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Topic
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If a decision is taken at a meeting of the Owners Corporation by a majority of owners, can the strata committee refuse to implement or carry out that decision just because they don’t agree with the decision? No limitations or restrictions have been imposed on the committee. The Strata Manager says they can.
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The hierarchy of power in a strata scheme is that the owners corporation (in general meeting) tells the strata committee what to do and the strata committee tells the strata manager.
Of course, the SC can choose not to implement instructions from the owners corp – there are no StrataKops who will come and take them to Common Property Prison – but you can take them to NCAT under Section 232 (2) of the strata Act:
Failure to exercise a function
For the purposes of this section, an owners corporation, strata committee or building management committee is taken not to have exercised a function if–
(a) it decides not to exercise the function, or
(b) application is made to it to exercise the function and it fails for 2 months after the making of the application to exercise the function in accordance with the application or to inform the applicant that it has decided not to exercise the function in accordance with the application.
So write to the committee and tell them that they need to follow the instruction of the Owners Corp and if they haven’t done so within two months, you will seek appropriate remedies under section 232(2) of the Act.
And you might point out that if they fight it and lose, they and other owners (but not you) will have to pay the expenses incurred in doing so. You might get other owners to join you in this action so they don’t have to pay either.
They can then explain to the other owners why they have cost them this money as well as ignoring their instructions. That should get things moving.
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is there any value in imposing limits, restrictions, or conditions on a strata committee such that they are obliged to ensure decisions taken at a meeting are implemented (excepting unforeseen events), thus avoiding individual biases or preferences?
If the committee won’t follow instructions from the Owners Corp in general meeting, what makes you think they will follow an instruction requiring them to follow instructions?
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I’m assuming you want the Strata Committee to carry out some service around the building – such as organise a gardener to come regularly, or to paint the stair-well, for example?
Don’t underestimate the effort in organising these types of things. But if the Committee is dragging their feet, the best thing is to embarrass them into doing the job.
For example, you can email your strata manager to ask for an update on the work, pointing out, and quoting the agenda item and minute from the general meeting, and drawing their attention to the time that has elapsed?
The strata manager does work as the agent to the committee so their hands are tied if the committee won’t make decisions. Make sure they respond in writing (managers often tell you things on the phone they can’t put in writing, because it isn’t strictly legal, or might embarrass the committee members.) So make sure all correspondence is in writing – ie email. Keep a log, and keep up the regular correspondence.
Then at the next General Meeting, you submit an agenda item, pointing out that the task hasn’t been carried out, and laying out a time line of reminders, responses, and purported reasons and excuses. And request that the task now be done as an urgent task, and you can even suggest the approach – ie, that the strata manager should take on the role of selecting the contractors to do the job, that they should get 3 quotes within a month of the meeting, select the best one, and commence the work within 2 months, and report to the owners their success…
I bet, the strata manager will be encouraging the committee to do their job, and as soon as your agenda item arrives, the committee suddenly will organise the job… The strata manager and the committee is relying on the owners not paying attention, and letting the task lapse. Ten minutes every fortnight, for an email or two, and a time line, will let them know you won’t forget about it, and once they get this into their heads, they will do their jobs…I’ll close the topic off.
That would be my decision to make and there are other voices on this topic. Just uncheck the “notify me …” box if you don’t want any more alerts. And congrats on resolving the issue.
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