Decisions table

• Jessica Silberstein lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 55468 owners corp
• Michael Adamo party
• Michael Hans Engelbert party
• William Paul O'Brien party
• Terrance Matthew Gagen party
• Strata Choice Pty Ltd manager
• Hecker Australia Pty Ltd party

The Owners Strata Plan No. 55468 must carry out rectification works by 14 February 2025 and pay the lot owner $316,128.43 in damages for breach of section 106 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015; Michael Adamo was removed from the strata committee and restrained from acting as an office holder for not less than one year; applications against other respondents were dismissed.

• The Owners – Strata Plan No. 100526 owners corp
• Rolia Hamdan lot owner
• Charlie Hamdan lot owner

The appeal was allowed and the first instance decision dismissing the application for removal of unauthorised works was set aside, with the matter remitted for reconsideration on the basis that the tribunal failed to consider relevant discretionary matters including the impact on other lot owners.

• Hua Nan Trading Pty Ltd lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 32396 owners corp

The appeal was dismissed and the Tribunal's decision to decline to extend time for bringing recovery proceedings for water damage more than two years after the loss occurred was upheld.

• Alison Loise Smith lot owner
• Grant Darren Smith lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No. 43094 owners corp

Leave to appeal was refused and the appeal was dismissed; the original orders requiring the Smiths to remove unauthorised works (pergola, benches, and window) and restore the common property were upheld, with extended compliance timeframes.

• The Owners – Strata Plan No 93804 owners corp
• M Services & Maintenance Pty Ltd contractor

The respondent's application for a further extension of time to comply with work orders made on 11 September 2019 was refused, and the respondent was ordered to pay the applicant $500,000 as compensation for the uncompleted rectification works.

• Judith Gates lot owner
• Paul Carpenter lot owner
• The Owners - Strata Plan No 5165 owners corp

The respondent's costs application was dismissed, and each party was ordered to pay their own costs of the interim application.

• Brendan Campbell lot owner
• The Owners Strata Plan No 88807 owners corp

Application dismissed; the applicant failed to establish that the owners corporation breached its strict duty of maintenance and repair or that the alleged loss of rent was a reasonably foreseeable result of any breach.

• Kristen Nimmons lot owner
• The Owners Strata Plan No 10441 owners corp

Appeal allowed in part: quarantine order made to levy all lot owners other than the applicant in proportion to unit entitlements for costs of rectification works; appeal otherwise dismissed and leave to appeal refused on other grounds.

• SafeWork NSW government
• The Owners - Strata Plan No 93899 owners corp

The Owners Strata Plan No 93899 was convicted of failing to ensure the workplace was without risks to health and safety after a damaged gate fell and fatally crushed a worker; ordered to pay a fine of $225,000 and prosecution costs of $40,000.

• The Owners - Strata Plan No 30691 owners corp
• Maryanne Pickard lot owner

The Appeal Panel upheld the appeal and set aside the damages order of $35,990, holding that the two-year limitation period in s 106(6) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 is a substantive limitation that cannot be extended under s 41 of the NCAT Act and that the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to award damages outside that period.

• The Owners – Strata Plan No 2661 owners corp
• Simone Selkirk lot owner

The appeal was allowed on the question of law whether a mitigation defence is available in answer to a claim for damages under s 106(5), with the court holding that an owners corporation may establish that a lot owner's unreasonable failure to mitigate loss reduces their damages claim.

• S Selkirk lot owner
• The Owners - Strata Plan No 2661 owners corp

The appellant was successful on appeal in relation to the common property issue concerning bathroom repairs and related claims, but the costs orders were structured to quarantine the flooring issue on which the appellant was unsuccessful, with the appellant ordered to pay the respondents' costs on that severable issue while receiving most of her appeal costs from the owners corporation.

