Strata Manager VS Building Manager

In the Lake Macquarie, Newcastle and Hunter area, I constantly hear differences of opinion between owners, committee members, service providers, strata managers and building managers as to what a strata managers role is when there is also a building manager contracted by the owners corporation.

Owners need to be better aware of what they are paying for and whether they are potentially paying for it twice (e.g. building manager should be issuing work orders as part of their fee, however, they ask the strata manager to issue work orders and they charge a fee to do so).

Furthermore, the understanding of what a building manager can and should be doing has changed greatly over the past decade – whereas once they were a cleaner with a tool belt (e.g. caretaker), they are very much now the professional onsite interface between residents, contractors and the strata manager.

We often educate potential and new clients as to who should be doing what. The Strata Schemes Management Act is somewhat vague on the role of a Building Manager and it’s defined as below:

STRATA SCHEMES MANAGEMENT ACT 2015 – SECT 70

Functions of building manager

70 FUNCTIONS OF BUILDING MANAGER

(1) A building manager may, in accordance with the building manager agreement appointing the building manager, assist in exercising one or more of the functions of the owners corporation of managing and controlling the use of common property (otherwise than by the owners or occupiers of lots) and of maintaining and repairing common property.

Noting the above, the scope of what is in the agreement between the owners corporation and building manager is what is important here, however, it’s now better understood what the role of a professional building manager entails:

Item	Strata Manager	Building Manager
Repairs / Maintenance	Administration with strata committee – e.g. approvals	– Issuing work orders – Contractor management (sourcing, insurance, SWMS, Site induction) – Monthly/routine reporting – Arrange quotes for committee review for routine and ad-hoc maintenance
Defects	Advisory/escalationManagement via committee/OC	-Processing / administration of in-unit and common property defects with builder – Escalation of common property defects to strata manager/strata committee where not addressed by builder
Moving	Collect bond if applicable	– Establish process for moving of goods over common property – Manage bookings/lift covers – Inspect common property for any damage
Software / Communications	Use of software for announcements if requiredInvolvement in Whatsapp committee groupIssue communications from owners corporation/strata committeeDeal with owner/committee queries in relation to owners corporation	– Management of Buildinglink or other system – resident database, announcements, – Management internal communications – e.g. Whatsapp cleaning group, committee group – Place signage on site as required – Dealing with all resident queries – e.g. metering, by-laws, approvals
AFSS	Approvals via committeeSubmission to council	– Source relevant contractors – Arrange inspections – Coordinate statement requirements
Site Inspections	n/a	Weekly inspection all common property areas – ensure proper functioning equipment, by-law breaches
Waste	n/a	Ensure functioning of chute/waste room and collection of rubbish with cleaner
Meetings	Manage all OC/SC meetings	– Prepare quotes/reports as required – Attend committee meetings – Potential involvement in sub-committees
Emergencies/out of hours	Provide out of hours contact service	– Provide 24/7 contact service for onsite issues – Attend site if required
By-laws	By-law escalation – e.g. final notice/notice to comply and any formal proceedings – committee action/approval	Manage first action – e.g. direct communication with resident via call/sms/email/in person
Bookings – common facilities	Assist in establishing rules/procedure for booking common facilities, including SC approval	Establish and manage the booking of any common facilities – e.g. BBQ area
Contracts	Execute and negotiate contracts as instructed	Obtain pricing for R/M OC contracts as required – Fire, lifts, pumps, cleaning, gardening, etc)
Budgeting / Finances	Prepare annual budgetsPay all invoicesReport to strata committee	– Assist strata manager with budgeting. – Invoice approval as required
Keys	Take deposits as required	– Issue keys – Authorise keys – Maintain key register
Community / Place making	Advice (insurance, etc)	Facilitate community events and other placemaking exercises
SSMA and other legal requirements	Manage OC compliance with the SSMA and other OC legislation	Be aware of the requirements of the building manager under SSMA and other relevant legislation – e.g. authorisations, timelines, approvals

NB – if BM fails to perform duties, SM steps in and manages at hourly rate if requested.

SC – Strata Committee

OC – owners corporation

Covid 19 – Strata and Building Management Perspective

We have now entered an unprecedented period for the 21st century with the onset of Covid 19 virus and the measures which need to be taken to control the spread of it.

Businesses across Australia and the world are all affected in one way or another – there’s very few that will be able to thrive in the circumstances due to the effect on our workplaces, clients, and staff.

The response in Australia is increasingly drastic and we need to adequately prepare for a difficult period over the next few months as services and facilities are shutdown or become increasingly stressed. We are blessed with one of the worlds leading health systems, however, we need to act with caution and be ready to give our support to the most vulnerable within our society.

Bright & Duggan and Cambridge Management Services have introduced a policy of having all frontline strata management staff work from home and ceasing face to face meetings – I applaud our Executive Management Team in reaching this decision as quickly as it did. The update is available on the front page of our website – https://www.bright-duggan.com.au/ . We have different policies for Building managers and other staff within the business – these are being continually updated.

Strata and building management business are very much affected by the fact that we have workforces that have a lot of external meetings, have a number of visitors to our offices, that we provide a variety of onsite services at buildings and have large numbers of office-bound administration staff. That said, we are able to offer a great number of our services remotely.

Some strata and facility businesses have the ability to enable their workforces to work from home (which wholly depends on the staff member having the technology to do so); it’s very difficult to offer building management services offsite when the contract requires onsite services.

We manage people’s homes (and in some cases workplaces, where we manage commercial schemes) and thus have very serious obligations to the occupants to show leadership during this time and do whatever we can to assist authorities in mitigating risks.

