Useful info

An Owners Corporation must:

• Manage and administer common property
• Repair and maintain the common property, fixtures and services
• Take out and maintain required insurance
• Raise fees from the Lot owners to meet financial obligations
• Prepare financial statements and keep financial records
• Provide Owners Corporation certificates when requested
• Keep an Owners Corporation register
• Ensure compliance and carry out any functions and duties under the
  Owners Corporations Act 2006, the Owners Corporations Regulations 2007,
  Subdivision Act 1988 the Owners Corporation’s rules and any other
  law or regulation

The management and conduct of Owners Corporations is essentially governed by the Owners Corporations Act 2006, Subdivision Act 1988, associated Regulations 2007, Model Rules, Standard Rules and other Rules (as determined by each Owners Corporation).

Owners Corporations Act 2006
Subdivision Act 1988
Owners Corporations Regulations 2007
Model Rules

All Owners Corporations have rules for the purpose of controlling, administering, managing, using and/or enjoying common property and Lots.
If an Owners Corporation does not make its own rules, a set of model rules outlined in the Owners Corporations Regulations 2007 apply.
Whilst an owner will receive the rules at the time of the purchase of a Lot, by law, each and every tenant must receive a copy of the rules at the time they move in.
Owners Corporations collectively and owners individually can apply to VCAT to enforce rules and the tribunal can impose penalties for breaches of rules (refer to Part 10 and 11 of the Owners Corporations Act 2006 respectively).

The Owners Corporations Act 2006 states that an Owners Corporation must hold an Annual General Meeting for all Lot owners if it receives or pays out money during the financial year.
A written notice of the Annual General Meeting must be provided to all owners at least
14 days prior to the meeting date.

This meeting is the main opportunity for Lot owners to discuss matters concerning the common property, approve the financial statements and budgets and to elect the committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

You will receive minutes of the Annual General Meeting within 14 days of the meeting.

Strata Score encourages all Lot owners to attend their Annual General Meeting not only to fully understand what your Owners Corporation has undertaken over the past year but what it plans to do in the current year.

A Lot owner must properly maintain, in a state of good and serviceable repair, any part of their Lot that affects the outward appearance of the Lot or the use or enjoyment of other Lots or the common property.

If the Lot owner fails to carry out the above then the Owners Corporation may serve a notice requiring the Lot owner to attend to specific works within 28 days.

If the requested repairs are not carried out within 28 days, the Owners Corporation may carry out the necessary repairs, maintenance or other works to the owner’s Lot and recover the costs of the works from the Owner.

An Owners Corporation with twelve (12) or more Lots must elect a committee at each Annual General Meeting.

A Committee must have between three (3) and twelve (12) members, who are either Lot owners of hold proxies for Lot owners.

There must not be more than one Committee member from any one Lot.

Once elected the Committee is delegated all powers and functions of the Owners Corporation according to Section 11 (5) Owners Corporations Act 2006.

Strata Score recommends a Committee of Management be appointed no matter the size of the Owners Corporation and that the maximum number of Committee members be limited to seven (7).

Complaints to the Owners Corporation must be in writing in the approved form.
The Owners Corporations Act 2006 sets out a process to help Owners Corporations deal with complaints and disputes. This process may involve three steps:

• Internal dispute resolution – Grievance meeting
• Application to VCAT

The Owners Corporation must have an internal dispute resolution process to handle complaints about breaches of the Rules, Act and/or Regulations. This must be invoked prior to the Owners Corporation making an application to VCAT in the event the complaint cannot be resolved.
You as a member of the Owners Corporation can make an application directly to VCAT for a matter which you wish to have dealt with personally.
VCAT can impose penalties for breaches of rules and make a wide range of other orders.

All Owners Corporations must take out reinstatement and replacement insurance for all buildings and fixtures on the common property and Lots where a building is located above or below common property, a reserve or a Lot. This is in addition to legal liability cover.

As a Lot owner in an Owners Corporation you are a member and are covered under the Owners Corporation’s insurance policy.

This allows you, the Lot owner, to make a claim on the Owners Corporation insurance policy in the event of damage to the building and/or fixtures within your Lot whilst Strata Score will make the appropriate claim in respect to damage to common property.

