Do We Need a Body Corporate Manager? And 7 Mistakes to Avoid If You Self-Manage

Key Takeaways:

• In Victoria, you do not legally need to appoint a professional body corporate manager.
• The legal term is owners corporation, although many owners still say body corporate.
• Self-management can work for smaller properties, but the owners still need to manage insurance, levies, records, maintenance, meetings, and certificates properly.
• If one owner is doing everything, records are falling behind, or insurance and repairs are being guessed, it may be time to consider professional management.

Managing a small body corporate often starts with good intentions. Everyone wants to keep costs down, share the admin, and avoid paying for support they think they do not need.

But self-management can become harder once insurance, levies, repairs, records, certificates, and owner disagreements start landing on the same one or two people.

In Victoria, you do not legally need to appoint a professional body corporate manager. The real question is whether your owners corporation can stay compliant, organised, and protected without one.

Do you legally need a body corporate manager in Victoria?

No. A Victorian owners corporation does not have to appoint a professional manager.

Owners can manage the owners corporation themselves, especially in smaller buildings where the common property is simple and the owners communicate well.

However, self-managed does not mean informal. The owners corporation still has legal duties under the Owners Corporations Act 2006. These include managing common property, arranging required insurance, keeping records, collecting fees, maintaining financial accounts, and providing an owners corporation certificate when requested.

If the owners choose not to appoint a manager, those responsibilities still sit with the owners corporation.

Why do some owners corporations choose to self-manage?

Most self-managed properties are smaller buildings, often two to five lots, where owners want to keep costs down and avoid paying management fees.

Self-management can work when:

• the property has limited common property
• owners communicate well
• there are no major disputes
• insurance and maintenance are simple
• someone is organised enough to keep records properly

The challenge is that many buildings start this way, then become harder to manage as owners change, maintenance costs rise, or one person ends up carrying most of the work.

What still needs to be managed without a professional manager?

Even without a professional manager, the owners corporation still needs to stay organised.

At a minimum, owners usually need to manage:

• owners corporation insurance
• annual budgets and levies
• financial records and accounts
• owners corporation records and register details
• maintenance of common property
• decisions and meeting minutes
• owners corporation certificates when a lot is sold
• communication between owners

For a small building, these tasks may not take much time when everything is running smoothly. The problem is that they become more serious when there is an insurance claim, unpaid levies, a building issue, a sale, or disagreement between owners.

7 mistakes to avoid if your body corporate is self-managed

1. Treating self-management as an informal arrangement

A common mistake is assuming that a small owners corporation can operate casually because there are only a few owners.

That can create problems later. Decisions should still be recorded, money should be tracked, and documents should be kept in a way that future owners can understand.

A handshake arrangement may feel easy now, but it can become difficult when someone sells, refuses to pay, or disputes a past decision.

2. Letting one owner do everything

Self-managed owners corporations often rely on one organised owner to arrange insurance, send reminders, speak to trades, and keep records.

That may work for a while, but it is risky if that person sells, becomes unavailable, or burns out. It can also create tension if other owners feel decisions are being made without enough transparency.

If one owner is carrying the admin, chasing decisions, and trying to keep everyone aligned, it may be time for the building to step back and ask whether the current setup is still fair, practical, and sustainable.

3. Paying someone who is not properly registered

An owner can help with the owners corporation voluntarily, but care is needed if someone is being paid to act as the manager.

In Victoria, a person who acts as a paid owners corporation manager generally needs to be registered. This is different from an owner helping with simple tasks or being reimbursed for approved expenses.

If your building is paying someone to manage the owners corporation, it is worth checking that the arrangement is compliant.

4. Getting insurance wrong

Insurance is one of the biggest risks for self-managed owners corporations.

Common mistakes include choosing the wrong policy, underinsuring the building, missing public liability cover, or not checking whether the policy properly covers common property, shared services, fixtures, and other required items.

Owners should also check whether the building sum insured is current and whether the policy includes appropriate cover for the type of property. Underinsurance can become a serious problem if there is a major claim.

5. Not issuing levies properly

Owners corporation costs need to be paid somehow. Even a small building may have insurance premiums, gardening, electricity, repairs, bank fees, and other shared expenses.

A common mistake is collecting money casually instead of setting a budget and issuing levy notices properly.

This can create problems if one owner does not pay, if expenses are not shared correctly, or if there is no clear record of what each owner owes.

6. Keeping poor records

Good records matter, even in a small building.

Owners corporation records may be needed when a lot is sold, when insurance is renewed, when a dispute arises, or when a new owner asks what decisions have been made.

Poor record keeping can delay sales, create confusion about past payments, and make it harder to prove what the owners corporation agreed to.

7. Ignoring maintenance until something fails

Small buildings often delay maintenance because no one wants to raise levies or start an awkward conversation about money.

That can be understandable, but it can also become expensive. A leaking roof, damaged driveway, drainage issue, or ageing shared service can cost far more if it is ignored.

Self-managed owners corporations should still plan ahead, even if the maintenance plan is simple. The goal is to avoid surprising owners with large, urgent bills.

When does self-management start becoming a problem?

Self-management usually becomes difficult when the work is no longer shared fairly, records are incomplete, owners are disagreeing, or maintenance and insurance decisions are being delayed.

It may also be time to reconsider self-management if:

• one owner is carrying most of the workload
• owners are unsure whether insurance is adequate
• levy payments are inconsistent
• no one wants to deal with repairs
• documents are hard to find
• a lot sale is delayed because records are incomplete
• disputes are becoming personal

At that point, appointing a professional manager may not be about adding unnecessary cost. It may be about protecting the owners corporation from avoidable mistakes.

Need help moving from self-managed to professionally managed?

Self-management can work well when the building is simple, the owners communicate clearly, and the admin is kept under control. But when records fall behind, repairs are delayed, or one person is left to carry the work, it may be time to look at whether a professional manager would give the owners corporation better structure.

If your Committee is ready to consider that next step, Change Body Corporate can help you review your options.