Extending your section in Sectional Title schemes

Thinking of breaking down that wall, or removing that sliding door, and extending your patio area, or making that room just a tad bigger? Remember to make sure that what you are building is being done within your "4 walls", called your section, because if not, you may be extending your section, which may, if done properly, be as easy as 1, 2, 3. Let's take a look at this process more closely.

If you are planning to build out onto common property, or your exclusive use area, or even within your section, but increasing your current floor area, you will need to first obtain a special resolution of the members of your body corporate. Remembering that you also need to obtain the trustees' prior written consent for the alterations you are planning, depending on the process, if any, as may be set out in your body corporate's amended conduct rules.

But how do you know if you will be using common property, or building onto your exclusive use area? Take a look at the sectional plans of the scheme, as well as the amended conduct and/or management rules, to confirm whether the area/s in question are within the boundaries of your section, on unregulated common property, or common property created and allocated or delineated and registered as exclusive use areas.

Once the special resolution is obtained, either at a special or annual general meeting, or in writing, the process set out in the Sectional Titles Act, as amended, must be followed, namely the appointment of a land surveyor or architect to prepare amending sectional plans of extension of the section, to be approved by the Surveyor General, and then registered by a conveyancer with the Registrar of Deeds, including an adjusted Participation Quota ("PQ") schedule.

To this end, remember that by increasing the floor area of your section, your PQ will be adjusted upwards, meaning that the PQ's of all other sections in the scheme will be adjusted downwards, not physically on the sectional plans (other than your section), but rather only on the PQ schedule for the purpose of the calculation of contributions levied, voting rights and share in the common property.

As part of the special resolution required to be obtained, the relevant member may (but does not legally have to) agree with the members of the body corporate on an amount payable to serve as compensation for the use of the relevant part/s of common property upon which their section/s are proposed to be extended.

This amount must not be confused with a purchase price for a sale, as the relevant part/s of the common property is/are not being purchased by the relevant member/s. The determination of the amount is unregulated and subject to agreement, which may be fairly guided by a market valuation of the part/s of the common property in question in its current unbuilt state.

One final, sometimes stumbling block, is that an architect's or land surveyor's certificate is required, confirming that there is not a deviation of ten percent (10%) in the Participation Quota of the relevant section/s as a result of the extension of the section/s. Alternatively, a conveyancer's certificate confirming that the consent of mortgagees was obtained should the proposed extension result in a deviation of more than ten percent (10%) of the relevant section/s will be required.

Remember that if you are going to be extending your section onto an existing exclusive use area, this will need to be cancelled, alternatively you will need to determine whether a more simple process of altering or improving the exclusive use area is relevant.

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