If you have noticed a decline in your body corporate management services or an inability to contact your body corporate manager, it might be time to consider a new agency.
Below is a step-by-step guide to find out why, when, and how to change your body corporate manager.
When is it worth changing your body corporate manager?
Termination of a body corporate manager can be a big decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Key signs that you may need to change your body corporate manager include:
Substantial levy arrears
Following up payment of levies is an integral part of your body corporate manager’s role. There will always be a few late payers, but they should be kept to a minimum. If your complex is frequently operating with arrears and information regarding these arrears hasn’t been provided to the Committee, it can jeopardise the budget or cause an inability to pay for insurance or service contractors.
Unkept common areas
A good body corporate management company responds quickly to maintenance and repair requests and addresses these concerns with Committee Members to ensure the maintenance can be carried out within a reasonable timeframe.
Late Annual General Meetings
Legislation requires your Body Corporate to hold an Annual General Meeting every year, within 3 months of your Body Corporate’s end of financial year. If it is late due to the agenda or budget not being drafted by your Body Corporate Manager within a timely manner, this may be a sign that a new Body Corporate Manager is required.
Steps to change body corporate management companies
1. Check your current agreement
Ask your body corporate manager to provide you with a copy of the current agreement between the Body Corporate management company and Body Corporate.
This sets out:
- The length of the contact and expiration date
- The terms under which the agreement can be terminated early
Generally, a contract can only be terminated before its expiration date if the body corporate management company has breached its terms. If you feel your Body Corporate Manager has breached the terms of the agreement, a remedial action notice should be issued. The process for issuing a residual action notice can be found here on the BCCM website.
This website also details the process for terminating the agreement, should the remedial action notice not rectify the concerns of the Body Corporate.
2. Decide on a new body corporate manager
When considering changing body corporate management companies, it’s important to know that you can’t terminate your current agreement before you have chosen a new body corporate manager to take over.
The tender process may vary from one committee to another, with some committees providing official ‘Requests to Tender,’ while others only want to know the cost and overall view of the services available. Once the committee has decided on a preferred Body Corporate Manager, they often put a document together which outlines their recommendations for the owners within the Body Corporate to consider.
At Civium, we understand the importance of viewing the site before issuing the value propositions in our services and commit to an on-site visit with the committee prior to submitting a tender.
3. Call a general meeting
The change of body corporate management companies must be done via a General Meeting, allowing all owners to vote.
If you are changing body corporate management companies at the expiration of a contract, the timing will likely coincide with the Annual General Meeting. If you are terminating due to a breach, and the Annual General Meeting is too far in advance, you may choose to call an Extraordinary General Meeting instead.
If you have any questions regarding the process for changing Body Corporate Managers or the legislative timeframes for when motions must be submitted, Civium is available to provide templates, guidance and support for this process.
4. Sign the paperwork
Once the Body Corporate have passed the motions to appoint a new manager, two Committee members can sign the contract with the new body corporate management company.
5. Ensure a smooth handover
Notify the incoming body corporate manager that they were successful and also communicate the outcome to your current body corporate manager.
Your incoming managing agent will then contact the outgoing to arrange the handover of all records and documents, including a roll of owners and all of the financials.
If Civium is your incoming agent, we will keep you up to date throughout the transition process and organise an executive committee meeting as soon as possible. This meeting will discuss the day to day running of the complex, specialized house rules, outstanding items, and areas for improvement.
If your current body corporate manager is not meeting your needs, contact us for more information about how we can tailor a package to suit your community.
