Frequently Asked Questions

The body corporate for a community titles scheme is composed of all the owners in the scheme. Every new owner automatically becomes a member of the body corporate.

The body corporate must comply with the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (the BCCM Act) and regulations.

The body corporate (owners or their representatives) makes decisions on matters with shared responsibility. These include:

• Maintenance and management of common property, including equipment and services
• Determining levies (financial contributions) which owners must pay to fund its operation
• Public risk insurance
• Any compulsory building insurance
• Establishing and enforcing by-laws (rules) relating to the management and control of lots and the common property

When considering purchasing a unit in a community titles scheme, you should find out if there are any fees and charges still owing – as the new owner, you will be obligated to honour the payments.

A community titles scheme may include any duplex, residential unit block, high rise accommodation complex, shopping complex or business park. Such schemes are comprised of individually owned lots or units and common property.

Community titles schemes allow for flexible living arrangements where a person can privately own an area of land or part of a building as well as share common property areas with other owners.

If you are considering purchasing a unit or townhouse, you need to be aware you will be buying into a community titles scheme.

You will not only have certain rights and responsibilities for your own property, but also the common property shared with other owners within your complex.

Therefore, it is important for potential owners to understand what the common property is and what the costs will be for maintenance and general upkeep.

Examples of common property range from a shared driveway or letterbox area to communal lifts and stairways, swimming pools, tennis courts, roadways and golf courses.

Owners are encouraged to obtain copies of the by-laws to ensure they are familiar with their rights and responsibilities. By-laws are contained in the CMS for a community titles scheme.

The statement is a document held by Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Lands Registry Office. If you are unclear which by-laws apply to your scheme, contact the body corporate secretary or the Lands Registry Office on 1300 255 750.

Sometimes body corporate committees face the issue of not being able to find a mutually agreeable time when all members are personally available to attend a committee meeting. This may be because they are all busy working or perhaps some live interstate or overseas.

When this happens, the legislation allows the committee to ‘vote outside a committee meeting’ (VOCM or VOC) to make a decision. This is commonly referred to in the industry as a flying minute, VOCM or VOC. The process of a VOCM enables voting members of the body’s corporate committee to make decisions in writing. Most committees use email to do this.

All committee members must be given notice of the proposed motion that is going to be decided. Advice should also be forwarded to all lot owners so they are aware of the motions the committee is considering. The notice and advice of the motion may be given by the secretary or another member of the committee who is authorised to give the notice to the majority of voting members of the committee. They are served at the same time.

If there is an emergency situation it is acceptable that contact is made with as many committee members as practicable and the decision may be given orally, such as over the phone. This is to ensure that a decision is made quickly, to cope with the emergency situation. It should be noted that this method should only be used for genuine emergencies, such as deciding on something that may cause imminent danger to people or damage to a lot or the common property.

Even when there is not an emergency there is nothing to prevent committee members from ringing each other up to discuss the decision before casting their written vote.

For the motion to pass using a VOCM the majority of ALL voting members of the committee (entitled to vote) must agree. For example, if a committee has seven members, four of these must vote yes for the motion to pass. This is different from a committee meeting were a motion will pass if a majority of those present at the meeting and entitled to vote on the motion, are in favour of the motion.

By law, every body corporate must hold an annual general meeting (AGM) each year.

At the AGM, owners consider the financial position and direction of the body corporate. There are two budgets that a body corporate must approve each year: the administrative fund budget and the sinking fund budget.

Other items most likely to be on the AGM agenda are:

• Election of committee members for the next year
• Fees and levies for the year (based on the two budgets mentioned above)
• Renewal of insurance and any additional insurance
• Any motions submitted by owners

Special general meetings (known as extraordinary general meetings) can be held during the year when there are items to be discussed or decided upon as a matter of urgency. Items to be considered could include repairs, disputes or changes to by-laws.

