Body Corporate Repairs and Maintenance

One of the coolest things about body corporates is their ability to stay neat and tidy without you having to personally  clean and tidy. Of course there’s no such thing as a magical self-caring property so someone is obviously taking care of the place. Who is responsible for body corporate repairs and maintenance? More importantly is […]

What Is A Body Corporate Sinking Fund Forecast?

Whenever I prepare a strata report one of the few documents I always include is a copy of the Sinking Fund Forecast. I do that for a very specific reason; they’ve a valuable source of a lot of information about the strata scheme, the Sinking Fund and management. What Is A Sinking Fund Forecast? A […]

Case Study: An Ineffective Response To A Body Corporate Dispute

I did a search the other day that contained this item regarding a body corporate dispute: Tabled correspondence from the Caretaker complaining of by-law breaches by unit x (The Secretary)… There have been altercations between The Secretary and the Caretaker including physical and verbal violence. The committee discussed the matter (The Secretary was absent) and […]

What is Proxy Farming?

Proxy farming is a charming phrase to describe a practice that polarises body corporates. It’s all about the balance of power, who has it, who wants it and what they want to do with it. Sadly that can quite often be “get up to no good” or the ever popular “arrange things to suit ME”. […]

What is a Body Corporate?

Ask most people “what is a body corporate?” and, well, you’ll probably get a lot of different answers, the most common being a general wave toward the nearest visible highrise. But that’s an assumption, and also a clear indication that the person you’re speaking with doesn’t really have much of an idea of what a […]

Why Buy A House In A Body Corporate Layered Scheme?

When we think of body corporates we tend to think of the towers that dominate our city skylines. In reality body corporates come in all shapes and sizes including an increasing number of single house blocks contained within a large body corporate layered schemes. These type of master planned communities work exactly the same as […]

The Most Common Body Corporate Problems (in no particular order)

Although every building is uniquely individual there are a number of body corporate problems that come up over and over. This article is about some of those recurring issues. Be aware these are in no particular order and they have different levels of severity. Some of them are annoying, some are just painful and others […]

Beware Strata Levies That Are Too Low!

The other day I was asked: I am interested in buying a unit but strata levies are $900 per annum on old medium size block of 12 units. When I enquired with unit next door they pay $400 strata levies per annum. Is this possible to have two strata neighbours so different? This is 50 […]

Body Corporate Disputes: Who Are These People?

One of the key strengths of body corporates is the ability to build a community, a place where people feel safe, connected and involved. Communities are all about people. And therein lies the problem. We all know people we like, and those we don’t, people we respect and people who just flat out make us […]

Who Pays For What? Building Format Plan v Standard Format Plan

Something that comes up time and again in body corporates is who pays for what? The body corporate is responsible for common property. The lot owner is responsible for the lot. Issues arise in determining what is common property and what is the lot, since boundaries will differ between plans. There are two types of […]

Ask a Body Corporate Question Terms

  1. Purpose of the form

The Ask a Body Corporate Question form allows readers to submit general questions that may be answered through existing or future Body Corporate Blueprint content.

The form is intended to help identify subjects that buyers, owners and other readers would like to understand. It is not intended to provide advice about a particular body corporate, property, dispute or transaction.

  1. General information only

Information provided in response to a question, or published in the Body Corporate Blueprint, is general educational information.

It does not constitute legal, financial, engineering, building, insurance or other professional advice. You should obtain appropriate professional advice about your particular circumstances before acting or relying on general information.

  1. No professional engagement

Submitting a question does not engage MyBodyCorpReport to inspect records, investigate a matter, prepare a report or provide professional advice.

No client or professional relationship is created by submitting a question or receiving a response.

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Submission of a question does not guarantee that it will be answered individually or used in published content.

Questions may be declined, edited, combined with similar questions or held for possible future use. It may not be possible to respond to questions that require examination of body corporate records, contracts, plans, reports or other supporting information.

This form should not be used for urgent, time-sensitive or transaction-specific enquiries.

  1. Protecting privacy and confidentiality

Please do not include:

• the name or address of a body corporate or property
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• consider it for an individual response
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  1. Questions requiring individual assessment

A general question may help explain what a document, event or warning sign could mean. Determining what it means for a particular body corporate usually requires consideration of its records and individual circumstances.

If you require an assessment of a particular scheme, a body corporate records search or another appropriate professional service may be required.