Question: Does the committee have the right to arrange a quote for works without passing anything by the building manager?
Does the committee have the right to arrange a quote for works without passing anything by the building manager? Our Committee only informs the caretaker which company is responsible for the work and when the project will start.
All the invoices about the project are directly sent to Body Corporate without any input or contact with the building manager.
Answer: The Committee is the delegated authority of the Body Corporate so if they don’t need assistance seeking a quote by all means they can get one without reference to the people they employ.
A Body Corporate engages a caretaker or body corporate manager to assist with the running of the scheme. The Committee is the delegated authority of the Body Corporate so if they don’t need assistance seeking a quote by all means they can get one without reference to the people they employ. And, if the Body Corporate engages a contractor, they can also advise the caretaker of the details of the works and ask them to make preparations accordingly. They are the owners and it’s their building so that’s their right.
That said, if a building has engaged a caretaker one of their roles would usually be to assist the committee with repair and renovation projects. If they are not doing that it implies a breakdown of the relationship between the two parties and both sides might want to consider why this is the case and how the situation can be rectified.
A caretaker shouldn’t have control over a job, but if they are doing their work properly the owners would usually be happy to receive their assistance and insight into selecting contractors, determining a scope of works and ensuring a project runs smoothly. From the Committee’s perspective they may need to consider that even if there are reasons why they may not want to work with the caretaker they will likely need some assistance from them at some point and keeping them engaged in the project to some extent may return a better result than leaving them out in the cold.
This post appears in the May 2021 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924