The owners corporation, or as most may know it by the name of a body corporate, mean the same thing. It is a term used to refer to the group of owners that collectively own the land on which their unit, apartment, or townhouse is situated. Since there is more than one property situated on a single piece of land (because it has been subdivided), each and every owner owns a portion of the land. All lot owners in a strata scheme are automatically part of the corporation. The owner’s corporation is usually responsible for the maintenance and repair of all common property.

The owners are responsible for managing the common property, insuring the strata scheme, and ensuring applicable laws and regulations are followed by all residents and tenants living in this development. The owners corporation, bound by laws and regulations, manages and maintains the common areas. It’s up to the owners corporation whether they want to hire a professional strata management service such as Bay Strata to manage the building or property on the owner’s behalf, or otherwise whether someone on the executive committee volunteers or is elected by other members to do the work.

The owners corporation is made up of all the owners in the strata scheme. Each lot owner is automatically part of the owners corporation and has a right to participate in the decision making. The owners corporation comes into existence immediately after a strata plan is registered. At first it may only be made up of the developer, but as each person buys into the scheme, the owners corporation gains more members.

The owners corporation has responsibility for the overall management of the scheme which includes:

• financial management
• keeping all necessary insurance covers up to date
• record keeping
• the repair and maintenance of common property
• by-laws
• employment of a strata managing agent and/or building manager

The owners corporation can only make decisions at properly convened meetings. The annual general meeting (AGM) is held once a year.

Once every year the owners corporation must hold a general meeting, referred to as the annual general meeting. They can also hold additional general meetings (known as extraordinary general meetings) as necessary throughout the year. The purpose of these meetings is to decide and resolve the issues that matter which has been put on the agenda to be resolved. Matters not on the agenda may be discussed also, but would need to be put on the agenda and discussed at the next meeting.

The owners corporation also has an elected strata committee able to make certain decisions on its behalf. The strata committee is in place to enable quicker decision-making on many of the day-to-day decisions.

The strata committee members are obligated under the law to act with due care and diligence and must adhere to strict disclosure requirements.

The executive committee of the owners corporation is a group which represents owners or owners’ nominees. It administers the day-to-day running of the strata scheme and is elected at each annual general meeting. The executive committee would usually meet more often than the owners corporation, as there would normally be a number of issues to deal with during the year. The committee is comprised of the elected representatives of the owners and is made up of the following members:

1. Chairperson
2. Secretary
3. Treasurer

The owners corporation can engage a strata managing agent such as Bay Strata to work on behalf of all owners to help manage the scheme. The owners corporation enters into an agreement with the agent, which outlines their duties and responsibilities. The owners corporation has the power to instruct the agent to do certain works and if necessary, they can overrule the agent.

Bay Strata comprises of a high motivated and dedicated team who specialise in all aspects of strata management. We help all our clients better manage their property possession or investment property by providing a systematic and central point of contact for all their administrative dealings, compliance requirements, financial management and property maintenance for their strata titled complex.

If you have any questions or require any help regarding your current strata management or if you are planning to buy into a new strata scheme and need help understanding the in’s and out’s, we are here to take your call and help you in every way we can. Please call our office on (02) 9599 6555 and get professional advice from a team with 30 years experience in strata management.