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received and then charge Argent Industrial only the average amount for
water consumption for the period March 2012 to March 2015. Herewith
the court effectively found in favour or Argent Industrial and determined
that their debt older than three years was written off in accordance with
the Prescription Act.
This finding therefore supports your view that the municipality cannot
charge you for 10 years of outstanding water readings of which you
were not aware. It is our advice that you consult with your attorney to
investigate the matter in detail and advise you of your rights taking into
account this recent decision.

Can my outdoor spa land me in hot water with
the body corporate?

February 2017

“My wife and I recently moved into a sectional title unit. We
used to have an outdoor spa at our previous house and would
like to put one in again, but we are not sure what the rules of
sectional titles schemes are when it comes to installing spa
baths? Do I need permission or can I just continue?”

Before installing a spa bath or Jacuzzi in your sectional title unit, you
should consider the following. Firstly, it is important to distinguish whether
the area you wish to install the spa bath on forms part of the common
property of the sectional title scheme or forms part of your section. A Property
sectional title unit is defined as a section together with its undivided
share in the common property.

The common property is owned jointly by all the sectional owners within
the scheme, is controlled by the body corporate and is made freely
accessible to all the sectional title owners. A sectional owner who has a
right to the exclusive use of a demarcated area of the common property,
may however exclude other sectional owners from exercising rights on
that part of the common property. Improvements to such an exclusive
use area require the consent of the trustees, which may not be withheld
without good reason.

Should your spa be placed inside your section, then, subject to any
scheme rules that may require such consent to be obtained, there is
no general requirement to obtain consent from the body corporate.
Should the spa however affect the electrical or water supply or require
alterations to the plumbing or electrical installations of the scheme or
possibly have an impact on other sections, the consent of the body
corporate will probably be needed.

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