The Owners - Strata Plan No 11478 v James

The Owners - Strata Plan No 11478 (the Owners Corporation) brought proceedings against James (the respondent) concerning alleged breaches of the *Strata Schemes Management Act 2015* (NSW) and the Owners Corporation's by-laws. The dispute centred on the respondent's alleged failure to comply with a notice to comply with a by-law, which required the respondent to remove a structure erected on common property without approval. The matter came before Dowdy J in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Owners Corporation had established a contravention of section 139(1) of the *Strata Schemes Management Act 2015* (NSW), which pertains to the obligation of owners and occupiers to comply with by-laws. This required the Court to determine if the respondent had indeed failed to comply with the notice to comply with the by-law, and if so, whether the Owners Corporation was entitled to an order for compliance and the recovery of costs.

Dowdy J found that the Owners Corporation had successfully demonstrated that the respondent had contravened the by-law by failing to remove the structure from common property within the timeframe stipulated in the notice. The Court applied the principles of statutory interpretation to section 139(1) of the Act, confirming that the Owners Corporation bore the onus of proving the contravention. Having satisfied this onus, the Court was empowered to make orders for compliance and the recovery of costs associated with the enforcement of the by-law.

The Court ordered the respondent to comply with the notice to comply with the by-law within 28 days and ordered the respondent to pay the Owners Corporation's costs of the proceedings.