What should we all do as soon as possible:

Give staff the ability to work from home where possible and ensure that we are aware of the workplace that staff are working from – employers still have work health safety obligations where their staff work from home;
Support your staff with whatever circumstances are put on them (sickness, schools/childcare services ceasing for a period);
Cease face to face meetings and adopt alternate means of meetings provided for under legislation – this may include meeting via proxies, phone/video conferencing, online or paper voting papers, etc;
Take practical steps at your buildings to reduce the risk of infection – additional cleaning, signage, etc.

Some of the potential issues we need to overcome

Continuing compliance with strata legislation which can become difficult without being able to conduct certain meetings, arrange onsite inspections, etc;
Annual inspections – particularly annual fire safety statements;
Defect timelines and the potential inability to do defect inspections/commence proceedings;
Contractor attendance – what happens if electricians, plumbers, etc won’t attend site?;
Waste management (we presume that council and private collections will continue as normal – if they didn’t it would be bedlam) – we may have to deal with much-increased levels of waste in the event that buildings have all occupants at home for long periods;
Residents needing help and assistance throughout any period of enforced isolation;
Conflicting and complex legal obligations;
Owners/occupants coming under financial stress – non-payment of levies; and
Continuing to facilitate strata searches, collection of keys, etc.

One of the great opportunities we have here is to change the way we operate our businesses (with a move to electronic meetings) and provide help and support to people that need it most.

It’s not business as usual but we need to make sure this is the best business we can do.

The Initial Period

This is a guide I recently produced for distribution to developers as to who does what during the period post registration until 1/3 of lots are transferred.

Initial period

Section 4 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 provides the following definition:

“Initial period” of an owners corporation of a strata scheme means the period:

(a) commencing on the day the owners corporation is constituted, and

(b) ending on the day there are owners of lots in the strata scheme (other than the original owner) the sum of whose unit entitlements is at least one-third of the aggregate unit entitlement.

Restrictions during the initial period

Section 26 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 outlines various actions which are not permitted during the initial period. The actions relevant to NSW LRS include but may not be limited to the following:

Strata plan of subdivision which includes common property or creates common property.
Conversion of a lot to common property.
Transfer or lease of part of the common property.
Creation of an easement burdening common property.
Release of an easement benefiting common property.
Dedicating part of common property as a public road, public reserve or drainage reserve.
Change of by-laws. Section 140 Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 places restrictions on the making, amendment or repeal of by-laws during the initial period.

If a document is lodged at NSW LRS which intends to perform one of the above actions it must be accompanied by a certificate from the owners corporation in Approved Form 10 (PDF 7.9 KB) unless the common property title contains a note in the second schedule that a certificate has been lodged previously.

Note – the developer can stay in an undertaking for any period, however we note that this is generally not beneficial if they have sold more than 25% of lots and maintenance has properly commenced. We note also that once 1/3 of lots are disposed of the First AGM must be called and at that meeting, levies are considered.

Item	Developer Responsibilities	Strata Manager Responsibilities
Access Devices for owners	Supply swipes/keys/garage remotes. Confirm details for original contractors	Arrange process for additional devices to be obtained
Access Devices for contractors / OC	Supply all relevant service keys and access	Arrange collection and handover
Key box	Help designate an appropriate area	Arrange installation and placing of keys
Cleaning / Gardening (soft services)	Meet costs until levies are struck	Arrange quotes/start dates and administer invoicing in relation to levy start dates
Common utilities – water /gas/electricity / fire panel/lift line	Meet costs until levies are struck	Arrange handover/change of address for service of invoices to owners corporation c/- strata manager and arrange billing to developer or payment as required
Application by owners	Developer	Take and review application (e.g. pets) – provide relevant application forms to owner. Ensure items can be considered during the initial period
Insurance	Pay for insurance policy (refunded by purchasers on settlement)	Arrange quotes via broker prior to registration place insurance as directed managed any claims as required
S184 certificates	Attend IGM. Appoint OC representative for the time until FAGM. Arrange payment (otherwise ordered as required)	Provide certificates within 48-72 hours of receiving all required docs (COC, IGM mins, by-laws, SP, CT, solicitor details)
General Correspondence		Managed by the strata manager
Defect Process and Rectification (internal to a lot)	Convey defect process to owners and ensure defects rectified in a timely manner. Attend to any urgent defects immediately (habitability/consequential damage issues)	Strata manager can have a hand in reviewing to ensure whether a defect and then providing to builder/developer – assist in drafting defect process for owners (if required)Ensure defect process is notified to others aside from owners
Defects – external common property	As above	Review any issues as reported. Arrange walkthrough and recording of any common area issues
Waste management/bins	Provide relevant plan from DA, arrange a meeting with the council, order bins	Attend council meeting, ensure bins onsite in time for resident moves
By-law management (e.g. parking)	n/a	Attend to any by-law breaches as reported
Moving plan	Review and take advice as to suitable moving plan	Administrate moving bookings as required.
Welcome Pack – owners	Draft welcome pack for owners, including all relevant contact details, connection details, defect management, etc.)	Review welcome pack issued by the developer
Welcome pack – residents		Draft resident specific welcome pack if required
Metering (electricity/gas) and NBN identifiers	Advise strata manager of all relevant metering details. Assist in ensuring that metering details are picked up by authorities	Maintain a list of meters and NBN IDs for occupier assistance as required
Handover – documents, plans, IMS, schedule of finishes	Ensure any necessary documentation made available to strata manager ASAP (e.g. subcontractors for emergencies). Hand over all relevant material prior to First AGM	Give notice of requirements. Administrate handover/checklist – declares received documents at FAGM