Work Quality of Electricians for Strata Buildings

Electricians: Like many man-made things, a Strata building project is never truly complete or finished. To keep a building in full working order, a continuous and regular maintenance is required, including the modern upgrades. 

Strata Title Buildings Electrician also requires access to high-quality and reliable contractors, including the all-important electricians.

Strata property

When you purchase a property in a building complex like an apartment, a unit, or a town house, it is generally considered a part of a strata title. Strata complexes simply means  

that you own your part of the building, but also part of the building’s common areas.

Common property in a strata complex is not exactly as simple as it sounds. This comes to light when it comes to repair and maintenance and determining who pays for what.

Electricity 

This includes electricity-related maintenance and other things like repairs of parts of the building that had wear and tear problems.  

As Strata regulations is implemented, everyone shares ownership of the ‘common property‘. Common areas can include car parks, building entrances, external areas like a garden and any recreational facilities like a gym.

Owner

As owner of a part of the building, you wholly owned the inside of your unit. This does not include the main structure of the building. 

In effect, these are usually the four main walls, the ceiling, roof and the floor which are considered common property. 

The rule is that everything inside a unit is the owner’s property (includes all the internal walls, fixtures, carpet and paint on the walls).

Common property boundaries

The areas considered as common property boundaries of each lot are generally formed by the upper surface of the floor (but not including the carpet), the under surface of the ceiling, and all the external or boundary walls (including doors and windows).

These common properties can includesuch items as pipes in the common property or servicing more than one,lot electricity wiring in the common property or servicing more than one lot. 

Also included are the originally installed parquet floors, ceramic tiles, floor boards, plaster ceilings and cornices.

The slab dividing two-storeys of the same lot or one-storey from an open space roof area or garden areas of a lot (e.g. a townhouse or villa), is usually common property. 

(This is correct if the strata plan was registered after July 1, 1974 or unless the registered strata plan declares it is not.)

Strata electrician 

As noted, the electrical systems that are performing safely, effectively, and consistently is critical to the operation of the strata (and contractor-workers for the project.)

These electricians (and contractor-workers) are the best qualified professionals that you hired. 

To ensure that the electricians you hire for your strata will complete the work to a professional, legally compliant and correct standard, the following are some key factors you need to consider in the hiring.

Licenses

The law may vary depending on which state in Australia you live in. In most cases, however, it is illegal for an unlicensed person to carry out more than $5,000 worth of materials and labor. 

Your electricians should be licensed and part of a fully registered and recognized business. As the hiring group (or as a solo owner), there is need that an electrical contractor holds the proper licenses.

Insurance

While a contractor may be licensed, they are not necessarily insured. Electricians are not required in some states to have a license for specific projects. 

An electrician, may be able to show you a license but will not be qualified or insured for your project. It’s always advisable to hire an insured contractor, especially for high-cost projects.

Expertise 

At the very least, however, an electrician shouldbe licensed, insured and provide safe and high-quality electrical work. The electrician you hire should also offer terms of electrical services which guarantee you a minimum standard on both the electrical repairs and electrical maintenance.

You can ask,for example, if they charge by the hour. (Charging by the project is the preferred option as it is in their best interest to work efficiently.)

References/feedbacks

You need to also ask their track record in terms of previously completed projects. You may want to request reviews and feedback from their previous customers. 

You could even try, if possible, to speak with one of their previous clients to get more detailed insights into the quality of the electrician’s service.

Complex management 

Generally, strata building management is one complex work. The size alone can be daunting because it maintains living environments that include private and common property areas. 

(There are 270,000 strata title schemes in Australia, made up of more than two million individual lots.)

Most strata title schemes happens where people live in large apartment complexes. Inside their private areas of the strata title (in their apartments) owners are responsible for their own safety. 

If there’s a faulty electrical output, the individual is responsible for its repair.

Common areas

Things are more complicated in these common areas. If a light goes out in the entrance way, making it hazardous to residents, the owner’s corporation (OC), which manages the strata title, must make sure it’s repaired.

The OC also arranges for insurance, so that accidents in common areas are covered. The cost of upkeep and insurance are passed on to individual lot holders by quarterly OC fees.

Electrical maintenance

The strata Community Australia (which provides information on strata title including OC and owner responsibilities) knows the differences between owner and OC responsibilities for electrical maintenance.

For instance, air-conditioning systems can be either owner or OC, depending on whether they serve communal or private needs. Apartment light switches, stoves and incinerators are all owner responsibilities. 

Communal hot water, the intercom and the TV aerial are all OC responsibilities.

Electricians’insurance

Although there is no requirement that an electrician performing an inspection in a strata title has insurance cover, the consequences of allowing an uninsured contractor to do work on behalf of the OC could be disastrous if something goes wrong.

The rule of thumb is that it is advisable not to use uninsured contractors at any time – even in emergencies. Electricians should always have their insurance checked before they commence work on behalf of the OC. 

Electrician-related lawsuits

Lawsuits against a strata title scheme can result from a number of causes: a poorly ventilated inverter air-conditioner that catches fire, a smoke alarm system whose connections have been damaged by rain or perhaps a loose electrical outlet in the communal gym.

All these can be avoided through regular inspection by a licensed electrician, improving the safety of residents and reducing the risk of costly lawsuits.