Question: Is the strata manager required to supply the OC with detailed invoices for large payments?
We have requested our strata manager provide the contractor’s formal quotes and invoices, including itemised costs, on a letterhead. They continue to send bulk costs from companies via typed text in emails. The owners corporation only wants to pay once they receive the requested invoices. Is the strata manager required to supply the OC with correct invoices for large payments?
Answer: Certain jobs cannot be itemised, and this may be why your strata manager cannot provide itemised quotations.
If the owners corporation has been delegated the authority to obtain quotations for jobs over the amount you term “large payments”, reviewing the management agency agreement under the terms and conditions they undertake this service would be prudent.
If the strata manager doesn’t run the books of the contractors and does not have the building qualifications or expertise to arrange professional tender documents, other services are available. A building consultant, project manager, etc., could complete this task.
However, the strata manager should instruct contractors on how to submit their quotations. If the contractor fails to provide this, their quotation is automatically dismissed. I believe best practice requires detailed, itemised quotes on a letterhead. Itemised pricing is generally provided if jobs can be done in stages. However, certain jobs cannot be itemised, and contractors have advised me that if they cannot itemise a quotation, it is because the job must be completed as a “whole”. This may be why your strata manager cannot provide itemised quotations.
Further, in regards to your question, you mention large payments, which lends me to pose the following questions to the committee:
- How large is the expenditure?
- How complex is the job?
- Was a detailed scope provided, or are you expecting the trades to scope and price the job themselves?
- If the job was scoped, who provided the scope?
It may be difficult for the strata manager to push back and tell owners they should spend money on a professional consultant to manage large maintenance and repair jobs. Strata managers, as a rule, don’t have a building or estimating background and know varying amounts of construction from life experience or through discussions with contractors. The success of any job that either needs to be scoped, requires a building contract, requires multiple inspections, or multiple trades should have a building consultant or project manager engaged.
The strata manager’s role is diverse and has many moving parts, but most relate to administration and compliance. While repairs and maintenance additional services are provided, this is for jobs of a minor nature. Your GP doesn’t perform open heart surgery, and your strata manager is not equipped with the time or the knowledge to project manage large jobs.
This post appears in the September 2024 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Nathan Clarke Hunter Strata Management E: nathanclarke@hunterstrata.net.au P: 02 4934 2022