First of all, the SCA standard contract is basically fair and reasonable but there may be terms (like ‘fair and reasonable’) that are a little too loose for some tastes – especially those who have had their fingers burned in the past.
I believe the Owners Corporation Network (OCN.org.au) has been wrestling for some years over the standard strata manager’s contract. And for as long as I can remember, the SCA has been using the copyright argument to prevent anyone from altering the contract.
Personally, I think the copyright argument is self-serving BS and the SCA really needs to get over itself. If your customers want something that isn’t in their interests and it doesn’t bother the strata manager, why not put a line through the offending clause and be done with it?
To get back to the OCN, I believe members can get access to their strata manager contract, so give them a hoi!
And it’s worth getting this right. Despite all the complaints about strata managers that we get and some serious issues of mismanagement and even corruption that have been reported to Fair Trading, the number of Strata Management licenses revoked (for misdeeds as a strata manager) is ZERO.
In short, Fair Trading will not look after you if you get a rogue strata manager – the kind that do the one-week course then start charging like wounded bulls. So you need a watertight contract.