{"id":9463,"date":"2018-06-24T08:08:57","date_gmt":"2018-06-24T15:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/?p=9463"},"modified":"2018-06-22T10:15:12","modified_gmt":"2018-06-22T17:15:12","slug":"enjoying-summer-without-breaking-the-bylaws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/2018\/06\/enjoying-summer-without-breaking-the-bylaws\/","title":{"rendered":"Enjoying Summer Without Breaking the Bylaws"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Condominiums are communities, and communities have rules. Most, if not all, are governed by common sense \u2014 no need for elaborate rationale.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Some people regularly break bylaws of their condominium community out of \u201cnot knowing\u201d rather than contrariness. The exception to the \u201ccontrariness\u201d scenario might be barbecues on the balcony. What Canadian doesn\u2019t feel a special bond with the summer BBQ? (Before you haul that propane tank up the elevator to your suite, read on)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The main issue : people just don\u2019t read their bylaws. Compounding the issue, many owners of condos do not explain the bylaws to their tenants \u2014 forgetting that they are responsible for anything their tenant does while an occupant.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We\u2019ll save BBQs for last \u2014 because chances are more than half of our readers break this rule \u2014 and start with some less obvious rules you didn\u2019t know you had.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Balconies \u2014 who owns them?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Many condominium communities have private balconies for the exclusive and private use of condo owners, but many of these owners don\u2019t actually realize the terrace or balcony is often considered (legally) a \u201ccommon area\u201d amenity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is maintained and managed by the condominium corporation. There may be exceptions, but this is the most common legal arrangement \u2014 especially given they hang off of the outside of the building.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For this reason, the condominium has liability for maintenance and other issues \u2014 and likely have passed bylaws prohibiting, for example, tiles or permanent flooring treatments. So, it\u2019s safest to stay with concrete. It may seem petty, but your beautiful Italian tile may complicate maintenance, or even present a future safety hazard. Play safe, and stick with what the condo community provided for flooring. Area carpet can be a fire-hazard, especially given many people smoke on their balconies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Leave the bike downstairs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">You may think it\u2019s perfectly fine to track dirt and mud up the elevator, through the hall, into your suite to park your bike on your balcony. Chances are close to 100 percent certain your condo board disagrees, likely, backed by bylaws. Not only is it an inconvenience and cost to other home-owners, storing a bicycle on a balcony could be distinctly hazardous during a high wind storm.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Laundry and storage<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">What an eyesore, those racks of drying laundry. Even worse, are condo residents who use their balconies as storage. Regardless of how you feel about it \u2014 you may think it\u2019s the ideal storage locker \u2014 it\u2019s not likely allowed. From the outside of the building, your neighbours are treated to a splendid view of your clutter. More importantly, you\u2019ve created a liability, with potential debris, nesting places for birds and rodents, and other hazards. It\u2019s almost always not allowed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As always, condo owners who rent to tenants are especially vulnerable. Tenants don\u2019t tend to read condo bylaws, and wouldn\u2019t feel a strong urge to comply in any case. Even though it might be your tenant breaking the rules, you, the owner, are fully liable for compliance actions, fines and liability.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Green plants<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Surely no one can say boo about your beautiful plants. After all, that\u2019s your outdoor refuge. What\u2019s the harm in bringing a little green to your small oasis of outdoor living?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So, here\u2019s some good news. Most bylaws do allow some plants. The restrictions are normally on the height and weight. Heavy planters can create risks to maintenance. Tall plants, which reach over the balcony rail, are normally not allowed. You are likely limited to how many plants you can have as well since excessive water from pots and planters can cause damage to units below you.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hanging plants are not allowed by almost all condos. They are a significant liability and hazard.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>BBQ! \u2014 Surely not!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Even though many condo owners regularly barbecue on their balconies, sorry to say \u2014 Canadian tradition notwithstanding \u2014 if you want to comply with bylaws, chances are solid that you\u2019re not allowed that gas BBQ or hibachi on the balcony. Why you ask? Surely it\u2019s our Canadian heritage and inherent right. Well, yes, if you go to the safe BBQ areas of the condo community, or outside to a public Barbecue area. No, if you think it\u2019s okay to haul a propane tank up to your unit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">First, there\u2019s the law-law : propane tanks can only be taken up an elevator if it is a service elevator and\/or if you are the only person in the elevator \u2014 usually with permission of security or management. Yes, if you don\u2019t mind breaking the law, you can sneak it in when no one is looking, or haul it up the stairs, but \u2014 even then \u2014 you\u2019ll run afoul of the condo bylaw and possible fire-code violations. Or, you could use a small non-gas hibachi \u2014 if you\u2019re willing to run afoul of possible fire-code violations.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Now, the bylaws : most condos have the no barbecue bylaw for many reasons: liability, fire hazard, explosive hazard, risk to neighbours, smoke and ventilation, and a half-dozen other pretty good reasons.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sorry to bear bad news for some of you looking forward to barbecuing or redecorating your beautiful terrace. To keep your summer stress-free, check your bylaws before you commit to any expensive changes to your balcony.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">And above all \u2014 have fun this summer!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/condo.ca\/five-things-you-are-not-allowed-on-your-condo-balcony-bbqs-bicycles-laundry-storage-flooring-enjoying-summer-without-breaking-the-bylaws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Five Things You Are Not Allowed On Your Condo Balcony : BBQs, Bicycles, Laundry, Storage, Flooring. Enjoying Summer Without Breaking the Bylaws<\/a> by Condo.ca<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Condominiums are communities, and communities have rules. Most, if not all, are governed by common sense \u2014 no need for elaborate rationale. Some people regularly break bylaws of their condominium &hellip; [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/2018\/06\/enjoying-summer-without-breaking-the-bylaws\/\">read more<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Enjoying Summer Without Breaking the Bylaws &#8226; Rory C Real Estate | Oakwyn Realty<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/2018\/06\/enjoying-summer-without-breaking-the-bylaws\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Enjoying Summer Without Breaking the Bylaws &#8226; Rory C Real Estate | Oakwyn Realty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Condominiums are communities, and communities have rules. 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