This month, we helped a body corporate that came unstuck with GST after they took on the responsibility for charging lot owners for water usage. The body corporate was registered for GST. The reason for taking on the responsibility was so that a fairer allocation of the charges could be made to lot owners based on sub […]
We helped a Body Corporate this month that had got a bit confused. They were in the habit of holding a Committee and owners meeting. At the meeting, there were lot owners present who were not on the Committee. Their meetings were informal, and at past meetings there had been general consensus from all attending in relation to […]
There has been a lot of chatter about the recent District Court of Queensland decision (BC for Mount Saint John Industrial Park CTS v Superior Stairs & Joinery Pty Ltd [2017] QDC 245). There is a clause (S145) in the Body Corporate standard module regulations that states – If the amount of a contribution or contribution […]
This month we took on a new do-it-yourself client who had been using a Body Corporate Manager. Their principal reason for moving away from the Body Corporate Manager was the significant exit fee stated in their proposed new contract. The Committee would have happily signed the new contract provided the exit fee clause was struck out. The Body […]
The rental agency of a lot in a Building Format scheme that we manage came to us requesting that we provision a key for the unit that they are managing as the tenant needed an additional key. BCCM adjudications have been clear (http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/qld/QBCCMCmr/2000/71.html) that the body corporate is liable for the maintenance of locks and the […]
We attended a seminar the other day where there was an in-depth discussion about survey plans and the way Body Corporate schemes come to be created. We came away with an understanding of why we often come across schemes with only two lots where it would been much simpler for the lot owners if the […]
We uncovered a tangled web this month. A scheme of townhouses had been developed over an extended period of time. The scheme has a private road and for all intensive purposes all the townhouses seemed similar with no lot fencing but with landscaped grounds surrounding each building on the scheme land. The scheme was not a layered scheme. […]
Good news! Remember our post from a while back that looked at the indemnify clauses that some Body Corporate Managers insert in their contracts. These clauses are akin to a get out of jail free card for the professional advice that a Body Corporate Manager exercises when administering your scheme. Well, the Federal government has been listening. Since […]
In April, we helped a scheme of townhouses where the lots were defined by Standard format (pegs in the ground) and not Building Format. Four of the seven townhouses required major structural repairs that were all related due to a structural steel frame that extended across all four lots that formed a garage for each lot. The […]
Cost conscious Committees may sometimes believe an insurance valuation is unnecessary or they believe their insurer is providing this valuation. The requirement under the Act states an independent insurance valuation must be undertaken once every five years. Insurance companies and insurance brokers could be considered independent, but these organisations do not furnish a Body Corporate […]