You can incorporate certain things into the by-laws, but bear in mind that nothing in the by-laws can override what is the Act, so if approval by the owners at a general meeting is what is required by the Act, then that is what should be done.
In relation to timing of general meetings, while an owner may be unlucky and miss the cycle, it is the owner who wants something, if they want to expedite approval of proposed works then it is not unreasonable to ask them to bear the costs – as previously noted why should the other owners pay for it? It is extremely unlikely that the costs of an EGM are going to exceed costs of a renovation.
Where someone is purchasing a property and plans to do works prior to moving in, they can’t seek approval of those works until they are the registered owner. If the OC has clear rules and guidance regarding approval of works these would be available for any prospective purchasers and provide clarity – our by-laws include by-laws dealing with what is required where someone wants to do renovations, these can be obtained in a strata search.