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Open communication is great, but let’s assume that you received the Agenda for your Plan’s AGM, that you looked through all the Agenda Items, saw nothing innocuous, and so decided not to attend and to perhaps give your Proxy to the Chair of the Meeting.
OK? So the Meeting runs to plan and all those innocuous items are resolved, and then in “General Business” where nothing in particular is planned and therefore nothing specific is listed on the Agenda under this item (because it’s “general”), one of the Proprietors in attendance suggests some improvements to the Common Property – like say to the landscaping.
All those Proprietors in attendance think that’s a great idea, and among other improvements they, and the Chair with your Proxy, resolve to make those landscaping improvements including the removal of the shade tree that’s right over your Unit’s courtyard, and in order to pay for it all they go back to the proposed Budget and resolve to amend it and the proposed Levy Contributions to account for those additional costs.
Then you get the Minutes, don’t agree with what’s been resolved in General Business, and wish you’d have attended in order to put your point-of-view. But then you didn’t know that item was going to be discussed did you?
So that’s why General Meetings shouldn’t include an Agenda Item for General Business; although you’re right that “good communication and open channels” is quite acceptable – over a cuppa once the Meeting’s concluded!
I’ve just signed-up for your free trial, and whilst it’s far too early to comment, my initial impressions are that some of your templates don’t comply with NSW Legislation. As one example, the AGM Agenda template doesn’t include the mandatory items (in NSW) and does include items such as “general business” which cannot be an item. Additionally, your suggested flat-rate price of $84/a/unit seems a little high; perhaps a sliding scale would be more attractive.
The problem is that each State / Territory behaves autonomously with regard to Strata Management, but you’ve made a great effort with an initiative that I wish was available seven years ago when I took over the management (secretary/treasurer) of our Plan.
Anyhow, I’ll have a play with your program and get back to you with some positive feedback.
Having just reconciled levy payments made by my Proprietors 7 calendar days in advance in order to avail themselves of our Plan’s 10% discount, I’m totally in agreement with scotlandx, although as we’re self-managed I’m in a better position to “manually” show a little latitude (1 day) than would a Strata Manager’s automated system covering many payments from many Plans.
Assuming you’re in NSW, the detail of your Plan’s early payment discount would need to be provided in a Special By-Law, and the detail of all Fees for late payments, and how they’re implemented, would be outlined in the Agency Agreement that your Plan has with its Strata Manager. You can obtain copies of both of these from your Strata Manager, and thereby ascertain your “rights” with regard to both.
I know of a similar situation where leakage of lime saturated water from the roof of a common parking area (with individual carspaces forming part of the Units above) damaged the paintwork of a resident’s vehicle. The resident made a claim for damages against the Owners Corporation (O/C), their Insurers declined the Claim because the O/C was aware of the problem and yet delayed remedial works to their earlier repairs, so the O/C itself had to reimburse the resident for the costs of repairs to the vehicle’s paintwork.
Your O/C would do well to consider that outcome!
I don’t know why you would want a legal letter to formalise your use of the communal garage, or if you do, why your O/C would not be responsible for that …but as for Solicitors who could assist, perhaps speak with Makinson & d’Apice – they’re Sponsors of this Forum and one of the Firms (in NSW) who has expertise in strata and community title matters.
Gees Peter, I think you were right the first time when your answer to the question about the ease of being green was “well no, not really”
Our Plan put a Special By-Law in place covering both solar power and hotwater systems on the common property (roof), and 4 Owners together with the O/C installed 10kW of solar arrays there in 2010.
All those systems are on gross metering at the old $0.60/kWh tariff, and the O/C’s total electricity bill last financial year for the common property including security lights comprising 4x18W LED spot lights, and 11x20W tube-style fluorescent lights all on for av 12hrs/d, plus 4 fluorescent spot lights (on sensors), and 5 well-used electric BBQs was $312.23.
I will amend our Plan’s Register of Alterations and Additions to Common Property to show the O/C as holding its 2kW System as trustee, but I have to be honest, I didn’t even try to calculate the $ value of the O/C’s feed-in credit, as most of the Plan’s that I’ve had dealings with, including this one when we had a Strata Manager, don’t even include bank interest on the taxation returns; wrong I know.
We’ve just had another Owner install a 2kW system on net metering (as apparently the gross tariff is now around $0.05/kWh), and I’ll be interested to see how that affects his electricity bill. I did note however the lower price for the installation now that the Government Subsidies are gone; strange thing that.