However where an insurance policy has an excess the claimant is liable to pay for that excess when making a claim.

For a copy of your Owners Corporation insurance policy, please login into the member’s area.

Note to Lot Owners: As the Owners Corporation insurance generally does not cover fittings (including carpets, light fittings and window furnishings), contents and public liability within individual Lots, it is strongly suggested that each owner seeks advice on insurance to cover issues that may arise within his/her Lot.

Please note that any insurance advice offered by Strata Score is of a general nature only.

An Owners Corporation maintenance plan covers the following;

• Major capital items for repairs and/or replacement over the next 10 years
• The present condition of those items
• When the items or components will need to be repaired or replaced
• The estimated cost of their repair and replacement
• The expected life of those items or components once repaired or replaced

If your Owners Corporation has an annual general levy of $200,000 or more or has 100 Lots or more (as identified on the Plan of Subdivision) your Owners Corporation must prepare a Maintenance Plan.

However a Maintenance Plan must be approved by the Owners Corporation before levies can be issued.

The Owners Corporation is required to report on the implementation of its maintenance plan at the Annual General Meeting.

Strata Score recommends that all Owners Corporations have a maintenance plan to assist in identifying the longer term maintenance requirements of the Owners Corporation.

Some developments have several Owners Corporations to better assist in sharing rights, responsibilities and costs. This is common in buildings that have a mix of homes, shops and commercial use.

In this instance each and every owner will be represented in an unlimited Owners Corporation and at least one limited Owners Corporation.

The unlimited Owners Corporation will recover costs which benefit every owner whereas the limited Owners Corporation will recover certain costs which only benefit a limited number of owners.

The limited Owners Corporation will also limit access to common property which is essentially for use by members of the limited Owners Corporation.

These Owners Corporations are specifically identified in the Plan of Subdivision which is prepared at the development stage by a professional surveyor and registered with Land Victoria.

All Owners Corporations are required to issue an Owners Corporation certificate to any person who submits a written application accompanied with payment of the prescribed fee (per certificate).
The Owners Corporation certificate must be prepared and supplied within 10 business days after receipt of the written application.

If there is an application for an Owners Corporation certificate for a Lot that is affected by more than one Owners Corporation then there will need to be a certificate prepared for each Owners Corporation.

The Owners Corporation certificate must contain specific information and have relevant documents attached, for example, current quarterly or annual fees for the Lot and Owners Corporation rules.

An Owners Corporation certificate forms part of the vendor’s statement (Section 32) required for the sale of a lot.

If you wish to apply for an Owners Corporation certificate please contact our office.

The Owners Corporation sets annual budgets. These budgets can be determined by Committees or alternatively approved at the Annual General Meeting. There are essentially four (4) types of levies:

General Administration Levy
This levy covers costs which occur regularly on at least an annual basis.

Maintenance Plan Levy
This levy, when approved, is raised over a minimum of a ten (10) year period to cover
costs in relation to major capital items anticipated to require repair and/or replacement less frequently than annually.

Capital Project Levy
This levy is to cover costs incurred in the upgrade and/or purchase of new capital items.

Special Levy
A one off levy to cover a unique circumstance.

Strata Score recommends that all Lot owners of an Owners Corporation pay their levies prior to the due date to avoid action being taken to recover unpaid levies.

To view your account information please login into the members area.

Lot owners in an Owners Corporation are entitled to renovate or refurbish the interior of their Lot.

However a Lot owner must first notify the Owners Corporation and provide the relevant documentation in relation to the renovation and in accordance with any specified requests stipulated in the Owners Corporations Rules.

Failure to notify the Owners Corporation of your intention to renovate may mean that you have contravened the Rules and may be required to reinstate the works undertaken.

As an experienced Manager, Strata Score can advise you in relation to what, if any, the ramifications are in relation to your proposed works.

Below are generic useful forms. Please download a copy and return to our office.
Alternatively, please login into the members area to download forms specific to your Owners Corporation.

Insurance Claim Form

Owners Corporation Complaint Form

Owners Corporation Certificate Request

Owners Corporation Proxy Form

Request To Inspect Register Or Records

Owners Corporation Committee Nomination Form

Request To Waive Interest Form