units

Unit living has become far more accepted over the 20 years, be that for lifestyle, convenience or location. Unit living can incorporate many types of developments including townhouses, villas and community title developments.

Many of the recent developments have also been completed in desirable locations and can allow the lifestyle in a convenient location.

All of the buildings require some general maintenance, be they works which are undertaken by the Owner's Corporation or general maintenance within the unit. The Owner's Corporation consists of a body of owners and require discussions and money from the owners for repairs. Some disharmony can occur as a result of not understanding the extent of works required. Any substantial works can involve levies and additional fees to complete the essential works. It is usual that there are adequate funds available to undertake normal maintenance, but any reasonable works would require additional levies on the unit owners. Whilst it is not possible to accurately define the extent of repairs, we provide the following as a general overview

Older Building Units Prior to 1920

This is mainly an older style low height building which would now be in need of substantial ongoing repairs and maintenance. Some of these buildings are provided with flat roofs which would have a history of ongoing water entry or high maintenance and expenditure in the roof area.

Additionally, this type of building would initially have been provided with no fire provision and fire upgrading can be a substantial cost burden. This type of building is also an older style of construction which requires some expertise, particularly in the area of waterproofing and general building deteriorations.

Unit Buildings 1920 up to 1950

These art deco style buildings and similar are showing general signs of ageing and still require reasonable maintenance. At the time of original construction many of these buildings were called "Flats" which distinguished them for rented accommodation. Some of these grander older buildings, as well as some less grand unit buildings had class distinction where there was a rear tradesman stairs for delivery of milk, bread and tradesman access to the roof. Whilst the main stairwell was often constructed with concrete, the internal floors of the units are in the main timber frame construction.

The buildings generally did not incorporate any fire provisions and are likely to be subject to varying degrees of fire orders.

Additionally, this type of building will require ongoing levies for the Owner's Corporation, as well as internal maintenance.

Unit Buildings 1950 to 1980

This type of building construction generally consisted of brick walls and concrete floors with a tiled roof. Buildings prior to 1974 contain little in the way of fire provisions, such as fire rated doors throughout, as well as fire rated ceilings to the top floor. The buildings in the main are a basic block design and the majority are structurally adequate.

The majority of expenditure would be in the general refurbishment of the internal and external areas.

Cracking may be evident to external brick walls, but not all cracks are structural. Spalling of concrete, or concrete cancer, can be a problem.

Buildings Post 1980

These buildings incorporate varying degrees of fire provisions. In areas where high rise exist, which is classified as over 8 storeys, does not preclude the fact that some fire upgrading may still be required.

The main problem with the more recent construction is in the area of waterproofing, particularly to external balconies.

In addition, since the changes to the Building Code of Australia in around 1990, there are many unit buildings which have inadequate soundproofing to the walls, not only between units, but individual rooms within that unit. This has been the cause of many complaints. We are not qualified to provide an acoustic rating to the units within our standard report, however we are able to have a specialist acoustic engineer provide further information, should it be desired.

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