Good day Stu,
A few points come to mind when reading of your woes:
1. When considering breaches by the strata manager or the committee, look carefully at the SSM Act as well as the Property & Stock Agents Act (the “P&SA Act, which governs strata managers’ conduct). It is possible to file complaints under both Acts at the same time with NSW Fair Trading: one seeking compulsory strata administration and the other against the strata manager;
2. I could see nothing in your post that was in bold;
3. In every strata scheme I have been involved with, irrespective of the powers the strata manager is delegated by the OC or powers the strata manager wants to seize, those specific powers were always listed and quoted from the SSM Act’s relevant sections and those sections were an integral part of the motion. The sections most often quoted in my experience are 49 and 52, but sometimes other sections were included in the motion. Below I list the key sections of the SSM Act. Note you must look separately for what is expected of the strata manager by the P&SA Act.
SSM Act
Part 4 Strata managing agents and building managers
Division 1 Appointment of strata managing agents
49 Appointment of strata managing agents
50 Term of appointment of strata managing agents
51 Transfer of functions of strata managing agent
Division 2 Functions of strata managing agent
52 Owners corporation may delegate functions to strata managing agent
53 Exercise of delegated functions by strata managing agent
54 Functions of officers and strata committee may be given to strata managing agent
55 Strata managing agent to record exercise of functions
56 Exercise of functions of strata managing agent appointed by Tribunal
57 Breaches by strata managing agent
4. Often a committee may lose members, such as office bearers and those remaining may want to lean more on the strata manager, so that would prompt him with or without the aid of those remaining on the committee, to formalise his more expanded role. You did not state if those remaining on the committee are the office bearers. If say, you have no office bearers, then the strata manager – as a result of what those resigning or selling out may have said to him or by his assessment alone that there is no active committee driving the scheme – has taken charge.
Note, at all times, even with delegated power to the strata manager, the OC has ultimate control.