This Q&A is about privacy and correspondence within a body corporate.
Table of Contents:
- QUESTION: Does the body corporate manager of the complex have to be copied in on all emails between the body corporate committee?
- QUESTION: Our chairman only passes information onto the rest of the committee when he needs something to be voted on. Isn’t it his duty to share all emails etc from the Body Corporate and the apartment manager with the rest of the committee?
- QUESTION: Can a lot owner’s address for service of notices be changed to an email address? Does this apply to General Meeting notices as well as all other mail?
- QUESTION: Can I make communications with the committee private by including words like ‘private and/or confidential and/or privileged’ in whatever I send?
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Question: Does the body corporate manager of the complex have to be copied in on all emails between the body corporate committee?
Answer: There is no requirement to have the manager copied into all committee emails.
While it is generally good to have a flow of relevant information, there is no requirement to have the manager copied into all committee emails. For example, you might not include them in if you were discussing their performance or contract.
William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
P: 07 5609 4924
E: [email protected]
This post appears in Strata News #423
Question: Our chairman only passes information onto the rest of the committee when he needs something to be voted on. Isn’t it his duty to share all emails etc from the Body Corporate and the apartment manager with the rest of the committee?
Our chairman only passes information onto the rest of the committee when he needs something to be voted on.
The committee is not informed when the manager is sick or goes on leave, we had someone break into the underground parking, he doesn’t inform the committee of any of these things. Isn’t it his duty to share all emails etc from the Body Corporate and the apartment manager with the rest of the committee?
Answer: Perhaps ask for communication to be reviewed at the next committee meeting with a view towards changing the current system.
Good communication is one of the keys to good strata management but how that is achieved can be a difficult balancing act.
It’s fairly common for plans to nominate one person as the key point of contact with a strata manager or building manager – it can help cut down on the volume of emails and improve decision making. However, if that is not working out for your plan then you are entitled to look at doing things a different way. Perhaps ask for communication to be reviewed at the next committee meeting with a view towards changing the current system. The change required could be as simple as asking for all committee members to be cc’ed in to communications with the strata and building manager even if they don’t participate directly in the conversation.
The other side of this question is to think that if one individual is handling most of the correspondence for a plan they may be doing quite a bit of work on behalf of all owners. That doesn’t mean they have control over the plan – the chairperson does not have any more authority than any one else on the committee – but hopefully the work they do is adding value and there may be good reasons why they have taken on an oversized role. Talk things through with an open mind and you should be able to reach a new equilibrium.
William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
P: 07 5609 4924
E: [email protected]
This post appears in Strata News #420
Question: Can a lot owner’s address for service of notices be changed to an email address? Does this apply to General Meeting notices as well as all other mail?
Can a lot owners address for service of notices be changed to an email address provided the body corporate has passed a motion for electronic notices and the owner has given written instructions to the body corporate manager?
If yes, please confirm this would apply to GM notices as well as all other mail.
Answer: Yes, a lot owners address for service of notices can be changed to an email address.
Yes, a lot owners address for service of notices can be changed to an email address.
This could include any correspondence or notices, including GM meeting notices, minutes etc.
Tammy Lynch
Tower Body Corporate
P: 07 5609 4924
E: [email protected]
This post appears in Strata News #377
Question: Can I make communications with the committee private by including words like ‘private and/or confidential and/or privileged’ in whatever I send?
I wish to have written communications (by hard-copy and/or by e-mail) with the committee, including the Body Corporate Manager, about some concerns of mine without these communications forming part of the body corporate records and thereby searchable by other owners under s.205 of the BCCM Act (QLD).
Can I make these communications ‘not searchable’ by including words like ‘private and/or confidential and/or privileged’ in whatever I send to the committee?
Answer: Unfortunately not. They are body corporate records or they are not.
They are body corporate records or they are not.
Adjudicators have always found that things like this, once they hit the body corporate manager’s desk, are body corporate records and available to other owners.
The only way to keep them confidential is to have a chat with the respective members, and even then if they then minute that at a committee meeting, your concerns may become public in the sense that they form part of the minutes themselves.
Frank Higginson
Email Hynes Legal
Visit the Hynes Legal Website
This post appears in Strata News #213.
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Read More:
- QLD: Q&A Can I Access Body Corporate Records
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As far as confidentiality goes, if there was committee correpsondence regarding an active legal case against a Lot Owner, would that be considered confidential? And if a committee member forwarded that information to the Lot Owner, would it be a violation of the committee Code of Conduct?
Instead of just asking as to whether or not body corporate managers need be copied in on all emails between a body corporate committee, it would help if the persons wanting to know such things included information as to why they need to know the answer, like for example, they may have a manager who – “in prying…err..trying it on” – is hoping to deviously-dupe body corporate committee members into believing that they must include body corporate managers in ALL correspondence else without such inclusion they won’t be able to manage things with aplomb.
Does the manager of complex have to be copied in on all emails between the body corporate committee?
We have responded to your comment on this post: QLD: Q&A Privacy and Correspondence within Body Corporates
The secretary is responsible for making available to owners any and all strata records on request.
If the SM is relied on to satisfy owner requests to inspect strata records it would be necessary for the SM to be provided with all strata records that the committee members created (including correspondence with each other or others about strata matters).
Failure to do so (ie withholding strata records from owners) is an offence.
How can you know that correspondence that is sent to the Body Corporate committee is accessible to other owners and/or future buyers and becomes part of the body corporate records. The secretary of our self-managed body corporate claims there are no body corporate records, even though as a unit owner I have sent correspondence to the committee that has never been responded to. I would love to know that there is a process in place which makes that correspondence and committee meeting minutes etc available for others to view as part of the body corporate records. If a secretary claims there are no records, what can we do? The fact that there is never any response to any communication sent to the committee is frustrating at best, infuriating mostly. Unfortunately the other owners in this small scheme have no interest int he complex or what the committee does/or does not do. Thank you.
What you can do is promptly get your State Administrative Tribunal involved to find out why no records exist by setting a trap for the secretary – who is repeating like a “broken record” that there are no records – and then officially *record* that this person is never again able to act in such privileged position. QED