• Kevin Lenux lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 88786 owners corp

The appeal against the costs order was granted on procedural fairness grounds; however, the Appeal Panel affirmed that costs should be awarded to the Owners as the lot owner had undertaken unauthorised works to common property without proper approval and refused to accept this throughout the proceedings.

• Moira Bass-Skardon lot owner
• Anthony Abbess lot owner
• The Owners-Strata Plan No 33038 owners corp

The owners corporation was ordered to perform repairs to the sub-floor beneath Lot 6 and install a drainage system within 3 months, with all other applications dismissed.

• Ms Simone Selkirk lot owner
• The Owners - Strata Plan No 2661 owners corp

The appeal was allowed against the owners corporation and the matter was remitted for re-determination on the scope of work required to fulfil the owners corporation's strict duty to maintain and repair common property in the appellant's bathroom and the amount of rent and losses from 5 December 2020.

• The Owners-Strata Plan No 53865 owners corp
• JPG Investments Pty Ltd lot owner
• Conrad Corporation Pty Ltd lot owner

The appeal of the owners corporation against the Tribunal's order requiring it to consent to the lot owners' development application for construction of additional storeys was dismissed, with the original Tribunal orders upheld.

• The Owners - Strata Plan No 4393 owners corp
• Mei Lan Roberts lot owner
• The Commissioner for Fair Trading of the Department of Customer Service government

The respondent was ordered to pay civil penalties totalling $8,250 for contravening tribunal stop work orders by carrying out plumbing work, structural works, and other renovations on her lot, and to pay the applicant's costs on an ordinary basis.

• The Owners-Strata Plan No 8461 owners corp
• Joseph Georghy lot owner

The owners corporation's application for orders to remove items stored on common property, remove unauthorised alterations, prevent vehicle parking, and restore common property was dismissed as the corporation failed to establish its case.

• Bei Bei Tao lot owner
• The Owners - Strata Plan No 16107 owners corp

The appeal was upheld and the owners corporation was ordered to undertake all necessary work to repair the internal wall in Lot 8, including stopping water from travelling behind tiles into cement render, removing the watermark, and painting the room to its original condition by 1 March 2024.

• The Owners – Strata Plan No 21563 owners corp
• Katherine Yvonne Rutherford lot owner

The appeal was allowed and the judgment amount was reduced from $10,169.29 to $7,019.64 by excluding legal costs incurred in pre-litigation mediation, which were found to be prohibited by Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 clause 60.

• The Owners – Strata Plan No 44958 owners corp
• Joanne Michel lot owner
• Alan Cook lot owner

The Tribunal ordered replacement of the Colourbond fence with equal cost-sharing between the parties, rejecting the applicant's claim that the retaining wall was part of the dividing fence and finding the existing fence was not sufficient.

• Virginia Louise Osborne lot owner
• The Owners - Strata Plan No 13516 owners corp

The respondent was found to have breached its duties to maintain common property (electrical infrastructure and asbestos-contaminated cabinet) but the applicant succeeded in recovering only $4,752.00 for a damaged marble table and 50% of costs, with claims for loss of rental income and other expenses dismissed.

• Lucineh Amirchian lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan no 99357 owners corp

The Appeal Panel upheld the appeal, set aside the first instance decision dismissing the application, and ordered the Respondent to pay the Appellant $7500 compensation for lost rental income due to the Respondent's breach of its duty to maintain and repair common property following water leakage.

• Paul Thomas Butt lot owner
• The Owners - Strata Plan No 71715 owners corp
• John O'Donnell lot owner

The application was dismissed as the orders sought were misconceived and lacked utility, particularly because the transformer room complained of is located on property owned by the City of Sydney and leased to Ausgrid, not on common property of the Owners Corporation.

• Danielle Gai Purcell lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 908 owners corp

The Tribunal dismissed applications for costs by both parties and ordered each party to bear their own costs of the proceedings, finding no special circumstances warranted a costs award where the substantive dispute was resolved by consent orders for window repair works and did not proceed to a contested hearing on the merits.

