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Topic
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What does anyone think about a situation where an owner who also has a caretaking Agreement with the Owners Corp is on the Strata Committee and who then pays for repairs out of their own pocket and on-charges this to the Body Corporate? Should the Strata Manager be allowing this to happen?
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Well, there is a potential for a conflict of interest. However, the key is to have clear supervision by the committee. The individual is only one member of the committee, easily outvoted by the majority of the others. Does the individual present all the receipts to the treasurer? Do the rest of the committee view the accounts? Does the treasurer bring any unusual expense to the attention of the committee and periodically report on how the year is progressing relative to the budget? I think this sort of thing can be managed appropriately if there is trust and goodwill on one hand but clarity, openness and supervision on the other hand.
Under NSW strata law (SSMA Section 32 [a]) a building manager may not be elected to a strata committee. A building manager may also be referred to as a caretaker, according to section 66 of the Act (below)
In short, your caretaker shouldn’t be on the committee in the first place unless they are doing the work on a purely voluntary basis. Also, if they are being paid, your strata manager should be asked to explain why they haven’t picked up on this.
However, if your caretaker is doing this work as an unpaid hobby (bless him), all you need is to make sure all your invoices etc are properly accounted for and that your strata insurance covers him for injuries.
66 Building managers
(1) A “building manager” is a person who assists in exercising any one or more of the following functions of the owners corporation:
(a) managing common property,
(b) controlling the use of common property by persons other than the owners and occupiers of lots,
(c) maintaining and repairing common property.
(2) However, a person is not a building manager if the person exercises those functions only on a voluntary or casual basis or as a member of the strata committee.
(3) A person may be both a building manager and an on-site residential property manager.
(4) A building manager may be a person who is entitled to exclusive possession (whether or not jointly with any other person) of a lot or common property in a strata scheme.
(5) For the purposes of this Act, a person is taken to be a building manager for a strata scheme if the person meets the description of a building manager set out in this section, regardless of whether the title given to the person’s position is building manager, caretaker, resident manager or any other title.
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I thought it was ok for owner/caretakers to be on the strata committee ref:
“1) The following persons are not eligible for appointment or election to a strata committee or to act as members of a strata committee unless they are also the owners of lots in the strata scheme:
(a) the building manager for the strata scheme,”
https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ssma2015242/s32.html
@Court said:
My reading of the Act is that a Building Manager can be elected to the Strata Committee if they are an owner.Aaaah! I missed that very obvious point (thanks Tharra).
Your basic problem is that not enough people want to be on the committee or, at the AGM, they would call for a larger number (up to 9) and get themselves elected.
You seem to be suggesting some sort of impropriety. If so, that’s what you have to deal with. The strata manager can only do what the Owners Corp and committee want – unless that is illegal. I don’t think this is.
Unless the caretaker is siphoning off funds, only looking after his lot, favouring some owners over others or doing work that should have been decided on at a meeting, I can’t see the problem.
It’s surely better to get things done when they need to be done than have to hold a meeting every time you need a pot of paint.
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SC members should declare any pecuniary interest as per para 18 here:
https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ssma2015242/sch2.html