QUESTION: We have ten apartments in our block and an Executive Committee of five. I am Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary as none of the other committee members has taken much of an interest.
An owner has requested permission to lay a timber floor, claiming they have a medical certificate saying this will help the asthma of one of their children.
They have individually approached three of the members of the EC who have approved and signed the request. The strata managers have now called a meeting to verify this (or otherwise). However, of the members who approved the request, one has refused to attend, one is overseas and one is claiming that the EC has already decided.
That leaves two members standing and both of us oppose the request. It seems that the EC meeting will lapse again for lack of a quorum. What can I do? – edited from Flat Chat Forum.
ANSWER: Personal approvals don’t count. The EC needs to hold a proper meeting –even if it’s on paper – so other owners have the opportunity to know what is being discussed. And you’re right about the quorum – you need at least half the members there in person; proxies don’t count towards it.
Ask the strata manager to write to the flooring applicant immediately telling them that they definitely do not have EC approval, and why. They should not go ahead as they may have to replace the floor should permission not be forthcoming.
This letter should be copied to all EC members. If the other EC members still refuse to attend, you could call a general meeting to sack them. You would need 75 percent of the vote (either in person or by proxy) but proxies do count towards the quorum at general meetings, so get harvesting.
I would explain to owners that the deliberate no-show EC members have placed everyone else in a potentially costly legal position. People make mistakes but they are refusing to put things right by attending a meeting and that’s unforgiveable.
You can read the full story HERE.
Now, there is away that the applicant could have got approval without a physical meeting having taken place and that’s if the executive committee had decided to vote in writing. But there would still have to have been an agenda sent out to owners or posted on the noticeboard 72 hours before the proposed meeting.
“Where a meeting is to be done in writing a notice and agenda must also be given to each executive committee member,” according to Fair Trading’s Strata Living booklet.
The committee can also vote on issues without formally holding a meeting in Queensland where a ‘flying minute’ is used, for instance, when urgent work needs to be approved in a hurry within the scheme.
According to THIS document, “decisions may be made in this manner if all committee members are given written notice of the motion and a majority of the voting members of the committee gives written agreement to the motion.
“The notice (or the ensuing committee member’s agreement) does not need to be in writing and can be given orally or by some other form of communication. Any motion voted on under these provisions must be confirmed at the next committee meeting.”
In Victoria, the committee can still hold a meeting if there is not quorum but any decisions made don’t take effect until they are confirmed at a subsequent meeting or by a ballot of Executive Committee members.
The Owners Corporation Act says a ballot can be conducted by “post or by telephone, facsimile, the Internet or other electronic communication.” There’s more information about committees in Victoria in THIS factsheet.
South Australian strata works under a whole different set of rules again, including that all committee members must be unit owners and that special resolutions at general meetings must be approved by two-thirds of all owners (rather than 75 percent of votes at the meeting, as in NSW). You’ll find out more about strata in South Australia HERE.
In WA, where strata law is still fairly unevolved, the Owners Corporation or Body Corporate is called the Strata Company and the Executive Committee is called the Council. You will find their other differences (and a few similarities) HERE.
But you do get a feeling sometimes that the first priority of legislators in the different states is to make sure their strata laws are different from everyone else’s.