• John Hanley Archibald lot owner
• Lynette Archibald lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No. 50441 owners corp

The Owners Corporation was ordered to pay civil penalties of $1,100 for contravention of orders 4A, 4B, 4C and 4E, and $5,500 for contravention of order 4D, totalling $6,600, to the first applicant for failure to complete specified water remediation works by the contractual deadline of 2 December 2021.

• BNK Café Restaurant Pty Ltd lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 33676 owners corp

The Appeal Panel dismissed the appellant's application for costs of the appeal, finding no special circumstances warranted a departure from the general rule that each party bear its own costs.

• Rebecca Ann Beitzel lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No. 67504 owners corp
• Richard Christian lot owner
• Heidi Danilewitz lot owner
• Cindy Radomsky lot owner
• Q's Investment (Int) Pty Ltd lot owner
• Harry Haber lot owner
• Jaffa Haber lot owner

The application for orders directing the owners corporation to consent to construction of a swimming pool and to prescribe a common property rights by-law was dismissed as the applicant failed to establish that the owners corporation unreasonably refused consent.

• Noela Hunt lot owner
• Brian Hunt lot owner
• Cheryl Hunt lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 1158/84199 owners corp

The Tribunal dismissed both applications finding the Owners Corporation did not unreasonably refuse consent to install air-conditioning condenser units on the balcony returns as the proposed works were not compliant with Special By-law 5 and the by-law itself was not unjust.

• Gary Mark Colman lot owner
• The Owners Strata Plan No. 61131 owners corp

The Lot owner was ordered to pay the costs of The Owners Strata Plan No. 61131 on an ordinary basis (not indemnity basis) as the unsuccessful party in the substantive proceedings.

• Rosa Camilleri and Sandra Peer lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No. 4987 owners corp

The application was dismissed as the tribunal was not satisfied that the owners corporation unreasonably refused consent to the lot owners' proposed structural renovation works involving removal of load bearing walls in unit 14.

• Canterbury-Bankstown Council government
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 71808 owners corp

The respondent was convicted of three counts of contempt for failing to comply with consent orders requiring provision of fire safety certificates and upgrade strategy, and ordered to pay fines totalling $11,250 plus ongoing monthly penalties of $2,000 per charge until compliance.

• The Owners - Strata Plan No 4393 owners corp
• Mei Lan Roberts lot owner
• The Commissioner for Fair Trading of the Department of Customer Service government

The Tribunal found multiple contraventions of interim orders restraining Ms Roberts from carrying out unauthorised renovation works in her lot and directed that proceedings be listed for hearing to determine whether civil penalties should be imposed and in what amount.

• The Owners – Strata Plan No 7704 owners corp
• Jiwoo Kim lot owner

The Tribunal ordered the respondent to ensure that the floor space in lot 3 in the two bedrooms, hallways, living and dining room is soundproofed to prevent transmission of noise in excess of 50 LnT,w within 56 days, finding the installed flooring system did not comply with the approved 5 star acoustic rating condition.

• Mei Lan Roberts lot owner
• The Owners - Strata Plan No 4393 owners corp

The Appeal Panel dismissed the appellant's appeal and upheld the Tribunal's decision awarding costs to the respondent owners corporation, finding the appellant had engaged in wilful misconduct by conducting unauthorised renovation works in breach of stop-work orders and Tribunal directions.

• Maurice Clifford Westerweller lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 18482 owners corp

The appeal against the Primary Decision was dismissed due to failure to file within time and no extension of time granted; the appeal against the Costs Decision was dismissed as leave to appeal was refused.

• Charles Cuthbert contractor
• The Owners - Strata Plan No. 34194 owners corp

The appeal was dismissed and leave to appeal was refused; the Owners' entitlement to recover $23,866.50 from the Contractor for rectification and completion of defective painting works was upheld.

