Emergencies and Disputes

Emergencies and Make Safe

What happens when you report it

It is logged, and Clearview and the committee’s make-safe authorisers are alerted at once, by email and in the portal. A make-safe work order, up to the committee’s limit, goes to the approved contractors who do this work as soon as one of the authorisers authorises it. The first contractor to accept attends.

Making safe is not the repair. Make safe means stopping the damage getting worse or removing the danger. The repair is quoted and put to the committee as a separate decision, so the expensive part is still decided properly.

When neighbours disagree

Most disagreements can be settled with honest communication and neutral advice. Dealing with them early and calmly keeps the community peaceful and keeps the committee out of the line of fire.

From a conversation to a formal process

1. 1
   A calm first notice. The issue is logged, documented and raised with the person involved.
2. 2
   Evidence and the by-laws. Where needed, photographs are gathered and a formal notice is issued under the scheme’s by-laws.
3. 3
   The committee is briefed. A response period gives the person a final opportunity to put things right.
4. 4
   Formal dispute resolution. As a last resort, the matter can be referred for conciliation or adjudication through the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management (BCCM Act ch 6, s 230(1)).

What can we do if our manager isn't responding?

A committee whose manager is not responding has clear steps it can take, and each one should be in writing.

1. 1
   Ask in writing. Send an email or letter that says what is needed and by when, and keep a copy. Every body corporate manager must keep the body corporate informed of any significant development or issue about the work it does for the body corporate (BCCM Act, schedule 2, item 5). It must also act honestly, fairly and professionally, and with reasonable skill, care and diligence (BCCM Act, schedule 2, items 2 and 3). This code of conduct is part of every manager's engagement, the manager's contract (BCCM Act s 118).
2. 2
   Ask for the records. Ask the manager, who holds the body corporate's records. Owners also have their own right to see the records, set out in How do we change our body corporate manager?
3. 3
   Give a remedial action notice. A remedial action notice is a written notice telling the manager what has gone wrong and giving it time to fix it. The body corporate can give one if the manager has failed to carry out its duties, been grossly negligent or broken the code of conduct. It must say what the body corporate believes has gone wrong and give the manager at least 14 days to fix it (Standard Module s 152(1) and (4)).
4. 4
   End the engagement if the problem is not fixed. If the manager does not fix the problem within the time in the notice, the body corporate can end the engagement by ordinary resolution, a vote at a general meeting that passes when more votes are for it than against it (Standard Module s 152(3)). The other ways an engagement ends are set out in How do we change our body corporate manager?
5. 5
   Check when the term ends. Every engagement has an end date, which is in your current agreement. The longest term the law allows is explained in How do we change our body corporate manager?

These section numbers are for schemes under the Standard Module. See Which Module Governs Your Scheme?