You may wonder what a strata committee does in a body corporate. This Q&A about whether a subcommittee of the body corporate committee can make decisions in QLD has been answered by Hayley Gath, Mathews Hunt Legal.
Question: The committee has created a subcommittee to make decisions about a refurbishment program for our building. Does the subcommittee have the power to make decisions?
Our committee has recently established a subcommittee to oversee and manage the decision making process for an upcoming refurbishment program intended for our building. What does a subcommittee do? What authority does the subcommittee have to make decisions related to the refurbishment? How does the subcommittee collaborate with the committee and the body corporate when reporting its decisions and are there any potential checks and balances in place?
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Answer: The Body Corporate cannot delegate its decision making powers to a subcommittee.
There is no legislative basis for a subcommittee.
Often subcommittees are used to compile information for a committee’s consideration. A common subcommittee is an architectural review committee.
The Body Corporate cannot delegate its decision making powers to a subcommittee. Therefore, a subcommittee cannot and should not make decisions about the refurbishment program, especially because their actions are not covered by the legislative protections given to committee members.
Additionally, if a refurbishment program is over the major spending limit there needs to be compliance with the legislation regarding quotations and general meeting approval will be required.
If you have a question or something to add to the article, please leave a comment below.
This post appears in Strata News #294.
Read More:
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Hayley Gath
E: hayley.gath@mathewshuntlegal.com.au
W: Mathews Hunt Legal
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Great Q&A,
Does this also apply to Western Australia,
Hi Joseph
Thanks for your question. We have received this response from Emily Stockden, Stockden Strata Management:
A Strata Company is operated by the Council of Owners in accordance with the conditions specified in the ACT, the by-laws in force for the strata complex and any restrictions or directions that are imposed on it given at a general meeting.
Section 91 of the Act states:
(1) A strata company must —
(b) control and manage the common property for the benefit of all the owners of lots; and
(c) keep in good and serviceable repair, properly maintain and, if necessary, renew and replace —
(i) the common property, including the fittings, fixtures and lifts used in connection with the common property; and
(ii) any personal property owned by the strata company, and to do so whether damage or deterioration arises from fair wear and tear, inherent defect or any other cause.
If the strata company have approved a large-scale project such as the refurbishment of a building, there can be a lot of information to collate for example budgets, reports etc from various key stakeholders.
A strata company can form a subcommittee, however, the Subcommittee would need to have at least one member of the management on it to present the findings back to the Council of Owners.