FAQs
This section is under review by Mia Property Management. A new Owner's Pack and FAQ's are on the way.
This section is under review by Mia Property Management. A new Owner's Pack and FAQ's are on the way.
DO NOT USE THE LIFT. Follow the exit signs to the stairwells and exit onto Rochester Street moving clear of the building. Please assemble on Napier St out the front of Primary School. Please move clear of Rochester and Chapel St allowing emergency services full access to the area.
Common alarms you might encounter around the Rochester Building include the fire system, fire pump, ventilation system, car lift, or passenger lift. If you hear an alarm going in the building - please do the following:
During business hours: contact Mia Property the property management team on admin@miaproperty.com.au or (03) 9343 6888
After hours: Contact the OC committee via the Rochester WhatsApp group. If there is no response, please call the property manager after hours on (03) 9343 6888
The Rochester bin room is in the Lobby, to the left as you enter the building.
In the bin room you'll find:
landfill
co-mingle recycling
food organics
e-Waste
clean cardboard/paper
glass
soft plastics
clothing/fabric - donation and textile recycling
General waste (in a small bag please) goes down the right-hand chute.
Co-mingle recycling, E.g. loose items of recyclable hard plastics, tins and aluminium cans, goes down the left-hand chute. DO NOT BAG.
Please take clean cardboard, glass, e-waste, soft plastics, food waste and clothing to the appropriate bins in the bin room.
The Rochester is set up for the following recycling streams, click through here for a full poster:
co-mingle recycling
food organics
e-Waste
clean cardboard/paper
glass
soft plastics - see note below
clothing/fabric - donation and textile recycling
A NOTE ON SOFT PLASTICS
While we are waiting for Waste Ninja to finalise the set up of their soft plastic recycling plant, a few residents have volunteered to deliver to the City of Yarra recycling drop off centre in Clifton Hill.
Yarra City Council sends these soft plastics to APR where they are converted into oil that is used to make food grade plastic packaging and converted in to gas which powers the processing machine.
We can currently collect clean and empty soft plastics, such as:
shopping bags
all compostable bags
sandwich bags
postal bags
shrink wrap
pasta/rice/bread/biscuit outer bags
frozen food packets
bubble wrap
Don't include soft plastics with any food residue or anything with a metallised ('foil-look') lining E.g. chip packets.
Each unit owner has been supplied with a fob per carpark. More fobs can be obtained for a fee through Mia Property (admin@miaproperty.com.au or (03) 9343 6888).
All drivers and cars need to be inducted by and registered with ASK Building Solutions Pty Ltd (03 9876 1168; admin@askbuildingsolutions.com.au) our car lift servicing supplier. Please call them to arrange a time to induct you into the carpark - you will need your car and anyone who will be driving the car. There is a cost for this.
Induction is both a safety and liability matter. Only residents that have been through an induction process should use the car lift and park in the garage.
The Rochester carpark is not currently set up for Electric Vehicle charging for the majority of Lots. The OC Committee is investigating how best to approach the installation of suitable charging infrastructure for everyone.
In the meantime, residents with EVs who are charging their cars are asked to observe the following safety requirements:
We need all EVs to be registered with the OC and Mia as only 4-6 EVs can be safely charged using our current 10-amp power point (GPO) before the building load capacity is compromised
Only use approved single cables for your vehicle
Ensure cables are not a trip hazard and are not running along the ground as we have a 'wet' basement. In times of heavy rain it is common for water to be trailing across the floor
Please note that domestic extension leads are not approved and can overheat causing the risk of fire.
Electricity from the GPOs in the basement is paid for by all Lots, so in fairness the Owners Corporation will be recovering the cost of electricity from EVs owners based on an average usage estimate. This cost is set at $15/week.
Please contact admin@miaproperty.com.au or (03) 9343 6888 to discuss your EV charging requirements and work out an appropriate financing plan.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter, and your patience as The Rochester moves to enabling EV charging for all residents' parking bays.