• Robyn Szeto lot owner
• Kevin Brinsmead lot owner
• The Owners - Strata Plan No 1418 owners corp

The appeal was dismissed and the owners of lot 3 were ordered to pay the costs of the owners corporation on the ordinary basis, with the tribunal finding the owners failed to establish that loss of rent was reasonably foreseeable loss caused by the owners corporation's breach of statutory duty to maintain common property.

• Dimitri Haramis lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No. 51923 owners corp

The Owners Corporation was ordered to carry out acoustic insulation work to common property pipework and party wall between Units 40 and 41 in accordance with the Soundblock quotation scope of work before 3 April 2023 to remedy breach of duty to maintain common property and prevent offensive noise transmission into the lot owner's bedroom.

• Hua Nan Trading Pty Ltd lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 32396 owners corp

The appeal was upheld and the Tribunal's decisions were set aside; the proceedings were remitted for redetermination as the Tribunal had power under s 41 of the NCAT Act to extend the time for bringing proceedings for damages under s 106(6) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, and the application for access to records was overlooked.

• Kevin Lenux lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No. 88786 owners corp

The appeal was dismissed and leave to appeal refused; the Tribunal's orders for removal of structures installed by the lot owner on common property without proper authorisation were upheld.

• The Owners - Strata Plan No 19341 owners corp
• Brian Charles Dehlsen lot owner

The Tribunal prescribed a common property rights by-law for the lot owner's 2005 renovations and ordered the respondent to waterproof the planter boxes within 3 months, but declined to find the work caused water penetration into lot 2.

• Peter Robert McDonnell lot owner
• Janette Carolyn McDonnell lot owner
• Peter McDonnell Pty Ltd lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 64191 owners corp

Application to extend time to bring appeal is refused, summons dismissed, and plaintiffs ordered to pay defendant's costs.

• Ross Harold Smith lot owner
• Jennifer Ann Smith lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No. 3004 owners corp

The Smiths' appeal was dismissed; the Magistrate's decision to limit loss of rent damages to three months was upheld as the Smiths failed to mitigate their loss by choosing not to rent the unit while repairs were undertaken, despite there being no safety concerns.

• The Owners – Strata Plan No 16857 owners corp
• Peter Barnett Hyman lot owner
• Janiene Hyman lot owner

Leave to appeal was refused and the Tribunal's interlocutory decision requiring production of an acoustic expert report was upheld, as the report was prepared for the dominant purpose of filing in the Tribunal rather than for provision of professional legal services and thus not subject to legal professional privilege.

• Hua Nan Trading Pty Ltd lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 32396 owners corp

The application was dismissed because it was filed outside the two-year statutory limitation period under section 106(6) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, and the Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to extend this time limit under section 41 of the NCAT Act.

• Georgette Benson lot owner
• The Owners, Strata Plan No 17676 owners corp

The appeal was dismissed; the Tribunal's decision requiring Ms Benson to permit access to her lot for replacement of brushwood fencing as authorised common property work was upheld, and her cross-claim for a by-law was rejected.

• Darren De-La-Garde lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 3260 owners corp

The parties settled all substantive issues by consent; the Tribunal ordered the respondent to pay 60% of the applicant's costs on the ordinary basis, rejecting the applicant's claim for indemnity costs.

• Julie Ann Crespel lot owner
• The Owners – Strata Plan No 66165 owners corp
• Ben Collis lot owner

The application was dismissed; however, between hearing days the owners corporation approved remedial works addressing the applicant's water ingress and building defects claims, and the second respondent resigned from the strata committee, with costs to be determined separately.

• The Owners – Strata Plan No. 6522 owners corp
• Daniel Michael Sullivan lot owner
• Kirsten Ann Sullivan lot owner

The Tribunal extended the interim order restraining the Sullivans from carrying out unauthorized works to redirect a waste pipe to the external wall of lot 31 until 5pm on 3 October 2022, finding the works were not authorized by Special By-Law 52 and required separate approval as common infrastructure.