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I’m in a block of 12, an owner, with an Exec Committee of 4. The chairman is a control freak and often goes out on his own to instruct the BC management without reference to the rest of the committee. Sometimes he is pulled up, or if a simple thing let go. .
This time he has given them an instruction re the public laundry and they have acted on it, even though I expressed my difference of opinion by email and requested a committee meeting..
My issue is –
I thought the Management only took instruction from the committee as a whole
Surely one owner can’t instruct the Management without committee input
I don’t believe the chairman has powers over the other owners or committee but is there to speak on OUR behalf
I believe our managers are at fault for having gone along with this but just wanted to get some feedback first. Thanks
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Managers like to have one person to deal with so they don’t get conflicting messages. This is practical and fair enough. They don’t want to follow an internal debate about what to do; they just want to know what the conclusion is. A good way to manage this is that one person on the EC is delegated to have the communication function. A good way for that person to ensure transparency is to CC the rest of the EC into such correspondence or to forward correspondence promptly. This gives opportunity for other EC members to say ‘Hang on. That’s not what I thought we agreed.’
@Miranda said:I thought the Management only took instruction from the committee as a whole
They really should, but they in fact don’t have to.
At each AGM, the powers of the OC (except for matters requiring special or unanimous resolutions) are usually invested in both the manager and the committee.
Many managers, if the manager thinks the issue is straight forward or fairly minor or appears to have majority committee agreement, will go ahead after a reasonable request from a committee chair. Technically they don’t need a committee decision as they have the authority to act themselves. But good managers should be satisfied that there is majority committee agreement after all committee members were consulted. Email evidence of that majority is enough for many managers in Victoria.
Why not tell the manager that your committee is sometimes not fully consulted or given a chance to vote if that’s the case? The manager should then in future pay more attention to the consultation and voting process.
I think you’ll find that the Strata Manager ‘assists’ the committee as a whole, as does the Building Manager and both must follow instructions put in writing from Executive Committee or General Meeting Minutes.
If the Strata, Building Manager or an Executive Committee act independently without written authority from either the Owners Corporation or Executive Committee as a whole… they may be held personally liable for theirs actions may be deemed in Ultra Vires by NCAT or a Court of Law.
I get that an EC member can be nominated as a point of contact, but they must follow instructions by the Executive Committee as a whole and Act only as a single point of ‘communication’ for those decisions.
Although managers might ‘like’ a single person to deal with, they act on behalf of the Owners Corporation and are paid by all Owners through levies. They must act in the interests of ‘all owners’ and if they don’t, sack them for breaching their contract as they will only cost owners in the long run when someone decides to sue the scheme.
Hate to sound pedantic, but this should be common sense… A Chairperson is not elected as Hilter (their own personal scheme) and should never act like it!
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