All users of the car lift MUST complete a lift induction with the service provider who maintains the lift - contact ASK Building Solutions ( 0398761168, admin@askbuildingsolutions.com.au) When you book your induction you need to specify the registration number and details of your car to ensure it will fit the lift. ASK maintains a register of people and cars authorised to use the lift.
Unauthorised use of the lift may void warranty and insurance.
Trapped rubbish and leaves are the most frequent reason for the lift to stop working. It is annoying but usually easily rectified. Go to The Rochester WhatsApp group and ask if anyone is available to assist – several residents are trained to reset the lifts.
Follow this link for the list of residents that can assist in solving this issue if they are available.
Follow instructions on the display panel. Press reset and then choose your desired point of travel to resume your journey.
If this is unsuccessful, it may be that the safety brakes have fired. This is no cause for alarm – it is a safety feature that occurs whenever there is any physical or software discrepancy the lift doesn't like. You are perfectly safe. If you have mobile reception, post on The Rochester WhatsApp group that you are stuck, and an available resident will come to help. If no one is available, you may need to use the lift call button to contact ASK for assistance (03 9876 1168). Just follow their instructions.
In normal operating mode the two lights (red and green) will intermittently flash when the lift is available to call. If the red light is on there may be a car using the lift but if it is on constantly with no sign of action, post on The Rochester WhatsApp group and a resident with lift training will check it out.
Lift protectors are available and MUST be used when moving anything that might cause damage. Contact an OC Committee Member via The Rochester WhatsApp for help with access and installation.
The owners corporation is responsible for common property - the Owners Corporations Act 2006 states that the owners corporation must, among other things, manage, administer, repair and maintain the common property.
The contact email for the volunteer OC Committee (that is elected each year) is therochesterfitzroy@gmail.com
As we are a small apartment building there is no on-site building manager. The Owners Corporation (OC) Committee covers most day-to-day matters, and you can reach out to the residents on the Committee via The Rochester WhatsApp chat. Here is a list of the current OC Committee Members.
MIA Property are our official managers, and they support the OC Committee with the more complex building management jobs, building access, finances, and insurance. MIA Property can be contacted at admin@miaproperty.com.au or (03) 9343 6888.
At The Rochester we have a small team of volunteer residents who paint over nuisance tagging on our building – usually early in the morning before most people are out and about. Just shout out on The Rochester WhatsApp chat if you would like to help.
The committee of the owners corporation manages the common property on behalf of residents however Mia Property is the first port of call for all faults or issues in the common areas as they provide the day to day management of any issues such as lights out, damage etc.
Mia Property also manages requests on behalf of the committee by owners for things such as AC installs, additions to balconies that require attachment to building structure etc. Anything that affects the building envelope or common property. The committee convenes and makes decisions that are then passed back through Mia Property to the owner.
If the matter has a level of urgency, such as an alarm etc then please advise Mia Property ((03) 9343 6888 all hours) and also post in the Rochester WhatsApp what the issue is and once you have advised Mia Property.
We rely on the good will of our residents to help administer the building. Please help do your part by looking after all common areas. Do not store private possession anywhere other than your allotted spaces. Tidy up after yourself and report any repair/maintenance issue you feel needs attention.
From time to time there are volunteer working groups for things like garden improvements, graffiti management, and bin room upgrades. All residents are encouraged to get involved!
Each year at the OC AGM volunteers nominate to serve on the OC Committee. Lot owners can nominate themselves or nominate a proxy such as a tenant to stand for election to the committee.
All of the details regarding the apartment finishes can be found in the Owner's Document.
Generally, if the repair needed is within your apartment it is the owner’s responsibility while common area maintenance is the OC responsibility. If you are unsure you can check with OC Committee Members (therochesterfitzroy@gmail.com) or Mia Property at admin@miaproperty.com.au or (03) 9343 6888
Anything that affects the building envelope or common property needs to be signed off by the OC Committee. Mia Property manages this process on behalf of the committee for things such as AC installs, additions to balconies that require attachment to building structure, changes to external window coverings. Notice also needs to be given of any major renovations that require materials moving through common property.
