Strata Chat with Joey

Setting out details about why staff turnover is high in body corporate land and what you could do to keep your scheme’s manager on board.

Maintenance issues that require a quote to be obtained generally fall into 2 categories: a. Where the scope of the work is known or can be reliably estimated and b. Where the scope of the work is unknown and cannot be estimated. So in the case of category b. I ask the first contractor to provide a quote and then use that scope of works to seek a quote from a second contractor. There is delay of course but sometimes it is unavoidable in the interests of getting the job done right.

I’ve just started working with a committee for a scheme where it seems like quite a while ago the committee lost faith and lost interest in providing their body corporate manager with timely instructions and it seems that was to their detriment.

An overview of the Opal Tower case and what the chances are that it’s happening in Queensland right now.

If your complex has a lift then every year the body corporate must complete a form and more importantly pay a fee to the Queensland government in order to keep that piece of plant and equipment registered. It’s a simple form and there are generally only two problems I come across so today I discuss those.

Hi nice a year a body corporate (depending on its age) might have to get its backflow devices tested by a qualified plumber and pay a fee to Council. The fee and the testing are a council requirement which cannot be escaped so it’s important to book the work in and get it done.

I talk about steps the committee can take to test out whether secret commissions are going down at their scheme.

In this episode I outline the most common behaviours to look for if you suspect that your body corporate manager or caretaker is accepting secret commissions.

Auditors, when appointed, perform a very brief review of the books and accounts for a body corporate, that role (in my experience) does not expose them to information sufficient to trigger a question about secret commissions.

This episode is an outline of the classic secret commission case that your body corporate might be exposed to without you knowing.