› Flat Chat Strata Forum › Is it really easy being green? › Will being green leave us all in the red? › Current Page
If as I interpreted from your earlier posts the Chairman and/or the Strata Manager is acting as an ”agent” for someone else, then the Chairman should declare to the Owners Corporation the nature and the amount of any resultant commission, and the Strata Manager is legally required to do that under the NSW Property, Stock, and Business Agents Act (2002).
That’s why I suggested that if my interpretation is correct and the Chairman is not the prime contractor, then the O/C should make sure that it’s aware of who is, because not only should that person or persons be properly licensed (e.g. Level 2 Certified Electrician) and accredited by the Clean Energy Council, they should be authorised installers for whoever it is that manufactures the panels and the inverter so that the warranty for those components is not compromised.
If by some chance the Chairman is himself doing the work, then he like any other business person would not be required to show the margins applicable to his quotation, but as he’s part of the Executive Committee he should abstain from voting on the proposal, and he shouldn’t have access to the detail of those other quotations that I suggested the O/C obtains before making an informed decision one way or the other.
And finally, if the Chairman and the Strata Manager are just environmentally aware or otherwise committed to what they’re proposing, then your O/C should still in my opinion have some competitive quotations to consider, and of course based on the same specifications. As I said before, in the absence of those quotations the O/C should defer any decision at the AGM, which by the way would need to be a Special Resolution (≥75% of those present personally and by proxy to be in favour by poll vote) if and when a decision is made.
As for the “advertising-like letters” that are being sent out by the Strata Manager, if they’ve been authorised by the Executive Committee as a whole as opposed to just the Chairman, AND the Strata Manager’s at a long arms-length away from the subject matter, then they could scrape through as a disbursement paid by the Owners Corporation. Otherwise they’re clearly advertising, and whoever does pay it shouldn’t be the O/C.
I’m sure we’d all like to hear about what eventuates.