QLD: Q&A Is the Form 33 preparation fee a body corporate expense or a buyer cost?

This article is about whether the Form 33 preparation fee is a body corporate expense or a buyer cost in Queensland.

Question: Does the body corporate pay the strata manager’s preparation fee for the new seller’s disclosure Form 33?

The new seller’s disclosure form came into effect on 1 August 2025. The seller pays $84 for the search certificate, but who pays the $200-$250 fee from the strata manager for processing the Form 33?

Our strata manager wants to charge the preparation fee to the body corporate. I believe this is a commercial transaction that the seller should pay for. The strata manager says the BCCM Act requires the body corporate to pay the fee from the administrative fund. Is this correct?

Answer: If the body corporate manager is engaged by the body corporate to prepare the certificate, then they are entitled to charge the body corporate in doing so.

The transaction is not simply a commercial transaction. The body corporate has a statutory obligation to provide the certificate and is only entitled to charge the $84 fee.

The body corporate can either provide the certificate itself or engage the body corporate manager (or a third party) to do so. If the body corporate manager is engaged by the body corporate to prepare the certificate, then they are entitled to charge the body corporate for doing so. This is where the additional cost comes from (which is typically subsidised by the $84 fee the body corporate could otherwise retain).

Todd Garsden
Mahoneys
E: tgarsden@mahoneys.com.au
P: 07 3007 3753

This post appears in Strata News #756.

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