Role of the Committee

The committee is the executive arm of the body corporate. The committee has the duty of putting into effect the lawful decisions of the body corporate (Body Corporate and Community Management Act Section 101). It is a group charged with decision-making power to deal with matters of lesser importance that confront a body corporate during the year. Every body corporate must have a committee (Standard Module Section 7), unless a body corporate manager is engaged in place of the committee to carry out the executive functions. (Standard Module Section 58, (Body Corporate and Community Management Act Section 122).

The committee is elected yearly at the annual general meeting.

Committee members are representatives of all owners, not just themselves. For this reason they must disqualify themselves from voting on any issue where they have a direct pecuniary financial interest, though the committee members may not be excluded from the meeting (Standard Module Section 53). Where a possible conflict concerns a non-voting committee member, voting members have the right to exclude the non-voting member of the committee from the meeting (Standard Module Section 50(1)). It is curious to note there is no similar provision dealing with voting members of the committee.

Committee members must be selfless in the way they go about their duties. They must take a long-term view of the body corporate to ensure the facilities management produces the most beneficial long-term impact on the community titles scheme. Generally, committee members are not entitled to payments for their services nor to reimburse their expenses unless such a payment is approved by ordinary resolution at general meeting. This resolution is subject to strict requirements (Standard Module Section 26(2))

The general duties of the committee members include -

• Attending all the committee meetings each year. These meetings are called as required and are usually quarterly.
• Reading the meeting notices prior to attending the meeting
• Attending to various jobs (e.g. obtaining quotes for painting or gardening)

Generally committee members do all these things without any remuneration for their time and talents.

Different Committee members can have different responsiblities, for example:

CHAIRPERSON –

• The Chairperson must chair every meeting (in the absence of the Committee Chairperson another member may chair the meeting with agreement of the voting members);
• Authorizes the Minutes of the previous Committee/General Meeting;
• Has the authority to rule a motion "Out of Order" at General Meetings;
• The Chairperson must be aware of the Committee’s spending limit and authorizations imposed on the committee;
• Approves annual building insurance quotes and renewals;

SECRETARY –

• Generally Calls Committee Meetings;
• To advise owners of any Committee Meetings by placing a copy of the Meeting Notice on the common property notice board, if applicable;
• Takes Minutes of Meetings, in the absence of a Body Corporate Manager;
• To keep record of the outcome of any decision taken outside of a meeting;
• Accepts from owners quotes and tenders for proposed major work (in conjunction with the Body Corporate Manager);
• Obtains quotes or tenders for major expenditure when the project is proposed by the committee;
• Prepares any correspondence required of the committee;

TREASURER –

• Pays authorized remuneration, allowances or expenses to a committee member;
• Approves draft of budget prepared by SSKB;
• Reviews Monthly Financials;
• Approves payment of invoices to be forwarded to SSKB;
• If authorized by the body corporate, borrows funds;

ORDINARY COMMITTEE-

• To enforce the Community Management Statement (CMS) including Body Corporate By-Laws;
• In the absence of a Building Manager, to organize ‘common property’ repairs and maintenance;
• To implement the lawful decisions of the Body Corporate;
• To administer the common property and body corporate assets for the benefit of all owners.