I’m aware of another authoritative interpretation by the NSW Office of Fair Trading (OFT), who administers the Strata Schemes Management Act (SSMA) to the effect that a false ceiling was not a boundary of the Common Property, but rather the floor slab above it is that boundary and also the boundary of the cubic air space of the lot. That may be the interpretation that your Strata Manager’s relying upon.
One would expect common and consistent rulings as opposed to interpretations, but my personal experience gives me more confidence in the L&PI for matters to do with the Strata Plan (i.e. the physical drawing), the OFT is better with regard to matters involving the responsibility maintenance and repairs, and with the application of By-Laws.
I can’t wait for the Review of the SSMA to produce some Strata Legislation that’s less open to interpretations and more conducive to making informed decisions.
Good luck with convincing your Strata Manager though.
The existing door onto the courtyard is Common Property, and the new Owner needs to obtain the Owners Corporation’s (O/C) consent prior to making any changes or alterations to that Property. That consent may be given in the form of a letter signed by the Executive Committee (E/C) Secretary on behalf of the O/C, and should incorporate appropriate Conditions relating to matters such as work times (noise), the use of tradespeople (licenses/insurance), and who is responsible for ongoing maintenance and repairs to the new stacking door (the lot owner in lieu of the O/C).
Why the new By-Law – called a Special By-Law (SBL) as it’s made subsequently and is additional to the standard By-Laws prescribed in S1 to NSW Strata Schemes Management Act & in the Regulation?
Well, your O /C may be expecting other lot owners to seek its consent for this same change/alteration to common property, so as an alternative to it receiving multiple requests for and making multiple consents to the same scope of works, your E/C’s decided to put a SBL covering those works to a General Meeting of Owners for consideration.
So the Special By-Law replaces (as opposed to negates) the consent of the Executive Committee, and provided all lot owners in future follow the provisions of that SBL absolutely, they don’t need to seek the O/C’s consent .
A Special By-Law requires a Special Resolution of Owners at a General Meeting – that is where no more than 25% of Owners present at that Meeting (personally and by proxy) can be against the Motion (or a min 75% must be in favour), and it’s usual for the Owner who’s requiring/benefiting from the Special By-Law to pay for its expert drafting (i.e. by a Strata Specialist / Lawyer) and Registration with NSW Land & Property Information (the old Land Titles Office).
Re the air-conditioning (A/C) – that too would be covered under a (different) Special By-Law, and if you’re saying that works have been done without the respective lot owners paying for a SBL, that’s the idea! Once the cost of drafting/registering a SBL’s been paid for by an owner or by the O/C, then all future works of the same types (i.e. A/C) can be completed under the provisions of the SBL
I hope this clarifies matters for you.
Be careful about changing insurance providers without first checking the product disclosure documents, and the schedules of your Plan’s current policy against those of/in the competitive quotes that your Strata Manager has now obtained.
There are quite a few optional covers offered by strata insurance providers, and additionally different degrees of cover and monetary benefits within each of those; so be careful with gross premium comparisons and with breaking what may be a good relationship with your Plan’s long-term insurer.
In response to your questions:
a) Generally, any refund is made pro-rata on the premium only less the insurer’s administration fee (for processing the cancellation), as most government charges are not refundable by the Agency’s to whom they’re paid.
b) Strata Managers (SM) also have a “relationship” with insurance providers (i.e. in addition to the financial ones that they declare in Agency Agreements), including with the Assessors that they deal with on your Plan’s behalf in order to expedite claims/payments, to obtain advice, to obtain certificates etc. So I don’t believe that a SM’s desire to maintain an established relationship of that type could be considered unreasonable, or not in your Plan’s interests, particularly as the S/M did obtain additional (and maybe more competitive quotes) from other Insurers when your O/C so requested.
So in conclusion, I rang our Plan’s insurer prior to my putting together the 2012/13 budgets for our recent AGM, and they advised me of an estimated 15% increase 3 months down the track when our renewal’s due! So take a close look at the Policies and the relationships of both your Plan (claims history) and your S/M before making a move, and ask each of the providers about future premium increases.
Whilst there are mechanisms to appoint a new Executive Committee (E/C) Member if a current Member vacates their position, I don’t believe that an new / additional Member may be appointed other than by the Owners Corporation at a General Meeting.
If you regard the matter as immediately important, your Secretary could convene an Extraordinary General Meeting to nominate and vote on appointing the additional E/C member, or if you merely want to give your new Owner an opportunity to involve themselves in proceedings, then you can invite them to attend E/C Meetings and to participate in discussions; they just can’t vote.
