Ours is a 421 member society in Pune, Maharashtra. The society has 300 flats ( 17 buildings) and 120 row houses.
The GB of society passed resolution to change all existing lifts with new one. It us just 7th year of our society.
So please inform us about following.
- Can society change the lifts using existing reserves? There is no lift renewal fund in society.
- If yes, how row house reserves will be affected, since they don’t have lifts.
Please provide us guidance about this.
I C Naik
First of all working life of Lift : Most elevators are built to provide about 20 years of service, as long as service intervals specified and periodic maintenance/inspections by the manufacturer are followed. Read more….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator#Elevator_modernization
So I hope the decision of Committee is backed by sound technical advice post inspection of the lifts. Better get the report vetted by a general body meeting resolution.
As regards using Reserve Fund under Rule 54 (3) f the MCR 1961 it says “In the case of a society constituted with the object of co-operative housing on a co-partnership basis, the reserve fund may be utilised for expenditure on the maintenance, repair, and renewal of buildings of society.”
So answers of two questions are critical to decide to use Reserve fund for replacement of buildings namely :
- Is the Lift is covered by the term” buildings” ?
- Does “Renewal” include “Replacement”?
In almost all bye-laws registered by housing societies the apportionment f Lift maintenance and running expenses is to be separately done and not to be clubbed with Building Repairs a separate item of maintenance costs to be charged to members. This indicates the buildings and lifts are to be treated two distinct Assets.
Renewal of Lift normally improves its functioning for future. Read o the above URL
“Modernization can greatly improve operational reliability by replacing mechanical relays and contacts with solid-state electronics. Ride quality can be improved by replacing motor-generator-based drive designs with Variable-Voltage, Variable Frequency (V3F) drives, providing near-seamless acceleration and deceleration. Passenger safety is also improved by updating systems and equipment to conform to current codes.
This leads to setting up a Major Repair Fund the creation and utilisation of which requires prior approval f the general body meeting.
Row houses will nt cntribute to Major Fund as lifts do not form part of therw houses.