Question: What is the requirement for disclosure of building defects in meeting minutes?
There are a lot of repairs and maintenance being undertaken in our apartment block. This includes planned and unplanned work including urgent repairs to fix water leaks.
A number of owners currently have their units for sale. The Secretary has been requested not to mention details of the repairs in official minutes of meetings and / or Vote Outside a Committee meeting (VOC or VOCM) decisions. It is suggested that mentioning these issues will make units difficult to sell. A number of owners want only generic references to maintenance mentioned in minutes.
What is the requirement for disclosure of these matters?
Answer: Intentionally withholding information that ought to be included in minutes would not only be contrary to the body corporate’s obligations in relation to minutes but also potentially raise liability issues for committee members.
Aside from the comprehensive body corporate record-keeping obligations, the committee is obliged to ensure that “full and accurate minutes” of meetings are kept. Full and accurate records extend to include (among other things) details of correspondence, reports, notices or other documents tabled.
Intentionally withholding information that ought to be included in minutes, such as a document tabled at the meeting, would not only be contrary to the body corporate’s obligations in relation to minutes but also potentially raise liability issues for committee members as an argument could be made out that this would not be acting in good faith and without negligence.
Todd Garsden
Mahoneys
E: tgarsden@mahoneys.com.au
P: 07 3007 3753
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