Question: Can an owner with transparency concerns request copies of quotes approved by the committee, and is the committee obliged to supply them?
A body corporate organised report indicated varying unit maintenance requirements, and the committee performed maintenance on seven units.
Payment made to the company for each unit’s work was the same amount for each unit. An additional payment of the identical amount was paid for three of the seven units.
Given that the reports varied for each unit, it is difficult to understand why there was unity in the maintenance cost for all units.
Can an owner request copies of the quotes approved by the committee? Is the committee obliged to supply the quotes?
Answer: An owner can request copies of the quotes.
Yes, an owner can request copies of the quotes.
The committee is not obliged to provide them to you. If they don’t, you could arrange to inspect the books and records and access them that way.
Also consider submitting an owner’s motion to the committee requesting the documents be sent to owners. The committee could still vote against this motion, but it may help to make the matter more public.
That said, the way you have presented the issue makes it sound somewhat confrontational. You could request the quotes by writing to the committee for a plain-English explanation of what expenses were undertaken and why. Explain that you are not ‘inspecting’ the committee but are interested in the process and keen to know more.
From the committee’s end, it is reasonable for owners to ask these questions and explaining approval processes can be a good way to build trust. Of course, you can’t explain every minor choice, but having a reasonable flow of information between owners and the committee can help with understanding. If you have made a reasonable decision in good faith you should be prepared to discuss that.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924
This post appears in the June 2025 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.