The Committee comprises a minimum of three and a maximum of 7 members including a Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer. These executive positions and any ordinary member positions are filled at each Annual General Meeting. Those entitled to be elected on the Committee are an individual owner, a member of a lot owner’s family, a person acting under Power of Attorney of a Lot owner, a company nominee or a representative of a subsidiary scheme.

The Committee are empowered to make all the decisions outside general meetings concerning what monies are spent and for what purpose. Limits for individual expenditure items of $200 per Lot are in place, providing the Body Corporate has sufficient funds in the account to cover such expenditure. It is recommended that the Committee liaise closely with the Strata Manager in this regard.

It is imperative that a full committee is elected at every annual general meeting. A Body Corporate will inevitably have more disharmony and problems if there is no effective Committee and problems tend to take much longer to resolve. It is recommended that as many owners as possible become proactive members of the Committee to assist with running an informed and harmonious Body Corporate. A good working Committee consists of:

• A Committee that knows its functions and powers
• Owners who know who the Committee Members are
• Committee members strive to get along with each other
• Periodic Committee Meetings are held
• Committee stays in frequent contact with the Strata Manager

All maintenance issues should be brought to the attention of the Committee and preferably the Chairperson. It should be noted that the Strata Manager is not responsible for the spending, budget control and building maintenance. The Strata Manager is not an owner and as such has no authority to spend any of the Body Corporate’s money without approval. In practice however, the Strata Manager may pay recurring accounts such as communal electricity or common property gardening without reference to the Committee. The Committee will always be informed and will authorise any extraordinary maintenance expenditure.

The Committee, or an owner who has volunteered, should arrange quotes for planned works, and this will usually involve arranging a time to meet tradesmen on-site to inspect the problem.

The Strata Manager may provide assistance to the Committee by way of providing details of tradesmen to contact or advising whether an incident could be a possible insurance claim. Strata Managers are however not responsible for phoning tradesmen to arrange quotes or supervising works at any time – this is a Committee function.

Upon receipt of the quotations the Strata Manager will give advice as to what procedure needs to take place in order to gain approval to have the works carried out, i.e. calling an Extraordinary General Meeting or holding a Committee Meeting. The Strata Manager will also at this time provide advice as to how monies are to be raised to cover the cost of the work.

When the expenditure issues have been resolved the Committee is free to arrange with the selected contractor to have the works carried out. When the work is completed to the Committee’s satisfaction, they will sign the invoice and pass it on to the Strata Manager for payment.

The Body Corporate and Community Management Act (1997) requires that an administrative fund budget and a sinking fund budget must be adopted by the Body Corporate at each Annual General Meeting.

The administrative fund budget is prepared based on the day to day expenses of the Body Corporate. The sinking fund budget is based on the projected major capital expenditure for the current financial year, plus anticipated expenditure of a capital or non-recurrent nature for a least the next 9 years (10 years in total).

A Lot owner is not entitled to vote on ordinary resolutions and special resolutions if the Lot owner’s levies are in arrears. However, for resolutions without dissent, a lot owner may vote at a general meeting.

A Community Management Statement (CMS) contains the by-laws and plans for the Body Corporate. All owners and occupants are bound by these by-laws and are required to adhere to them at all times.  Following a letter of complaint to the Strata Manager, the Committee may require a notice called a contravention notices to be served on an offender. In cases where the notice is ignored, a Body Corporate, with the authority of a resolution in general meeting, may enforce the notice in a Magistrates Court.

The Body Corporate and Community Management Act (1997), together with the associated Regulations Modules (Standard Module, Accommodation Module, Commercial Module or Small Schemes Module) is the legislation governing how every aspect of a Body Corporate is to function.

Yes. Anyone can purchase the Act and associated Regulations from the State Government Printer – GoPrint. Alternatively, this legislation can be viewed at:

http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/CURRENT/B/BodyCorpA97.pdf