Lot Owner Damages Claims Clarified

Vickery v The Owners – Strata Plan No 80412 [2020] NSWCA 284

GoStrata’s CaseWatch is a short, sharp and easy-to-understand review of important and interesting Court and Tribunal decisions affecting Australian strata title stakeholders.

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Quick Read

This NSW Court of Appeal decision about NCAT’s power to order damages payments to lot strata owners is a landmark case with major implications for strata building operations and management.  The primary issue was whether a strata owner who lost rent because of delayed common property water leak repairs could claim the rent at NCAT or had to take civil legal action. A secondary issue concerns whether or not NCAT has limits on the amount of damages it can award. After detailed consideration of the nature of strata owners’ damages claim and the dispute resolution provisions of NSW strata laws, the NSW Court of Appeal decided that NCAT has the power to order damages, that is no limit on the amount NCAT can award, and, that there are also separate rights to bring civil actions.  One of three judges disagreed and also made some interesting comments for the strata boffins. 

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Implications

The key implications of this strata case are as follows.

• NCAT’s general powers to make orders to settle complaints or disputes include ordering damages under s.106(5).

• There’s also no express prohibition in the strata laws against damages orders at NCAT.