The unique feature of apartments is that the owner of
an unit in the apartment building will
possess and enjoy his property subject to several restrictions. Such a owner
will not get absolute ownership over the land on which the apartment building
is constructed and he only gets an undivided share in it. Not only this, he has
to use the common areas and the facilities such as stair case, elevator,
basement, swimming pool, recreation centre, community hall, etc., in co-ordination
and co-operation with other apartment owners. Under such peculiar
circumstances, in order to give a long life to the apartment building, it would
be appropriate that all major repairs to the apartment building be carried out
at lease once in ten years while the periodical white washing and minor repairs
can be carried out as and when required. Then, the immediate question that
arises would be : What constitute Major Works.
Normally, the following types of works
are considered as major works of repair:
Water Proofing
:
Whenever surki is used as water proof course the surki
become weak over a period of time and damages appear in the roof resulting in
leakages in the roof of the top floors.If proper slope is not given,the waterproof course gets damaged early.
If unwanted furniture and other materials are dumped in the terrace, the
terrace do get damaged early.To prevent
such leakages, the civil engineers suggest replacing waterproof course and
surface treatment of the entire roof surface requiring several lakhs of rupees.
Instead of carrying out total surface treatment, if
only patches are repaired, then there is every possibility of frequent repairs
since new patches may appear within a couple of days. It is, therefore, necessary to treat the entire surface or
provide better type of water proofing with adequate slope to drain off
rainwater and this treatment may remain intact for 5 to 10 years. However, in
buildings where tiles are provided on the terrace, repairs and leakages
problem could be less.
Water Supply:
A number of high rise buildings are coming up in most
of the metro cities, which require borewell in each such high rise building.This
results in the depletion of underground
water level. Gradually the yield in the
existing borewells would get reduced requiring further deepening of
such borewells.This work of deepening of
bore wells will cost several thousand
rupees.
Similarly, the G.I. pipes inside the bore wells and the
pipes inside the sump tanks do normally get rusted after 12 years of
installation.Therefore, these pipes require to be replaced.Now-a-days,
plastic rust proof unbreakable pipes are available.The replacements cost
several thousand of rupees depending on the depth of the bore wells.The water supply pipes feeding
water to individual flats also require replacement as and when they get worn
out requiring huge amount of expenditure.
Lifts :
Normally,after usage of 12-15 years,the existing lifts may require
replacement.Presently, the minimum cost of a
lift would be about Rs. 5 lakhs.
Motor Pumps :
In an apartment building, as large quantities of water
are required to be pumped to overhead tanks, usage of motor pumps for long
durations every day becomes necessary.
Such long hours usage of water pumps would affect the functioning of
such pumps requiring frequent repairs or replacement for which purpose
reasonably good chunk of money is required. Pumps and motors could at the best
serve us for 12 to 15 years and thereupon they require replacement.
Electrical Wiring:
It would be dangerous to continue to use the old and
damaged electrical wires in an apartment building. Complete electrical wiring and meter board
may have to be replaced at least after a lapse of 12 to 15 years.
Sewer Lines :
The next major work of maintenance is to repair the
leaking sewer lines caused due to damages in the existing sewer pipes or
joints. Sewer lines coming down from the flats also require replacement costing
considerable expenditure.
Pavements:
In an apartment building,
the number of vehicles would normally be more and due to frequent movement of vehicles, pavements do get
damaged very frequently. In order to
maintain the apartment building habitable, proper upkeep of pavements is
necessary. Therefore, pavement all round the building may have to be repaired
or replaced with concrete or slabs depending upon the condition of the existing
surface.
Apartment owners and tenants have to pay maintenance
fee for the amenities and service enjoyed by them in the apartment building.
Expense incurred for the maintenance of common area is shared among residents
of apartment and income is distributed among apartment owners. Apartment owners
form an association for collecting the maintenance fee and association works
for the welfare of owners and residents of apartment. To undertake all these
major repairs/replacement of utilities, the Apartment Owners Society/Association should have
sufficient funds in the form of “Sinking
Fund”. From out of the monthly maintenance charges collected by the apartment
owners association from its members, it is desirable that a considerable
percentage should be reserved towards for sinking fund to meet the expenditure
on major repairs.
If Apartment owners Society/Association does not have
sufficient funds at its disposal and sinking fund is not maintained, collection
of additional charges from the occupants would be an Herculean task for the
office bearers. The common expenses will include the amounts determined to be
payable as such by the Society or Association. It includes expenses such as
expense of administration, maintenance, repair or replacement of common areas
and facilities. So long as there is no dispute, any system which is acceptable
to all the apartment owners can be implemented on the basis of consensus.
There are various methods of calculation of maintenance
charges. The following are some:
a)Flat Monthly
Fee:
Under this method, apartment owners association or
society calculates the total maintenance charge and divides equally amongst all
the flat owners. In an apartment building, there may be flats with different
sizes. Under this system irrespective of size of the flat, all flat owners will
be paying equal maintenance fee. This system is generally followed where
apartments are of the same size.
b)Per Square
feet rate:
Under this method, variable rate depending upon square
feet of each apartment or flat is charged. Larger the square feet owned, higher
will be monthly maintenance fee. This is widely practiced in Apartment societies
with different sizes of apartments. The logic behind this being that since you have bought the flat on the basis of sq ft., you must pay the maintenance on
the same basis.
Partial flat
rate:
Under this method, the association or society charges
flat rate for a limited square feet and for each additional unit of sq.ft.
there will be an extra charge. For example,
the flat owners who own up to 1000 sq.ft. will be charged at a fixed
rate and for every additional 100 sq.ft. there will be an extra 2 per cent
charge of maintenance fee. In this case, all flat owners with 1000 sq.ft. pay equal amount but the flat owners of 1100
sq.ft., 1200 sq.ft. and 1500 sq.ft. pay higher amount towards monthly
maintenance fee depending upon the size of their flat.
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