It is the responsibility of the body corporate to maintain common property. As common property may include lawns, access roadways, swimming pools, common doors and windows, it is very important for the body corporate to know what type of plan the scheme is recorded as. A scheme recorded as a ‘building format plan’ will have a significantly different area of responsibility than one recorded as a ‘standard format plan’.

Copies of plans may be obtained from the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Lands Registry Office on 1300 255 750.

The body corporate can engage the services of professionals such as gardeners and pool cleaners to carry out maintenance. In some smaller schemes, body corporate members volunteer their own services. Naturally, professional services will involve some costs, and these and other financial matters must be considered by the body corporate at the annual general meeting.

Strata managers are involved in coordinating the affairs of lot owners including conducting meetings, collecting and banking levies, arranging property maintenance, advising on asset management, placing insurance and keeping financial accounts. Incidental duties include:

• Preparation and distribution of notices, agendas and minutes
• Attending to correspondence
• Arranging quotations and repairs for building maintenance
• Maintaining the owners corporation register
• Payment of all invoices
• Preparation and distribution of financial statements and budgets
• Preparation and distribution of contribution notices
• Attending to orders, submissions and appeals.

Ref: Strata Community Aust

The primary source of funding for most strata schemes is from owners through levies. To enable owners to properly plan their finances and for scheme cash flow to meet expenditure, planning and money management by owners committees and managers is critical. Almost all states regulate budgeting (at least for day-to-day expenses) on an annual basis. The extent of regulation and control varies, and the level of disclosure and approval ranges from none to all-owner approval at a general meeting. In some states, longer term planning or estimating for sinking funds is also required. Audits must be considered annually in some states, while for others they are only required for larger or more active schemes. Reporting the actual financial position of a strata and community title scheme is another important aspect of scheme management. It is also generally well regulated and controlled. In most states annual accounts are required to be presented to owners at annual general meetings.

Absolutely. There is no legal requirement for you to engage a strata manager. It’s called self-managed strata, diy strata or diy body corporate. Thousands of strata schemes self-manage their strata schemes. Of course some owners think that self-managing their stratas means not managing. A poorly managed strata scheme devalues a property. With more and more people becoming educated on living in an owners corporation, savvy owners check the state of the body corporate’s finances, record keeping and the harmony of a strata community before they buy.

Owners Whether you can keep a pet in your strata scheme depends on the by-laws made or adopted by its owners corporation. It is therefore important to obtain a copy of the by-laws when considering whether to keep a pet or purchase or rent in the scheme. Owners You may need to obtain prior written consent from the owners corporation in order to keep your pet in the scheme, depending upon the by-laws which apply. Consent may be sought by writing a letter to the secretary of the owners corporation. Tenants Your landlord or the landlord’s real estate agent should provide you with a copy of the lease and the by-laws pertaining to the strata scheme. You will need to obtain the permission of your landlord or their real estate agent. Depending on the by-laws for the scheme, even if they agree, they may have to obtain the consent of the owners corporation, so you should not sign the lease until written consent has been granted, or ensure the lease is made conditional upon owners corporation consent being granted, and that if it is not, you will be able to terminate the lease without penalty. Disputes The issue of keeping of animals in strata schemes is a common area of dispute, usually involving an owners corporation’s refusal to allow animals even though allowing pets is not specifically prohibited in the by-laws of the strata scheme in question. If an owners corporation does not want animals it needs to make that position very clear by passing a by-law that prohibits all animals except the keeping of companion animals (as they are generally allowed by law, e.g. guide dogs).

(Ref: Strata Community Aust)

The Body Corporate insures the building for full replacement value. A building is defined by most insurers as including fixtures and structural improvements to lots other than Floating Floors.

The Building typically does not include Lot Owners contents or personal property or temporary wall, floor and ceiling coverings within a lot or mobile or fixed air-conditioning units servicing and individual lot.

For this reason, it is recommended that owners take out appropriate contents insurance for their circumstances.

For more detailed information on what is and isn’t covered at your scheme, please contact your Body Corporate Manager.