All buildings need maintenance. Ignoring this often leads to more costly replacement work that are needed down the line. Bagamoya is an older building and there hasn’t been a lot of maintenance (nor a maintenance schedule) in recent years, and a lot of these items are catching up with us now and needs attention.

Any owner or trustee can propose items for maintenance or repair. To avoid conflicts of interest, it is important that multiple, independent quotes should be obtained. An owner might feel that the building “must” be repainted (and it must happen via their preferred contractor), but an independent third party or multiple quotes for the job will be more fair.

Condition survey & Maintenance schedule

In June 2024 we conducted a condition survey of all the common areas, via an independent company called THC:

Bagamoya 2024 Condition Report⁠

⁠

This serves as the foundation for the the

Bagamoya 10 Year Maintenance Schedule⁠

, also provided by THC.

Important:

the 10 Year Maintenance Schedule has some wildly optimistic (i.e. cheap) estimates for replacement and repair. We need to edit the figures.

The schedule needs to be finalised and put into a calendar

The 10 Year Maintenance Schedule also serves as independent motivation behind the levies we charge. The idea is that the levies build up over time, to be used for the planned maintenance items, as in the 10-year plan, but also as a buffer for unforeseen expenses.

Maintenance and replacement vs improvements

In Sectional Title law, there is a difference between maintenance and improvements.

Broadly: maintenance keeps the common property in its original state of appearance and functionality, while improvements add to or upgrade it in some way (like adding an electric fence). Improvements can also be considered “luxurious” or “non-luxurious”. It is advisable to get the involvement of all owners (all members of the body corporate) for any luxurious improvements (say, adding decking above the garbage room and adding a communal braai).

The trustees are allowed to spend up to a certain amount (R50,000) without needing to call a special meeting with all owners.

Maintenance could (and should include various items in the 10-y plan.

At times, it might not be feasible to repair existing things, and they will have to be replaced.

For either maintenance, repairs, replacement, or improvements we try to do as follow:

Buddy system: One trustee volunteers as task owner with another as buddy.

Both get recommendations and research reputable contractors for the task.

At least two quotes must be obtained for each task (sometimes we get 7-8). The goal is not to get the cheapest, per se, but to get what is most cost-effective for all owners.

Their findings are documented and presented to the other trustees (via email or WhatsApp if more urgent, otherwise at the subsequent trustee’s meeting)

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.