If you ever have the misfortune to be in a serious dispute with a neighbour – or all your neighbours, for that matter –  and one party takes it to Fair Trading, your first stop is mediation. It could be that you just want somebody independent to explain the rights and wrongs (to the other [...]

Long-time readers of this column will be amazed at this week’s question. For once, a strata manager isn’t accused of doing too little; the complaint is they are doing too much. QUESTION: There is a very pushy young guy in our building who, three times in the past few weeks, has ordered work via the [...]

This is the time of year when everybody’s doing horoscopes for the coming 12 months so we should have our own predictions, our Strata-scope, if you like. Firstly, there’s a major reality check on defects. We are hitting the end of a cycle that began when building warranty insurance for high-rises was wiped and now [...]