Apartment sharing can sometimes cause tension in residential buildings due to concerns about compromised building security as well as excess noise issues. To minimise these risks, we recommend:
Be courteous and let your floor neighbours know when/if you are participating in apartment sharing including how they can contact you if there are excess noise concerns. Although this may not be suitable for larger flats, consider having age limit (e.g >25yrs) and an occupant limit of 2 per bedroom as this reduces risk of noise/misuse.
Airbnb counts as self-contained accommodation & the requirement for registration depends on how many people are allowed to stay vs. number of rooms so please ensure compliance with City of Yarra requirements for registration of prescribed accommodation
Owners must keep a register & be able to provide verified contact details of any guests if required by the OC (noting that for privacy reasons any such request will be formally in writing & for a specific reason)
Preference that bookings be via a recognised booking platform (e.g Airbnb /Stayz) as they have set rules & policies around ID checks, usage & noise etc, whereas if self-managed there are no such protections.
Owners should ensure their insurance allows for tenants as many content insurers have exclusions on short term tenants, so make sure to check specifically
The car lift will be unavailable to short term residents as formal induction is required in accordance with our car lift insurance. If these residents are staying for long time and require car lift access, the induction progress must be undertaken as per the process and cost outlined above in this FAQ Section: How do I gain car park access?
Your fob can/should be remotely reprogrammed to only provide access to the level of your apartment and ground floor. This can be arranged by contacting Mia Property Managers admin@miaproperty.com.au or (03) 9343 6888)
Owners need to ensure cleaners who are using large trolleys for their equipment and linen do not damage the lift and walls
The Committee feels very strongly that at no point should there be lockboxes with keys left within 500m external to the building. This is the number one way buildings get broken into in our area.
The Committee would like to suggest the following to manage the handover of keys:
Authorised 3rd party face to face key handover if not personally available (ie. KeyNest on Smith Street) & always get a photo of government-issued photo ID.
The Committee would like to solve short term rental issues together and can be contacted at TheRochesterFitzroy@gmail.com
Unfortunately the PIN is for our contractors only. Occupants and tenancies only access via fob for security reasons.
Each heating panel has a thermal switch on it, you can change your heat preference between 1-5 for each panel
The master settings for the Hydronic Heating system is controlled centrally, the current settings are:
Heating is turned on from the 1st April
Heating is turned off from the 1st December
The boiler turns on when the external ambient temperature reaches below 14°C
The boiler turns off when the external ambient temperature goes above 14°C
If you have already tried to turn on the hydronic heating and there is still no heat, or your heater is making a hammering noise, please contact Mia Property or your Landlord (for rentals) and report the issue. Mia Property can be contacted at admin@miaproperty.com.au or (03) 9343 6888.
Remember to switch the ceiling fans to winter mode as this will circulate warm air trapped near the ceiling. The is a switch on the fan base to change mode from summer to winter.
Lowering blinds at night will reduce heat loss through glass areas.
There are two taps to turn off water to your apartment. The tap for the cold water is located in the cupboard labelled FEC on your level. The tap for the hot water is located in the ceiling hatch just outside your front door.
If you don’t have a bike room key in your set of unit keys, you should be able to borrow someone else’s and have this copied as this isn't a restricted key.
All other keys or fobs need to be obtained through Mia Property for a fee (admin@miaproperty.com.au (03) 9343 6888). These costs will automatically be billed to the owner of the unit requesting so if you are a tenant please clear this with your property manager or landlord first.
Keys or fobs need to be obtained through Mia Property for a fee (admin@miaproperty.com.au (03) 9343 6888). These costs will automatically be billed to the owner of the unit requesting so if you are a tenant please clear this with your property manager or landlord first.
Mailboxes are not considered common property and are the responsibility of the owners. You may contact any locksmith to attend to the repair.
Request access by emailing the OC secretary at therochesterfitzroy@gmail.com or click this link
Just post a message on The Rochester WhatsApp chat and you will get lots of recommendations from residents.
Check out the OC Owners Pack or contact the Owners Corp Committee at therochesterfitzroy@gmail.com