How to appoint us to manage your Body Corporate
Firstly, we are assuming that your Body
Corporate either doesn't have a current contract with another manager, or there
is a contract which expires soon - and you are looking at options. If that's the
case, scroll down to the section below "The process to appoint a Body Corporate
manager".
If, on the other hand, your Body Corporate is currently under
contract with another manager and that contract has some time to run, but some
Owners and/or the Committee, are unhappy with the Body Corporate manager, then
we offer the following advice:
1. Always try and 'work things out' with your
current manager before making moves to someone new. We recommend the Committee
formally sit down with them and talk through the issues which they find unsatisfactory.
2. Do you have expectations of your manager which are unreasonable? Are you
asking or expecting them to perform functions which are not in their contract?
3. If the Committee have considered the points made above, and have made clear
to the manager what aspects of their performance they are unhappy about, then
we recommend that the Committee write to the manager and formally document their
complaints and 'put them on notice'. This serves to properly document the grievances
and is an important step should the Body Corporate subsequently move to terminate
the contract prior to its normal expiry.
4. If the Body Corporate has gone
through the process of talking with the manager, documenting their grievances,
waiting for a period for some improvement, and they have now come to the decision
that they wish to proceed to terminate the manager, then the BCCM Act details
the necessary procedures:
Under Sect 86(Standard Regulation Module) Sect 84(Accommodation
Regulation Module) a Body Corporate manager may have their contract terminated
if the Body Corporate passes an Ordinary Resolution at a general Meeting to do
so. There are various grounds for termination under the Act, and in the case of
'failing to carry out duties under the engagement', the Body Corporate needs to
have already gone through the process of issuing to the manager a 'Remedial Action
Notice', with the manager having failed to remedy.
5. Notwithstanding the
above, the incumbent manager may just release the Body Corporate from the contract
without having to go through the formal termination process above - obviously
by this stage there is likely to be some ill will between the parties and such
a release from the contract would be the easiest way to settle matters.
The process to appoint a Body Corporate manager
Here are sample Motions in
Word 
format you can
download and save to your computer, and amend to suit your circumstances.
The 4 documents cover these situations:
1. An Owner submitting
a Motion to appoint a Manager - 1 quote, one manager. Click here
to download
2. An Owner submitting a 'Motion with Alternatives'
to appoint a Manager - 2 quotes, 2 choices. Click here
to download
3. The Committee submitting a Motion to appoint
a Manager - 1 quote, one manager. Click here
to download
4. The Committee submitting a 'Motion with
Alternatives' to appoint a Manager - 2 quotes, 2 choices. Click here
to download
Some points to note....
1. To appoint a Body Corporate manager, an Ordinary Resolution needs to be passed
at a General Meeting (either the AGM or an EGM) of the Body Corporate.
2.
No proxies are allowed to be exercised for this particular Motion.
3. If an
Owner is submitting the Motion, and it is for an AGM, then like all AGM Motions
it needs to have been submitted prior to the end of the Body Corporate's financial
year.
4. If the Motion to appoint the manager is being submitted by the Committee,
then the 'prior to Financial Year end' rule does not apply - the Committee may
put Motions on the Agenda of the AGM right up until the time when the documentation
needs to be sent out.
5. The Body Corporate may be presented with more than
one proposed manager to choose from, this could occur because the Committee or
any Owner submits multiple quotes/choices, or the Committee submits one proposed
manager and an Owner or Owners submit their proposed manager. Either way, if Motions
are submitted and there is more than one manager proposed, then the Act now requires
that all these Motions be combined into just one Motion - a 'Motion with Alternatives'.
6. If there is to be a 'Motion with Alternatives' then the order of proposed managers
in this Motion i.e. who is listed as(a), who is (b) etc. must not be decided by
the incumbent manager - it is a Committee decision.
7. If the Committee are
proposing a new manager then the Committee should do at least some 'due dilligence'
on who they are proposing so that they can properly make recommendations to all
Owners - their notes and recommendations should form part of an 'Explanatory Note'
to their Motion.
8. The Term of the appointment cannot exceed 3 years.
9. If the Term proposed is only 1 year then there is no requirement for there
to be more than one manager proposed, but because the total contract sum of a
multiple-year Agreement would exceed the limit where only one quote was required,
if the Term proposed is 2 or 3 years, there would need to be at least two managers
proposed i.e. a 'Motion with Alternatives'. We recommend only making an appointment
for 1 year - there would rarely be an advantage to a Body Corporate to do otherwise.
10. A Motion to appoint a manager should state the Cost of the contract, and the Term, and there must be a copy of that manager's draft
Agreement document together with any Schedules included with the Meeting documentation
sent out to all Owners - Owners always need to be given the opportunity to make
an 'informed decision'.
We know it may sound a little daunting
or confusing - if you need any assistance, or have any questions just ask us,
OR,
you can use the form below to send us details of your Body Corporate,
and request us to draft a suitable Motion for you.
