Your Questions Asked

Owners wishing to temporarily park on common property require written approval of the owners corporation. This may be voted on at a strata committee meeting or general meeting.

If common property needs repair or maintenance, the owners corporation should undertake that work, not an individual owner. There is no guarantee that the owners corporation will reimburse an owner for repair works to common property.

Check your by-laws first. Some schemes allow pets with the written permission of the owners corporation – the strata committee can give this approval via a committee meeting. Other schemes do not allow pets at all. If your by-law allows for pets then make a written request to the owners corporation by using our pet application form from our website.

Each year the owners corporation must have one annual general meeting. Other meetings may be convened under special circumstances for example, raising a special levy and approving quotes for remedial works.

A proxy is where you authorise someone else to vote on your behalf when you are unable or choose not to attend a meeting. You will not be able to use a proxy if you are not the lot owner on the strata roll or if your levies are in arrears.

Additionally, there is a limit on the number of proxies that may be held per person being no more than 5% of the number of lots. For example, in a building of 15 units, a person can only hold 1, a building of 25 units can only hold 1, a building of 45 units can hold 2, etc. The proxy forms allow for a substitute proxy if your preferred proxy has already reached the limit they may hold.

The strata committee members are elected at the Annual General Meeting. Your nomination must be submitted before or during the AGM. Any owner can nominate themselves. Owners can also nominate a non–owner as long as they do not nominate themselves as well. Co–owners may be nominated by another co–owner of their lot who is not standing for election, or by an owner of another lot.

Quarterly levy contributions are split up between your administrative and capital works fund. Your administrative fund pays for your recurring expenses such as cleaning, lawns, gardens, insurance premiums, maintenance services (running costs of the strata scheme). Your capital works fund is like a savings account for future large expenditure such as painting and roof replacements. The amount that needs to be paid by each owner is based on their unit entitlement.

Strata Terminology

AGM

An Annual General Meeting held by the Owners Corporation/Association.

Body Corporate

An alternative meaning of Strata Scheme.

Body Corporate Managers

An alternative meaning of Strata Managers.

By-laws

A set of ‘rules’ that the owners and occupants in a strata scheme must follow. These can be amended or appealed at a general meeting of the owners corporation. All by-laws are not the same so you should obtain a copy of the current by-laws for your strata scheme.

Capital Works Fund

Generally, quarterly levy contributions are paid into this fund to save for future capital works/renewing of the common property such as painting, roofing, balcony balustrades, carpets etc..

Common Property

Common property refers to the areas of a strata building or community which every occupier or owner shares, including foyers, driveways, fences, visitors parking and gardens. The common property is the responsibility of the owners corporation/association to maintain.

Levy

Levies are contributions by owners to the strata plan’s trust account to cover the proposed expenditure of the strata scheme. Levies are generally paid quarterly and are based on unit entitlements.

Lot

A portion of a property that can be separately owned and sold. In a strata scheme, a lot is generally an apartment or townhouse, garage, car space or storage unit. A lot within a Community Association is a dwelling such as a house, townhouse or unit block within the community.

Owner

An owner is a person(s) or company that purchases a strata lot and is registered on the Certificate of Title. 

Owners Corporation

The collective noun for all owners within a strata scheme.

Poll Vote

A poll vote is a vote cast using the value of unit entitlement allocated to each specific lot. This method of vote is used for passing a special resolution or can be called for passing a resolution other than a special resolution when the result of a vote cast by one vote person does not satisfy an owner present at a general meeting or if the vote is hung.

It can be called for before or after a resolution is passed at a general meeting but must be called for before the Chairperson declares the meeting closed.

Strata Committee

Responsible for the administration of an Owners Corporation. They are a group of owners elected at each Annual General Meeting on a voluntary basis who represent all the lot owners of the strata scheme, and carry out the duties required. These include the maintenance and repair of the common property. The committee also has the responsibility of enforcing the by-laws.

Strata Scheme

A registered strata plan. Strata title is a form of ownership devised for multi-level apartment blocks and horizontal subdivisions with shared areas. The ‘strata’ part of the term refers to apartments being on different levels, or “strata”. A strata scheme can have a minimum of 2 lots and can be used for residential or commercial purposes or a mixture of both. A strata scheme can be a vertical block of units (high rise) or it can be all on the one level such as townhouses or commercial offices.

Strata Manager / Strata Managing Agents

Specialists who administer Owners Corporations, and are responsible for carrying out the instructions of the Strata Committee.

Strata Plan

The plan that subdivides the land and building(s) of a strata scheme into lots and common property.

Unit Entitlements

The proportion of levy contributions that a lot owner is required to pay. Also the proportion of the voting rights for certain resolutions (poll vote).