify and report all the defects befo...

Whether you are on a short stay here or a long visit - Australia will not disappoint. This country is a mixture of urban and rural lifestyle, vibrant cities and quite and peaceful nature reserves, unseen wildlife and marvelous landscapes, activities for any season and skill level, sunshine and sea. Here's the list of places that should make your visit unforgettable. Sydney and around 1. Sydney Aquarium, Wildlife World 2. Australian National Maritime Museum 3. IMAX 4. Chinese Gardens 5. Chinatown 6. Art Gallery NSW 7. Observatory 8. Hemmesphere (restaurant/bar) 9. Rengaya (Japanese BBQ/yakiniku restaurant) 10. Australian Heritage Hotel (restaurant/bar) 11. Palmer & Co (bar)  11. Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves 12. Hunter Valley 13. Bondi Beach 14. Manly Beach and Northern Beaches 15. Reptile Park 16. Jamberoo Adventure Park NSW 17. Port Stephens 18. Dubbo Queensland 19. Surfers Paradise 20. Great Barrier Reef Victoria 21...

Getting closer to the defects rectification, but not quite there yet. There are three major outcomes achieved: 1. Fair Trading has sent a report regarding the work that has not been completed by the builder. 2. The builder left one defect undone, but has been forced by Fair Trading to fix it. 3. The builder started begging for money from the owner for the work that has been done in accordance with Fair Trading rectification order. So they ask for money to be paid for the work they had an obligation to do to repair the defective work they did earlier. Though at the moment the issue remaining is not very critical, however it affects the quality of living in the purchased property. The builder sent people to fix the defect. The fixing is to reapply the silicon. The root cause of the issue has never been investigated properly. It is 1 year and 11 months since the time the defects were reported to the builder! It would take possibly the same time to build a new apartment from...

On a nice Sunday it is always good to walk along the Darling Harbour and to visit museum.

The best place in #Sydney for a variety of food for reasonable price - Chinatown. Also a good indication of what language other than English has to be learnt.

Such a great day at the mandarin orchard at Watkins Family Farm ! When I called them and asked whether cards are accepted they said: "We don't have electricity here mate" :) Awesome place.

Today, Friday 26/04/2013 the builder has actually started the work to fix major defects! However this didn't just come easy. On 03/04/2013 it heavily rained and the water started leaking into the ground floor unit and damaged the floorboards. The owners of the unit contacted the builder and Fair Trading office, because the water leakage has been on the list of defects, but has never been properly addressed by the builder. The builder and the person who installed the windows/doors came to inspect the issue. They decided to re-seal the windows/doors to improve the waterproofing. On 17/04/2013 the Fair Trading Inspector and the builder came to mediate the defects situation. The builder looked like a student in front of the teacher trying to explain why the defects listed really appeared. However the inspector was really good and pointed out that everything had to be built up to standards and that the builder though sent sub-contractors to do the work in good faith has neve...