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How Committees Should Approach Renegotiating Their Body Corporate Management Contract
Renegotiating a body corporate management contract is one of the most effective steps a Committee can take to improve the way a building is managed. A well-structured agreement supports better service delivery, greater financial transparency, and stronger governance outcomes for all lot owners. As buildings and communities evolve, management contracts often fail to keep pace. Provisions may become outdated, expectations…
Top 10 Body Corporate Issues in Victoria and How to Handle Them
If you live in a body corporate property, you have probably seen how quickly small issues can become bigger problems. One resident parks in the wrong spot. A pet causes complaints. Levies increase without a clear explanation. Before long, the Committee is dealing with frustrated owners and questions about what should happen next. In Victoria, many people still say body…
What is Owners Corporation Management?
Do I have to be Part of an Owners Corporation? Owners Corporation / Body Corporate Management Fees Maintenance & Repairs 1. Do I have to be part of an Owners Corporation? If you own a property affected by an Owners Corporation (formerly known as Body Corporate) then you automatically become a member…
Should We Audit Our Body Corporate in Victoria?
“Should we audit our body corporate in Victoria?” is a question that we are regularly asked by strata Committees here at Change Body Corporate. Yes, in Victoria, deemed prescribed bodies corporate, among other things, need to have their accounts audited annually. However, if they aren’t prescribed, they are not required to have their accounts audited…
We Live Here – Advocacy Group for Owners Corporations
Should All Owners & Committees in Owners Corporations in Victoria Get Involved with We Live Here? We Live Here (WLH) is an advocacy group launched in December 2016 to give a voice to and protect the rights of owners and residents in apartment buildings run by Owner Corporations. WLH arose from the long-running Watergate case against short-stays. Until then, residents…
“Real Consumer Protection” for Buyers of Off-the-Plan Apartments
Body Corporate in NSW On 2 June 2020, Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Bill 2020 (NSW) (“the Bill”) was introduced in the NSW parliament. The Bill resulted from significant and widely covered structural defects that plagued Sydney apartment buildings, specifically Sydney’s Opal and…
Management Contracts that are 25-Year Shackles
Imagine you’ve interviewed for a job, and the call comes: “You got the gig … we’re sending over a 25-year contract.” Twenty-five years? That’s half the length of a working life. However, believe it or not, there are strata contracts for that long in Australia today. First, let’s backtrack a little. Until the new NSW strata laws were enacted in…
Cheaper energy bills coming to Victorians living in apartments
Good news! If you live in Victoria and your energy is supplied through an embedded network—like in some apartments, caravan parks, or retirement villages—you can expect cheaper energy bills. Thanks to reforms made by the Victorian government back in 2019, a new price cap is being introduced. From 1 September 2020, the…
The “New Normal” of Assigning Management Rights
Depending on the size of your apartment complex, you may have a live-in building manager. If this is the case, your manager will have bought the “management rights” to your building, which they will run as a business on-site. A building manager has myriad responsibilities, including managing the building’s general upkeep and security, coordinating tradespeople for common area maintenance and…
What is the Process for Changing Body Corporate Management?
“What is the Process for Changing Body Corporate Management?” is a common question asked by body corporate management Committees. The process has many elements, but it needn’t be overwhelming for Committees. So, for those planning on going through this process for the first time, we will discuss the procedure further to help you understand it better. Let’s start! Changing Body…