This article discusses whether you can nominate yourself and another committee member and outlines the nomination limits for lot owners.
Question: As an owner of a single lot, am I able to nominate myself, plus another owner, to the committee? I’d like to change the chairperson without losing my spot on the committee.
I am an owner in a block of nine villas with a professional strata manager. There is an elected committee of five owners, and I am an ordinary committee member. I will nominate myself for appointment as an ordinary committee member again at the upcoming AGM.
Am I only able to nominate one person for the committee? As no one else is likely to nominate me, I need to nominate myself as an ordinary committee member, but I also want to nominate another owner for the position of chairperson. How do I do this?
If I’m not able to make two separate nominations, how can I change the current chairperson without losing my position as an ordinary member of the committee?
Answer: It may not be too important to focus on who is chair and more on getting numbers appointed to the committee.
If you own a single lot on the scheme, you can only nominate one person. You have a choice between nominating yourself and nominating your preferred candidate as chair.
If you own two lots, you can nominate two people.
If an owner has three or more lots, they can nominate up to three people if the scheme has more than seven lots or two people if six lots and under. This is to limit one owner who owns multiple lots from forming a majority committee.
However, as owners can self-nominate, the easiest thing is if each lot nominates its candidate. So, if you self-nominate and your preferred candidate from another lot self-nominates, you will both be on the ballot. If your preferred candidate is not an owner, another lot will have to make that decision over who they nominate.
One thing to bear in mind is that the committee can have up to seven members. You have nine lots, so the likelihood is that most people who want to be appointed will be. At worst, in an election, there is a small chance of missing out. When formed, the committee is run by majority decision. Chairs often take an oversized role in committee affairs, but this shouldn’t or doesn’t have to be the case. As such, it may not be too important to focus on who is chair and more on getting numbers appointed to the committee.
See the BCCM website for more on nominations: Nominations and eligibility for body corporate committees
This post appears in Strata News #651.
William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au
P: 07 5609 4924
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