Question: Does the caretaker have the discretion to communicate directly with a specific group of owners without including the committee and body corporate manager?
Our body corporate manager (BCM) advises that all caretaker newsletters to owners must CC all committee members and the BCM if the content relates to body corporate matters or common property maintenance. Is this a legal requirement or a recommended practice?
Does the caretaker have the discretion to communicate directly with a specific group of owners without including the committee and BCM? For example, if a tree falls and affects only two lots, is the caretaker required to notify the two owners, plus CC all committee members and the BCM? We are seeking clarification on the obligations regarding caretaker communications.
Answer: Check the contract with your caretaker to see if there are any clauses that mandate how they should communicate with owners.
Check the contract with your caretaker to see if there are any clauses that mandate how they should communicate with owners. If there is something that stipulates this, fine. I’m guessing there won’t be and that the caretaker is not required to communicate in a specific way.
Also ask your body corporate manager to support their requirement with evidence or state they are just offering an opinion. An opinion on what constitutes best practice is fine, but that’s quite different from a requirement. If it is a requirement, the body corporate manager should be able to demonstrate why.
Beyond this, you might speak to your caretaker. It makes sense that they need to communicate with different people at different times. As you indicate, sometimes they might need to speak to just a few owners. Sometimes, there might be a reason to communicate with the whole body corporate. Sometimes, they may want to communicate with their letting pool owners. If you have a good relationship with the caretaker, adjusting communication based on needs shouldn’t be too hard. If the relationship is more difficult, you may have to adjust accordingly. In this case, that may mean the body corporate controls communications with owners.
William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au
P: 07 5609 4924
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