Normally, if the ventilation system including the fan serves only one Lot then it’s the Proprietor’s responsibility, and conversely, systems where a fan is connected to ducting serving more than one Lot is the Owners Corporation’s responsibility.
Your neighbour’s situation is a little different as the fan is in the ceiling space and it provides ventilation to three areas of their Lot, but I’d still say that the above demarcation would apply.
Can I apply my well known “test of logic”?
With the exception of Exclusive Use By Laws By-Laws, I can’t think of any that don’t apply to all Residents of the Plan, so unless the intention is to require all Proprietors to accept the electronic delivery of Notices (agendas, minutes, levies etc), and that’s unlikely given that some may not have e-mail addresses or merely don’t want to, why would you want to or need to Register a By Law for that purpose.
Gees Louise, let’s not make administration any harder that the Act already makes it!
No more from me on this; no matter what !!!
As I started all this, I’ve done a bit of research into the possible reasons for the preference that many Strata Managers have for this particular Bank as opposed to any of the other thirty (30) approved financial institutions (in NSW).
According to some Strata Manager mates of mine (yes I still have a few even though our Plan no longer partakes of their services) this Bank has developed a very good software package for strata management operations, including customised features for levy collections, on-line payments, late payment follow-up, contractor payments, reporting to Owners Corporations, and more.
Clearly (or so I’m informed) this Bank’s software package links to their business banking products, and that closes the loop to that Bank’s benefit.
As to the existence of other inducements of the types suggested by Juan, one of my mates made a definitive “no comment”, so I suspect they do exist, and that just like those commissions paid to Strata Managers by Insurance Companies they’d be noted on the Disclosure Schedule of Strata Management Agency Agreements; yes?
This is becoming quite confusing (to me at least).
With regard to the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act (1996):
Cl 236 relates to legal “proceedings” and the service of documents in those circumstances, not otherwise such as for Meetings.
Schedule 2 merely requires that Notices of Meetings be “served”
Cl 43 states that “a by-law has no force or effect to the extent that it is inconsistent with this or any other Act or law”.
So in response to den19dy …..
1) A By-Law is not necessary to permit the electronic serving of Notices of General Meetings and for Levy Contributions, but individual Proprietors need to supply an e-mail address for that purpose. No e-mail address, and these Notices have to be sent as hard-copies personally, or by post, or by courier etc.
2) Notices of Proceedings need to be served in accordance with the Act, and no By-Law can override those Provisions.
Now that’s clearer (to me at least).
Our O/C placed a Motion regarding the Electronic Service of Notices on an AGM Agenda a few years ago, and included a Form to permit Proprietors to opt-in. The Motion was agreed to, and the Resolution worded to permit the electronic serving of General Correspondence, Meeting Agendas, Minutes, Levy Contributions, Payment Reminders, and “any other documents deemed appropriate from time-to-time by the E/C” to all Proprietors who supplied an e-mail address for that purpose.
I think its about 3 years down the track as of now, and I currently send only ≈30% of Notices by snail-mail, and receive ≈10% of Levy Payments by that means (as cheques).
Funds need to be held in a “financial institution” in the name of the Owners Corporation, however where the Plan is managed by a Strata Manager those funds must be held in trust with one of the institutions approved from time-to-time by the Office of Fair Trading (in NSW).
Most Strata Managers seem have those trust accounts with Macquarie; never understood why given the extent of the approved institutions available (?).
Interest is taxable, and is credited separately to the Administrative and Sinking Funds in accordance with the balance of funds held in each.
The NSW Strata Schemes Management Act (1996) requires that all financial records / statements must be tabled at each AGM, and at other times the Executive Committee can require the Strata Manager to make those records available to it with seven (7) days written notice. Depending upon the detail of the Agency Agreement that your Plan has with its Strata Manager, they may be able to charge the O/C for making those records available.
gusmich, I think your questions have been answered:
1) The Report is not compulsory for Strata Plans that are entirely residential (i.e. no mixed use, such as with commercial Lots on the lower floor/s)
2) Your Strata Manager cannot commission the Report without the O/C’s consent unless that’s covered by any delegations given in the Strata Management Agency Agreement (look for general delegations that may apply).
Whether you want a Report to voluntarily identify asbestos materials in the construction of your Plan is the real issue. As you’ve indicated, your O/C and many others would already know what the Report may identify ($$), and frankly that level of knowledge and a degree of common sense with regard to future maintenance is often sufficient.