Renovation Rules

Introduction

Mirvac designed Tower 5 to be built and recognised as one of Melbourne’s most prestigious apartment towers, with the highest levels of amenity and quality. We, the owners of the building, are the beneficiaries of all that great work and your Owners Corporation Committee (OC) is working constantly to ensure Tower 5 maintains its enviable reputation and premium position.

It is worth noting that the building, in 2025, entered a new phase of its 100+ year life. We are seeing more renovations, larger and longer renovations, and the entire tower façade hashad surface repairs and re-sealing in preparation for full external painting in 2025/26.

The OC’s role is to ensure this work is of a consistently high quality and that it proceeds smoothly, with the least amount of disturbance to all.

This is why we have reviewed and updated our renovation processes and rules.

We thank all owners and residents for their continued support, especially during the times when renovations are underway.

Initial Contact

If you are thinking about doing a renovation or making some changes to your apartment, please discuss these matters with the Building Manager at your earliest opportunity. This will help prevent delays and ensure an orderly program of works is established.

Only a limited number of renovations are able to be approved and proceed at any given time.

Prior to works being approved

The OC must approve all works before they can commence, and it is the quality of the work and contractors that are the most important factors.

The following information must be submitted to the Building Manager before an application can be considered by the OC.

  • A detailed scope of works.

  • A proposed commencement date.

  • Drawings or sketches of any significant works planned.

  • Details of any hot works proposed.

  • Timeline of the proposed works.

  • Details of the lead contractor/project manager and the other contractors, including their business names, ABN’s, current public liability insurance and main staff.

  • A signed agreement to the processes, rules, bonds, fees and fines outlined below.

  • Please provide the estimated cost of works. The owner’s corporation insurer will be notified of the figure.

Bonds, Fees and Fines

Bond

The OC will set out a bond amount to be placed against the apartment owner’s account. The amount will depend upon the size, length and complexity of the works. For renovations that are expected to take between 2 and 8 weeks the bond will be $2000. For those expected to take more than 8 weeks the bond will be $3000. For those expected to take over 1 year the bond will be $4000.

The bond will be used to contribute towards the costs for repairing any damage done to common areas during the works, for repainting the common area walls and steam cleaning of the common area floor level carpet and for any other costs the building incurs due to the works, or the people involved in the works. The bond may be increased/decreased if the scope or length of works changes.

The bond will also be used to recover any fees and or fines incurred by the people involved in the works. See the sections on Fees and Fines below.

The works will not be allowed to start until the Bond has been paid to Kingston Management Group. The remaining balance of the Bond will be refunded to the owner when the Building Manager has signed off on the completion of the renovation.

Fees

The OC has a set the following fee structure for renovations.

Basic Fee

Any renovation that takes between 2 and 8 weeks to complete will incur a $500 basic fee. This will be used to help recover the additional costs of the time of the Building Manager, cleaning staff and the use of other services in the building during the period of the renovation.

Monthly Fee

Renovations that go over 8 weeks will incur the same $500 basic fee, plus a fee of $200 per 4 weeks for the duration of works. If the works are suspended for more than 4 weeks the fees will not be charged until the work recommences.

All fees and fines will be charged to the Owner’s account and deducted from the Bond.

Fines

Applying fines is not something the OC would normally consider doing. However, in recent years, we have had many examples of contractors creating disruption in the building – particularly significant amounts of noise early in the mornings and on weekends. This is the most common and serious complaint we receive from residents.

There are strict rules around the times work can be done in the building and when jack hammering, and other noisy activities can take place. Contractors and other people involved in the works will be made aware of these rules and fines before the commencement of works.

A fine of $250 will be incurred for the first breach of this rule. No warnings will be given.

Every subsequent breach will receive a $500 fine.

If there are other behaviours and activities (different to the above) that cause problems for residents during the renovation, then the OC reserves the right to apply similar fines. In such cases, warnings and discussions about the problem would take place before fines were issued.

During Construction

The bringing in/out of goods or equipment or tools etc., is not permitted via the main lobby. Common Property is not to be used for the storage or placement of equipment or materials. Building materials are not to be stored in any carpark in the building without permission. Protective coverings must be used on the carpets in all areas of affected Common Property.

