This article discusses a strata manager declaring voting results at a meeting under the chair’s authority.
Question: Given a chairperson’s duties include declaring the results of votes on motions at a general meeting, what are the legal implications, if any, of an employee of the strata manager (ie the community manager) declaring the results rather than the chairperson of the committee who is present and chairing the meeting.
Answer: The body corporate manager is engaged to assist the body corporate and can be authorised to carry out some or all of the powers of the committee.
The body corporate manager is engaged to assist the body corporate and can be authorised to carry out some or all of the powers of the committee. This includes assistance to the Chair during a meeting that can extend to reading out the votes at the direction of the Chair.
It’s important to note that when doing this the body corporate manager is not replacing the Chair and on the minutes the Chair is recorded as holding that position for the meeting.
There is a wider question here about the extent to which the body corporate manager should play an active role in the meeting. The need for them to do so will vary from scheme to scheme. At some buildings, the committee may be very engaged in running the building and owners may have a clear idea of how they want the meetings to be run. In that case, the body corporate manager may be a more passive presence whose main function is recording the minutes.
Other sites may be more reliant on the manager as the knowledge-hub for the scheme and require greater direction from the manager to help meetings run efficiently. In those cases it is reasonable for the manager, under the direction of the Committee, to play a more direct role.
See the government website for further details on the role of the body corporate manager: Queensland Government: Body corporate manager
This post appears in Strata News #500.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924