QLD: Q&A What documents should new body corporate committee request?

Taking over as a new committee member in a body corporate can be overwhelming. To ensure a smooth transition and effective leadership, it’s essential to have access to the necessary information and documentation from the previous committee. This article will guide you through the crucial documents a new committee should request to make informed decisions and manage the body corporate’s affairs efficiently.

Question: If I’m successfully elected as chair at our AGM, we’ll have a new committee. What documents should new body corporate committee request from the previous committee?

I have been nominated as chair for our AGM. If I’m successful, there will be no continuity, as the incumbent chair is the only old committee running.

What documents should new body corporate committee request from the previous committee? The body corporate management (BCM) company will be my first contact.

Obviously, I have the audited financials. The incoming treasurer is putting together a lengthy list of items for inclusion in the sinking fund forecast, and we will obtain a professional forecast as a first order of business.

How do we find out what outstanding items still need attention? Can I request a copy of emails containing decisions and documents that have not been uploaded to the BCM’s portal?

Answer: You need to assess the importance of what is missing and weigh up the merits of how hard you want to push the matter.

There are legislated requirements around record keeping.

As per the BCCM website, the body corporate must keep:

• accounting and financial records, including accounts, bank statements and invoices.
• orders and notices from a court, tribunal, council or other authority.
• insurance policies and any associated defect assessment reports for the body corporate.
• correspondence to and from the body corporate.
• meeting minutes and meeting material from general and committee meetings.
• notices and responses for motions passed outside a committee meeting.
• contracts with a body corporate manager or service contractor, and letting agent authorisations.
• any authority for a service contractor or letting agent to occupy common property.
• agreements made under an exclusive use by-law.
• reports given by a body corporate manager acting for the committee.

Mostly, this process is done by body corporate managers. If committee members have operated outside of your formal system, while acting on behalf of the body corporate, their correspondence is still a body corporate record and should be filed accordingly.

As such, you are well within your rights to request that the previous chair return records of this nature to the body corporate.

The question is, what will you do if they are or aren’t provided?

If they are provided, that’s good, but they may not be organised. You might be handed hundreds of emails that will take a fair bit of time to sift through. Does this help?

If they aren’t handed over, how far do you want to push the issue? You might need to engage a lawyer to provide a demand letter as a starting point.

You need to assess the importance of what is missing and weigh up the merits of how hard you want to push the matter.

Your body corporate manager should be able to give you an idea of ongoing business and how the previous chair operated. And, if crucial documents aren’t present, then you may have no choice other than to pursue the matter.

However, if it is just general material, it may not be worth the time to get this back versus the time you can spend achieving something positive for your scheme moving forward.

When there is a wholesale change of committee members due to acrimonious relationships with past members, there is often a feeling among the new members to have some kind of recriminatory action taken against the past members. That sentiment may be understandable, but you can’t change the past. I think you are much better looking forward and acting positively for your scheme. It can be hard to let go, but you will have a better body corporate in the end if you can.

See the BCCM website for more info on record keeping: Keeping and disposing of body corporate records

William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
E: [email protected]
P: 07 5609 4924

This post appears in Strata News #711.

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• QLD: Q&A Body Corporate Decision Making

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