Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997
The BCCM Act is the principal legislation governing the establishment, operation, and management of community title schemes in Queensland. It establishes the legal framework for body corporates, defines the rights and obligations of lot owners, and governs the role of body corporate managers.
The BCCM Act covers every aspect of scheme administration, from the creation of the body corporate at registration through to how meetings are called, how decisions are made, how levies are set, and how disputes are resolved. It operates alongside a series of regulation modules that apply different rules to different types of schemes.
Which Module Governs Your Scheme?
The BCCM Act operates alongside five regulation modules. A scheme's community management statement names the module that applies; if it names none, or the scheme does not meet the named module's criteria, the Standard Module applies (BCCM Act s 21). The owners can change the module by special resolution (s 62). The module sets procedural rules such as how meetings are run and how the committee is elected. Voting entitlements come from the lot entitlement schedules in the community management statement, not the module (s 46).
Applies where the community management statement names it, or where no other module applies (BCCM Act s 21; Standard Module s 3). The most common module for residential apartment schemes. It has nothing to do with the type of survey plan.
Applies where the lots are predominantly accommodation lots, let for long- or short-term residential use, or part of a hotel (Accommodation Module s 3). Many of its rules mirror the Standard Module.
Applies where the lots are predominantly commercial lots: commercial, retail or industrial use (Commercial Module s 3). Its rules differ in places.
For basic (not layered) schemes of no more than 6 lots with no letting agent, where the community management statement names it (Small Schemes Module s 3).
For schemes of only two lots that are not layered, have no letting agent and are residential, where the community management statement names it (BCCM Act s 111C).
How Clearview Applies the Act
The BCCM Act and its regulation modules set the rules for records, audits and management agreements. These are the three areas committees ask us about most, and what Clearview does in each.
Owners are entitled to inspect the body corporate's records (BCCM Act s 205(2)). Clearview goes further than an inspection request: every record an owner is entitled to see is already in the portal, ready to view at any time. Some records, such as another owner's personal details, are not shared.
The statement of accounts must be audited every year, unless the scheme is a basic scheme and the owners resolve by special resolution not to audit it (Standard Module s 176(1)). Whether the accounts are audited is the body corporate's decision, not Clearview's. Once an audit is decided on, Clearview arranges it and gives the auditor everything they need.
When and how a management agreement can end is set by the agreement itself and the regulation module that applies to your scheme (Standard Module ss 150–152). Clearview explains the terms of your current agreement, and of ours, before you sign anything.
Ending a Scheme, Records and Audits
Three areas of the BCCM Act that committees often ask about: ending a scheme, owners' access to records, and the annual audit. For each, here is what the law says and what it means for the committee and the owners.
This is Clearview's plain-English reading of the law, not legal advice. The provisions that apply to your scheme can differ with its regulation module, its size and its circumstances. Before acting on a compliance matter, confirm the position with a body corporate solicitor or the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management.
Ending a scheme
Ending a community titles scheme, for example so the land can be redeveloped, is a serious step. The BCCM Act provides three routes for a basic scheme: a resolution without dissent (s 78), a District Court order (s 79), and, since 1 May 2024, an "economic reasons" process that ends in a termination resolution needing 75% of all lot owners (s 81K). Whichever route a proposal takes, the question at its heart is usually whether the building is worth repairing.
The committee should get independent legal advice on the process that applies to its scheme.
We recommend an engineering condition report from a registered professional engineer (RPEQ), engaged by the body corporate, and a report that sets the cost of repair against the cost of replacement in dollar terms. Generic cost estimates are a weak foundation for a decision this size, whichever way the owners are leaning. Owners who doubt a proposal are better protected when the evidence is independent and on the table.
Between days 35 and 42 of every change-over, David visits the scheme in person, inspects the common property and photographs its condition. The committee can choose to add an independent engineer's inspection, at the body corporate's cost. Together they give the committee the condition evidence a question like this needs. About the Condition Visit
Owners' access to records
An owner can ask in writing, with the prescribed fee, to inspect the body corporate's records or to get copies, and the body corporate has 7 days to allow it (BCCM Act s 205(2)). The records it must keep include its accounting records and statements of account, its insurance policies, the documents engaging a body corporate manager or service contractor, its correspondence, and the minutes of committee and general meetings (Standard Module s 231(1)). A copy of the minutes of each general meeting must be given to every owner within 21 days after the meeting (Standard Module s 117(2)). An owner who cannot get the records can take the matter to the Commissioner's dispute resolution service (BCCM Act ch 6, ss 227–241, 248).
Minutes are placed in the portal as soon as they are issued, and always within the time the rules allow (Standard Module ss 71, 117). Every month, each fund is reconciled, reported and published to owners in the portal.
If a manager is slow to provide records, the committee should ask why, before owners need to take it further.
The annual audit
An independent audit is the owners' check on the scheme's finances that does not rely on the manager's own reports. The body corporate must have its statement of accounts for each financial year audited, unless the scheme is a basic scheme and the owners resolve by special resolution not to audit it (Standard Module s 176(1)). The auditor is agreed by ordinary resolution, and cannot be a committee member, a body corporate manager, or an associate of either (Standard Module s 176(2), (5)).
Before the body corporate decides to enter a contract, a manager who would receive a commission, payment or other benefit connected with it must disclose it in writing, with the amount where it is money (Standard Module s 156(2)).
We receive no commission from anyone, ever. Clean, independently audited accounts are the committee's best answer to any owner who questions the scheme's finances.
A checklist for your committee
Six questions to ask about your scheme's current arrangements.
Has every owner received the minutes of each general meeting within 21 days (Standard Module s 117(2))?
Can owners see records such as the insurance policies, the accounts and the minutes, and are written requests answered within 7 days (BCCM Act s 205(2))?
Are financial reports and levy notices available to owners online, filed as they are issued?
Was the statement of accounts for the most recent financial year audited, or did the owners validly resolve not to (Standard Module s 176(1))?
The committee prepares the administrative and sinking fund budgets; the owners adopt them by ordinary resolution at the AGM (Standard Module s 160; Accommodation Module s 150). Does the sinking fund budget look ten years ahead, this financial year and at least the next 9 (Standard Module s 160(3)(a)), with a forecast renewed every year and built from the building's actual condition?
Has every commission or other benefit connected with a contract been disclosed to the body corporate in writing before it decided (Standard Module s 156(2))?
Important BCCM Forms
The Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management publishes approved forms for specific purposes. Clearview prepares and files the forms each scheme needs as part of our standard administration service.
Given to a buyer or other interested person on request, within 5 business days (BCCM Act s 205(4)–(6)). It sets out contributions, arrears, the sinking fund, insurance and exclusive use by-laws. It replaced the former Form 13 information certificate from 1 August 2025.
The approved proxy form for body corporate general meetings (Standard Module s 129(1)(a)). There is no prescribed form for engaging a body corporate manager; the regulation module sets what the engagement must contain (Standard Module s 137(2)).
Continuing and future contravention notices for by-law breaches (BCCM Act ss 182–183). If a notice is not complied with, the body corporate can apply to the Commissioner's office for dispute resolution (BCCM Act ch 6, ss 227–241, 248).
Last updated 22 October 2026