Question: I’d like a succinct explanation of an On-site manager’s powers in a QLD body corporate complex.
Please give a succinct explanation of an On-site manager’s powers in a complex. Some owners think we have all-encompassing powers and can go around arresting people and towing cars away for parking incorrectly. Perhaps an explanation of the due process that has to be followed to enforce a By-law breach is required?
Answer: An onsite manager doesn’t have ‘powers’ as much as they have duties.
An onsite manager doesn’t have ‘powers’ as much as they have duties. Those duties are set out in their management rights agreements.
As always, the difficulty then comes with personalities. Some committees want onsite managers to run around executing people for the slightest infraction and others don’t want that to happen at all as they want to deal with it.
At law only a committee can enforce by-laws. Any ‘enforcement’ usually comes as result of by-law infractions, so what that mans is that (in a nutshell) an onsite manager should report breaches of by-laws to the committee for actioning. The committee then should deal with them. A good onsite manager may well have a quiet word to the alleged breacher and suggest that if they don’t follow the by-laws the committee may get a little unhappy about it, so its perhaps best you don’t do ‘that’ any more too.
This post appears in Strata News #501.
Frank Higginson Redchip Strata Law E: FrankH@redchip.com.au P: 07 3193 0500