All areas of the affected Common Property are to be clean and tidy at the end of each day. Failure to do so will result in the Owners Corporation arranging cleaning at the owner’s cost. Building debris or rubbish is not to be placed in the building’s bins. If the contractor hires a skip, placement of that skip is to be coordinated through the Building Manager and Melbourne City Council.

No key safes are to be placed on the Common Property.

Apartment Works

No chasing into floor slabs or boundary walls of your apartment is permitted. No penetrations affecting fire safety or noise transfer to adjacent property is permitted. Excessivegrinding down concrete slab is not permitted.

Lifting of tiles and floor grinding

The lifting of tiles by jack hammer is capped to a maximum two days per week. Jack hammering and the use of a floor grinder must be booked in 7 days in advance. These works once approved are permitted from 9am to 4pm. When booking these works in please advise if lifting tiles or floor levelling with the use of the grinder.

Hours of Work

Works can be conducted Monday to Friday between 8:00am to 4pm. The lift availability is from 8am to 3:45pm. No work is permitted prior to 8am nor on weekends or public holidays.

Balconies

Tiled areas of the balcony must remain a similar colour if being replaced. Placing new tiles over existing is not permitted. Existing tiles must be taken up and new waterproofing be applied. Photos of new waterproofing will be required. Any changes to balcony lighting must not affect residents of neighboring apartments or neighboring buildings.

Apartment Entry Door

Only building approved changes to the apartment entry door are permitted. This includes the addition of smart locks and dead bolts. Door viewers and or door cameras are not permitted.

Fire Services

Any proposed changes to the position of the apartment sprinklers must be approved by a building surveyor and approved by the buildings committee. Should these changes be approved works can only be performed by the building’s contractor. Any isolations to the common area fire system including smoke detectors must be put in writing for insurance purposes. Any MFB call outs as a result of building works will be charged to the owner.

Intercom

Any changes to the position of the apartment intercom must be carried out by the building’s contractor.

Painting

The colour of the front door of the apartment cannot be changed. Should you wish to refresh the front door paintwork please contact the building manager. If the paint being used is oil based within the apartment you must have an extraction fan exhausting to the outside air.

HVAC Systems.

The Temperzone units inside the apartment are water cooled units that are fed by the building system. No changes to these units can be made without the approval of the OC committee. Nosplit system external units are permitted to be installed. The apartment control display panels have a connection to the main condenser water loop. These control panels can be changed over to an app/wifi based digital controller or to a digital display operation. If incorrectly installed it will affect the entire buildings operation and with that only authorised building contractors are permitted to replace. Please contact the building manager to get the details of the controllers and contractor details.

Cleaning

You will be responsible for ensuring that your builders keep the common areas clean. We can provide some matting that you/your builders will need to pack away at the end of the day and

clean any mess and vacuum the floor level. Your builder is responsible for taking away all rubbish. All rubbish must be taken down via the car park.

Lift Usage

The lift can be booked from 8:30am to 3:45pm (we put up protective padding and lock it off). It is important to provide as much possible notice as there are days where the lift is already booked for moves. When booking items for delivery please email details of delivery and time frame. Residents moving in and out of the building will take priority for lift usage over renovation needs.

The lift size is as follows:

  • 1400mm wide x 2000mm deep x 2520mm high.

  • Doorway is 1000mm wide x 2400mm high.

Car Park

Car Park height clearance is 2.1M

Goods will need to be taken up to the lift to upper level 2 (Car Park height limit is 2.1M). Your trades can drop off items at the level 2 lobby and then move the vehicles. No parking on common areas or other resident’s car spaces without prior permission.

Parking

The Owner’s Corporation does not provide any contractor parking bays. Parking in another resident’s bays without permission is not permitted.

Flooring Changeover

Flooring changeover requires pre-approval. A secondary application sheet will need to be signed off in addition to this form.

At the completion of the project all common areas must be brought back to original condition. The buildings contractors will re paint the common area walls and steam cleaning of the carpets will be all done and charged back to the owner.

I am more than happy to meet with your builder to take him through the building and answer any questions they may have. It’s important for all of us to be on the same page to ensure things go as smoothly as possible with the least amount of disruption to the residents.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in giving me a call.

Contact KMG on +61 3 9676 2828
or email julie@kingstonmanagement.com.au