Housing in Southern Africa August 2015

Sectional Title renovations

In many sectional title schemes, if an owner would like to replace awindowor door, there are a few things that need to be considered beforemaking those changes.

M andi Hanekom of Pro- pell, a sectional title finance company, ex- plains that Sectional Title con- duct Rule 4 and Rule 33 allows for alterations and additions to common property but both require authorisation from the body corporate. Where the outside appear- ance of a unit will be altered by the renovation, written consent is required from the body corporate before any work can be done. Windows and doors have shared cost re- sponsibilities by the owner and the body corporate if they are placed on themedian line. The owner will then be responsible for the inside and the body corporate the outside. When a window or door is moved, the boundary and responsibility line changes. A case in point is a unit where the new windows to be in- stalled, instead of being on the median line, are to be installed on the outside of that line. This installation will then cause

the body corporate to become fully responsible for the main- tenance and repair of these windows in legal terms unless otherwise specified. In cases such as these, the trustees may agree to the al- teration provided they ap- prove of the new product to be installed, the service provider or company doing the instal- lation, as well as the owner claiming full responsibility (cost andmaintenance) for the structure. “On the one hand, where one can understand the need for a body corporate to protect the appearance of the building but it can also become a situ- ation where too much control is applied and the owner’s ap- plication for a change is fought unnecessarily,” said Hanekom. “There aremany buildings that could benefit from a larger glazed area, both in light and warmth or, as in older build- ings, there were only a few standard window sizes avail- able at the time.” ■