FAQ's
Q: What is a strata manager?
A: A strata manager in Victoria is the same as a body corporate manager in other states. Both terms refer to the company and not the individual.
Q: What is a body corporate manager?
A: The term ‘body corporate’ was replaced in Victoria by the term ‘owners corporation’ on the 31st December 2007 following changes to legislation, specifically the introduction of the Owners Corporation Act 2006. Since then, it has been technically incorrect to refer to a manager, or rather the company that manages residential buildings in Victoria, as ‘body corporate’ managers. However, that does not stop people using the term and for management companies to recognise this. People like to stick to what they know, or to terms that are familiar to them.
In summary, body corporate managers and strata managers are the same thing, with both playing the same role and offering the same services. For this reason, both terms are included in our FAQ’s.
Q: What is an Owners Corporation?
A: An owners corporation, or OC, is defined in the Owners Corporations Act 2006 as a reference to “a body corporate which is incorporated by registration of a plan of subdivision or a plan of strata or cluster strata“. Importantly, an Owners Corporation is a legally recognised entity. This means that an Owners Corporation is able to sue and be sued.
The term ‘owners corporation’ is also a direct reference to the owners, the people who have bought strata property. It does not refer to the managers or management company that have been engaged by the owners!
Q: Why should I use Quote Checkers? Don’t strata managers/ body corporate managers handle repairs and maintenance matters for Owners Corporations/ Bodies Corporate?
A: The Owners Corporations Act 2006 identifies six main duties or functions of owners corporations. Only one of these duties or functions refer to repairs and maintenance. Importantly, these functions are required to be performed by the Owners Corporation – not the managers of the Owners Corporation. This is because owners corporations (a legal entity in its own right, able to sue and be sued), are not legally required to have an owners corporation manager unless there is no committee of owners (aka owners corporation committee or OC Committee). See more on whether or not we think engaging a strata manager or body corporate Manager below (we do!).
Part 6, Section 119 of the OC Act 2006 permits an owners corporation to engage a person to be the manager of their owners corporation and outlines the conditions of this appointment and the duties and functions of this manager. While the duties of a manager are quite specific (a manager must act honestly and in good faith, exercise care and diligence, hold all moneys and account properly… etc), the specific functions of a strata manager/body corporate manager are not clearly stated, referring instead to other parts of the Act.
In reality, managers, (when engaged), do play a significant role in the management of repairs and maintenance matters. However, this is often not a priority for them and they are usually very busy with the demands of other OC management matters. In addition, (in our experience), strata managers/ body corporate managers are not well set-up to handle or assess either building maintenance matters, (specifically non-urgent regular maintenance), or complex building repairs, and usually leave the assessment of all building matters to either builders or tradies.
This approach works reasonably well when the issue is simple and there is only one trade involved, e.g broken toilet, faulty door station or intercom not working, painting work or tile repairs required, etc.. provided the ‘fault’ is clearly (and correctly!) identified and the right trades person is sent out….
This approach does not work well when:
- the building repair or building maintenance matter involves more complicated, or multi-layered, building work
- the building fault covers more than one trade
- the work required and/or the cause of the fault is not clear.
The current estimated costs of repairing and maintaining a building over its lifetime, are reported by some to exceed the cost of the construction of a building by over 400%. We believe that this is largely because of issues in the management of repairs and maintenance matters.
How Quote Checkers are different:
The Quote Checkers approach is very differently to the approach followed by most strata/body corporate managers.
Quote Checkers have developed a tailored method that results in well-considered, well-managed building repairs, and properly planned, and understood, building maintenance.
The Quote Checkers approach helps to ensure that the details of the work required are identified and that the diagnosis of the issue is correct the first time.
While initial set-up costs of our method on your building may be high, (this depends on a number of factors including existing set-up, the size of your owners corporation, the type of owners corporation (residential, commercial, industrial), number of lots, complexity of the structure etc), we believe that our full tailored approach, if adopted*, will quickly show a return on your investment.
Likely returns resulting from a full, structured set-up may include reduced insurance premiums, higher value real-estate, lower annual costs, as well as peace of mind, knowing that your building repair and maintenance matters are well ‘in hand’ and are not spiraling out of control.
In our first six months of business, we saved three owners corporations many thousands of dollars. In addition, we have saved a lot of people, including managers, builders and tradies, a lot of time, while still providing all with plenty of work.
(*Full set-up is strongly recommended by Quote Checkers as it is the best way to realize the full benefits of our approach but is not essential to the carrying out of our preliminary investigative services)
Q: Does our Owners Corporation need a body corporate manager/ strata manager?
A: Legally, Owners Corporations are not required to have a strata manager/ body corporations manager unless there is no committee of owners (aka owners corporation committee or OC Com.) That said, we believe that the growing complexity of buildings (Think IoT – Internet of Things), construction methods and materials, coupled with the growing size of many owners corporations, make having a strata manager a very good idea.
Q: What legislation governs Owners Corporations/ Body Corporates in Victoria?
A: Current legislation governing Owners Corporations/ Body Corporates in Victoria include the Owners Corporations Act 2006 , (updated in December 2020, enacted Feb 2021) the Owners Corporation Regulations 2018 and the Water Act 1989.
The Owners Corporations Act 2006 (including 2021 amendments and commonly referred to as the OC Act 2006) is the ‘main’ act, or legislative basis for the regulation of Owners Corporations in Victoria.
The OC Act 2006 (2021) advises on the powers and functions of owners corporations and their managers and committees of management.
The Owners Corporation Regulations 2018 prescribes information requirements for maintenance plans; the classes (number of lots) of owners required to have a maintenance plan; OC insurance requirements; fees, costs and charges payable under the OC Act 2006 (2021); model rules for owners corporations, and any other matter defined or required under Section 204 of the Owners Corporations Act 2006.
The Water Act 1989 sounds like an unlikely ally of the above legislation, but it is particularly important in determining fault relating to water damage, whether the water damage is to common property or to private property.
Section 16 of the Water Act 1989 specifically covers the “flow of water from the land of one person to the land of another person” and notes in conclusion that ” the person who caused the flow is liable to pay damages to that other person in respect to that injury, damage or loss.”
Of course, law is never straight forward. If you have any issues on your property that relate to damage by water, speak to your strata manager or give us a call to discuss. The best course of action is to look to correct the fault as soon as possible and prevent any further damage or destructive deterioration.
(more Q+A on its way soon!)