› Flat Chat Strata Forum › The Professionals › SCs and strata managers › How much work is involved in a self managed strata plan? › Current Page
With the utmost respect to my fellow posters, that’s an extremely simplistic view of what’s necessary to properly self-manage; something that I’ve been doing for our Owners Corporation since 2006.
The following are but a few of the self-manager’s other duties:
- Ensuring that all contractors are properly licensed, and have the correct insurance coverage.
- Obtaining competitive quotations to regularly “test” the marketplace.
- Issuing detailed Work Orders for all contracted activities including Term Orders for emergency/ after hours activities.
- Inspecting completed works.
- Paying all Invoices on time in order to maintain good contractor relationships (good ones are hard to find).
- Liaising with Owners and their Property Managers regarding the proper responsibility for repairs to Units (they think that the O/C’s responsible for simply every item of maintenance or repair).
- Attending promptly to all Common Property maintenance issues.
- Mediating disputes and other “harmony” issues involving Residents.
- Liaising with Owners who seek consent to renovations (and with those who don’t).
- Ensuring Residents’ compliance with the Plan’s By-Laws and Special by-Laws.
- Attending the CTTT on behalf of the O/C (an enlightening experience)
- Preparing Agendas & Minutes for Executive Committee and General Meetings.
- Preparing Financial Statements properly reconciled against the Plan’s Chart of Accounts (which also have to be setup in sufficient detail).
- Ensuring legislative compliance with revised requirements including: Environmental Planning & Assessment Regulation (Fire Safety), AS1288/2006 – Glass Safety Audit, Workplace Health & Safety Act (2011) for the Safety Audit, Pesticides Act (2009) for Common Property Inspections & Treatments, Strata Schemes Management Act (1996) & Regulation (2010) and proposed Revisions, plus quite a few more; and….
- Maintaining the relevant records and processes of the Plan, which in 2012/13 for our 27 Lot Plan was summarised as:
E-Mail correspondence sent / received | 212 |
Invoices Received | 159 |
Invoices Paid on-time | 159 |
Invoices Issued (e.g. Levy Contribution Invoices) | 114 |
Quotations Received | 13 |
Work Orders Issued | 19 |
Hardcopy Correspondence Received | 5 |
Correspondence Sent (e.g. Debt Recovery) | 61 |
Telephone Calls Received | 35 |
Telephone Calls Made | 92 |
Facsimiles Sent / Received | 14 |
So Dudley…. would I do it all again?
Absolutely, – as apart from the money saved which we estimated as $15-$20K/a (or ≈30% of our total self-managed budget) when strata management fees, disbursements (Sch B), and the costs of “smarter” repairs are all considered, no Strata Manager could possibly manage a Plan as well as a committed and properly supported Owner or Executive Committee who after all, only has the one property to look after!
The set-up process would have been a whole lot easier for me if there were tools available such as the one you can now find HERE.
Good luck, and don’t be dissuaded from giving it a go by the information that I’ve provided; use it to your Owners Corporation’s advantage!