Thinking About A Reno To Your Apartment?
The owner (you) should contact Ernst Body Corporate Management (EBCM) and find out if there are any requirements you must be aware of when doing a renovation.
EBCM will direct you to the Lot General Improvement Application Form (see link below) to complete and return to EBCM with the details of your proposed renovation.
General Improvement Application Form (click)
The form would then be distributed to the Body Corporate Committee (BC) who would approve, disapprove, or ask for more information. EBCM would then reply with any conditions or requirements.
All owners should be familiar with the building bylaws. Bylaw #1 (Noise) is very relevant and noisy works can affect all residents. For example, if you are replacing existing floor tiles jack hammering can be heard through most of the building. Therefore, you would need to advise all owners in the building not just a few on a couple of floors. 7 days clear notice must be given via all letterboxes and a notice in the lift and on the notice board.
Strata living requires a degree of respect for other residents and the bylaws reflect this requirement.
Please note that works should not commence until BC approval is sought and granted.
Noise ByLaw #1
Many people work from home now. The 7 day notice period before the noisy works commence during a renovation gives other residents the opportunity to organise those time periods effectively. It should be noted that these works affect a large number of apartments as the noise can carry many floors.
Structural alterations and Additions ByLaw #13
No structural alteration or external addition shall be made to any lot (including any alteration to gas, water or electrical installations and including the installation of any air-conditioning system or work for the purposes of enclosing, adding to or altering in any manner whatsoever the balcony or other external area of a lot) without the prior permission in writing of the committee but such permission shall not be unreasonably withheld.
• All works must be completed during Monday to Friday 7:00am – 5:00pm;
• No works to the lot are to carried out on public holidays;
• The owner is to provide the Body Corporate with the material safety data sheet if chemicals are to be used, and ensure the chemicals used do not interfere with the health and safety of owners as well as the peaceful enjoyment of lots and common property;
• All works must comply with all statutory authorities and comply with all fire regulations, including installation of sprinklers as required by Fire Authorities;
• All works must comply with the Building Code of Australia;
• For any structural work, all works must be inspected and approved by a Building Certifier;
• That works must comply with all bylaw(s);
• The Onsite Facilities Manager must be notified of the date that services will be affected;
• Responsibility for any costs associated with fire service call-outs related to the works;
• The builders to make arrangements with the Facilities Manager regarding use of lifts for transporting building materials and equipment; and
• All rubbish associated with the renovation to be removed from the building at the owner’s expense.
Curtains / Blinds ByLaw #32
A proprietor or occupier of a lot shall not hang curtains, blinds or louvres visible from outside the lot unless those curtains, blinds or louvres have a backing of such colour and design as shall be approved by the Committee.
A proprietor or occupier of a lot shall not install, renovate and or replace a curtain, blind or louvre without having the colour and design of the backing of same approved by the Committee. In giving such approvals the committee shall ensure so far as practicable that backing used in all lots presents a uniform appearance when viewed from outside the building.
Hard flooring – ByLaw #46
No proprietor shall install hard flooring without the written consent of the Body Corporate and that in granting the consent the body Corporate may impose the following conditions and any other reasonable conditions it deems necessary to manage floor impact noise so as to not unreasonably affect the acoustic amenity for lower occupied or adjacent areas;
1. Any installed hard floor surface is to provide a level of floor impact isolation of LnTw 55 (ref AAAC 3 Star – www.aaac.org.au) or better, between lower or adjacent occupied or residential areas (as per ISO 140 Part 7).
2. Prior to the installation of the floor surface, advice must be sought from a recognised acoustic consulting company with regard to suitable floor treatments to meet this level of isolation. This may include:
a. a preliminary floor impact isolation test to determine the isolation provided by the base floor slab under consideration.
b. testing on a sample of the isolation system to be used to confirm the final performance outcome.
The acoustic consulting company is to provide a written report providing their recommendations to achieve the required LnTw 55, and documenting the basis for providing these recommendations.
3. Upon completion of the works the floor shall be tested to ensure that the minimum impact isolation requirement has been met. This test must be carried out in accordance with the procedures defined in ISO Standard 140 Part 7 by a company experienced with and recognised for this type of work. A system will be accepted as being in compliance with the design criterion, if the performance level is not more than one (1) unit above the compliance level (not greater than LnTw 56). This tolerance is allowed as it is recognised that impact isolation levels can vary in different locations in the same building.
4. An impact isolation test certificate is to be submitted to the Body Corporate within ten (10) days of the test showing compliance with the defined limit.
5. Should the tested floor fail to meet the Body Corporates performance requirements, it is the responsibility of the Unit Owner to rectify the matter at their own cost.
Notes:
• The Body Corporate does not endorse or recommend any particular impact isolation product or system; or acoustic consulting company.
• The selected floor impact isolation system must be laid strictly in accordance with the suppliers recommended installation procedures.
• The installed hard floor surfaces must not touch the perimeter walls with there being a minimum 5mm gap between the walls and the hard floor surface. This gap is to be sealed with a resilient sealant.
• The LnTw 55 limit provides a “good” level of acoustic isolation and significantly exceeds the Queensland Building Code of Australia minimum floor impact isolation requirements.
• LnTw is a corrected noise level in the receiving space and a lower level indicates a higher level of performance.
• For further information on this matter, refer to the Association of Australian Acoustical Consultants Guideline “Acoustical Star ratings for Apartments and Townhouses” re www.aaac.org.au.
• Impact isolation testing requires access into the lower apartment for close to thirty (30) minutes. Such access needs to be arranged by the occupier of the apartment under consideration.
DEFINITIONS
Hard floor surfaces are tiles, stone, ceramic, timber, cork, vinyl or other floor surfaces that are inherently hard. Carpeted floors normally will significantly exceed the isolation requirements and do not need to be considered under this by-law.
ISO 140 “Acoustics – Measurement of sound insulation in buildings and of building elements – Part 7 Field measurements of impact sound insulation of floors”.
LnTw – L’nT,w – Weighted Standardised impact sound pressure level; a measurement of impact sound transmission between rooms. Lower values denote better performance. The single figure measure is derived by adapting a standard response curve to measured 1/3 octave band sound pressure levels. Measured results are adjusted based upon a reverberation tone of 0.5 sec in receiving room. Normally derived from a field test. This is a measure of the room noise levels when using a standardised tapping machine with a lower number representing a higher level of impact isolation.