This Media Release about professional standards for Strata Managers has been provided by Strata Community Association.
Fields such as medicine, teaching and the law are well known for their professional standards. They are taken for granted. But as newer professions such as strata management and supply emerge, new pathways for accreditation, education and recognition need to be forged.
Strata Community Association is committed to raising the profile and standards of the strata sector. That improvement will have a direct impact on the lives and livelihoods of so many within a sector where one in five Australians live in a strata-titled complex, that manages billions of dollars in sinking fund balances and where there is more than $1.1 trillion of strata-titled property within Australia.
Accreditation for managers and suppliers
In order for a profession to grow and evolve, standards need to be established, maintained and improved. SCA accreditation programs set the standards that ensure professionalism across the strata industry, Australia-wide, highlighting your trusted advisor.
Association members keep up-to-date on strata issues by attending mandatory and elective educational programs, by achieving ag minimum number of continuing professional development (CPD) points per annum and receive an annual renewal accreditation certificate.
The program enables SCA members to gain professional recognition with experience and tenure which can enhance their business and help build a long-term career.
Overall, accreditation works to raise strata industry standards across the board.
Specifically, SCA accreditation helps ensure SCA members:
- Are aware of relevant and current legislation
- Follow the specific requirements of legislation
- Adhere to best practice
- Adopt current procedures
- Commit to clerical excellence, and
- Continually enhance their skills in management and chairmanship
Certification of Strata Management Firms
SCA has developed a Strata Management Practice Standard (SMPS), which is offered to members as a chance to further their professional standing in the industry. The standard provides a framework for a business to improve its performance by specifying steps it can implement to achieve its goals and objectives.
The business can create a culture that engages in a continuous cycle of self-evaluation, correction and improvement of operations and processes through heightened employee awareness and management leadership and commitment.
Benefits include:
- Improved risk management and protection of people and the business environment
- Increased capability to deliver consistent and improved services, thereby increasing value to customers and stakeholders
- More efficient use of resources and improved financial management of strata community
accounts.
The business is audited on application and every two years. They must have at least one Level 2 accredited SCA Strata Community Manager (CSCM) to apply and once the business is certified, they have two years to ensure half of their managers are Level 1 accredited (ASCM).
SCA implemented this program to provide owners with a greater degree of trust and confidence that their Strata Community Manager and their business is adhering to a set of audited guidelines and procedures.
Ask to see your Strata Community Manager or supplier’s accreditation certificate with SCA and ask them if their business is working towards certification.
Learn more about accreditation for strata managers on the SCA website: Professional Accreditation with the Strata Community Association
This post appears in Strata News #529.
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Interesting requirement: SCA accreditation helps ensure SCA members: Continually enhance their skills in management and chairmanship.
One of the major problems we had until the updated Strata Titles Act in WA (1 May 2020) was our strata manager chaired all our meetings and ran the building to the huge advantage of the builder, not the owners.
We have since rectified that situation but it took a lot of willpower from the COO.
My take on it is teaching the strata manager how to help the COO chairperson with the meetings, not how to chair the meeting.