Strata Legislation Queensland

Strata Legislation Queensland

Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (BCCMA)

An Act providing for the establishment and administration of community titles schemes, and for other purposes.

Body Corporate and Community Management (Small Schemes Module) Regulation 2008

Available to schemes of six lots or less.

Body Corporate and Community Management (Accommodation Module) Regulation 2008

Suitable for predominately investment owners who let their lots.

Body Corporate and Community Management (Commercial Module) Regulation 2008

Suitable for business premises.

Body Corporate and Community Management (Standard Module) Regulation 2008

Suitable for predominantly resident owners.

Queensland Government Property Law Review Options Paper 2014

Body corporate governance issues: By-laws, debt recovery and scheme termination

Body Corporate and Community Management (BCCM)

The Office of the Commissioner for Department of Justice and Attorney-General, Queensland Government is the regulator for strata and community title in Queensland. Their site provides a wide variety of information about strata & community title in Queensland including:

Forms and Publications

Adjudicator’s decisions

Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA)

Providing information about

• Renting
• Dispute Assistance
• RTA Resources
• Forms
• Fact sheets
• The Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008

Swimming pool safety laws: Guideline for pool owners and property agents

Department of Housing and Public Works
Pool safety

Useful Links and Strata Legislation Queensland

The Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management

Strata regulator for Queensland. The site contains a treasure of strata title information.

Strata Community Association (QLD)

The leading professional body for the strata and community title sector in Queensland with lots of strata title information.

Australian Resident Accommodation Managers Association ARAMA

The membership based industry body representing people involved in the Management Rights of property that operates under body corporate, strata or community title across Queensland.

Management Rights Australia

Find out why this lucrative industry, offering ‘lifestyle security and high returns,’ is a unique business opportunity and how you and your family can secure your future living a quality lifestyle. Whilst a Management Rights business can offer attractive lifestyle alternatives, the purchase process can be littered with financial and legal pitfalls; this can be daunting for the first time buyer.

QLD: Contact your local Member of Parliament

if you believe there is a strata issue that needs to be brought to the government’s attention.

Useful Unit Title Forms for Strata Legislation Queensland

The Office of the Commissioner for Department of Justice and Attorney-General, Queensland Government

Provides access to a PDF version of a number of strata title forms HERE. See the below links for direct access to some of the commonly used forms:

• BCCM Form 01 Notice to body corporate of a contravention of a body corporate by-law (Approved form).
• BCCM Form 04 Notice of annual general meeting of the body corporate (Office form).
• BCCM Form 05 Notice of extraordinary general meeting of the body corporate (Office form) .
• BCCM Form 06 Proxy form for body corporate general meetings (Approved form).
• BCCM Form 07 Proxy form for committee meetings (Approved form).
• BCCM Form 08 Information for body corporate roll (Office form).
• BUGTA Form 12 Notification of change of by-laws.
• BUGTA Form 14 Notification of change of address.

Dispute Resolution forms

• Conciliation application guide and form (Form 22)
• Adjudication application guide and form (Form 15)

Problems With Apartments? Complaint handling in your body corporate for Strata Legislation Queensland

Body Corporate & Community Management

From the Body Corporate & Community Management publication How to enforce by-laws – “The body corporate is responsible for enforcing its by-laws. The committee as the administrative arm of the body corporate is usually responsible for ensuring all owners and occupiers comply with the by-laws. However, owners and occupiers can also commence enforcement action if certain conditions are met. Enforcement action usually commences with the issue of mandatory notices, however there are limited circumstances in which the service of a notice is not required.”

The Body Corporate & Community Management Act requires that the Notice to body corporate of a contravention of a body corporate by-law (Body Corporate & Community Management Form 1) be used to request the body corporate to issue a contravention notice.

If dispute resolution is necessary, it follows a three steps processes:

1. Self-resolution

   In most circumstances the Act requires that an applicant has made an attempt to resolve the issue in an informal manner prior to making a conciliation or adjudication application.

   The self-resolution process is explained in detail in this Self-resolution factsheet, including tips for communicating your concerns & what to do if your attempts at self-resolution are not successful.

2. Conciliation

   If self-resolution is not successful, this is the next step. In most cases conciliation is compulsory and involves a face-to-face or teleconference meeting between the parties which is facilitated by a conciliator.

   The conciliation process is explained in detail in this Conciliation factsheet, including details about the benefits of conciliation & how to prepare for the event.

   PDF links to: Conciliation application guide & form (Form 22)

3. Adjudication

   If conciliation is not successful, this is the next step. The adjudication process is explained in detail in this Adjudication factsheet, including details about the five step adjudication process.

   PDF links to: Adjudication application guide & form (Form 15)

Further detailed information can be found at the Government of Queensland’s Body Corporate & Community Management page – Body Corporate & Community Management dispute resolution service and the Body Corporate & Community Management Body Corporate Dispute Page.

What to do if you are unhappy with your strata manager

The Body Corporate & Community Management has also produced a factsheet covering information about Body Corporate Managers. The factsheet covers the following topics:

• Duties of the manager
• The manager and the committee
• The manager’s code of conduct
• Termination