Dear PJ, You say: “The build is a fairly significant one for which owners have had to pay hefty extra levies so the potential for owner enquires / input is high. Is it the norm for a Strata manager to be the one to negotiate with builders and prepare contracts? I was informed it was the Strata managers job but I would have thought that was an owners or OC responsibility.”
In order to negotiate a building contract that protects the OC, a good knowledge of building law is needed especially for “significant” and/or expensive works. Therefore it is strongly recommended that your OC engages a solicitor experienced in building law to negotiate the building contract, check that all necessary insurances are in place (and there are several kinds needed), check builders’ and sub-contractors licences, and many other legal aspects. The solicitor will be more qualified to answer owners’ queries. The OC will, of course, need to hold a meeting and resolve to engage a solicitor. The only thing the SM would then need to do is send the solicitor a letter enclosing a copy of the minutes showing that the resolution was passed and the SM could charge for that. Your OC will, if course, pay legal fees but for “significant” and presumably expensive building works it’s worth every penny. My OC corporation and a friend’s OC both did this and were saved as the solicitors made sure the contract contained all terms and conditions to protect their rights.