Strata Building Management
Lesson 4: Working with the committee, strata manager and owners
Goal: set up clear lines of instruction and reporting with the committee, work smoothly with the strata manager, and handle owners and residents without getting caught between them.
Instructions: who, how and in writing
The law: committees make decisions by resolution at a committee meeting, or by a vote outside a meeting if the Act allows it (most states do, with conditions). A single committee member, even the chair, usually has no power to instruct you unless the committee has delegated it.
Industry practice: most well-run buildings settle on a simple rule: day-to-day instructions come from one nominated person (often the chair or a “building liaison” committee member), and anything outside your agreement or spending limit comes from a committee resolution. Write the rule down and get the committee to minute it.
Practitioner tip: confirm every verbal instruction by email the same day. “Thanks for the call. As discussed, I’ll get two quotes for the pool fence repair and bring them to the committee meeting on the 14th.” It takes a minute and settles most later arguments.
When instructions conflict, don’t pick a side. Write back to both people: “I’ve had different directions on this from X and Y. Could the committee confirm which it wants?” That’s not being difficult. It protects you and them.
Reporting to the committee
A committee that knows what you’re doing trusts you more and micromanages you less. A good monthly report is short and the same shape every time:
| Section | Contents |
|---|---|
| Headlines | Three to five things the committee must know or decide |
| Work orders | Opened, completed and still open this month, with the oldest open items flagged |
| Spending | What you approved under your delegation, by fund, against budget |
| Compliance | Fire safety, lift, pool, backflow and other inspections done and coming due (Lesson 11) |
| Incidents | Injuries, damage, security events, insurance claims (Lesson 15) |
| By-laws | Breaches observed and reported, with no names in reports that owners may see |
| Projects | Progress on larger works against plan |
| Decisions needed | Each with your recommendation and the quotes or evidence attached |
Practitioner tip: attend committee meetings when invited, for the building part of the agenda. Speak to your report, answer questions, then leave so the committee can talk about you freely. That’s normal and healthy.
Working with the strata manager
You and the strata manager are on the same side, and you need each other: the strata manager knows the law, the money and the records; you know the building. Friction usually comes from two things: work falling between you, and each side thinking the other is the committee’s favourite.
Agree in writing who does what. A simple split that works in most buildings:
| Task | Building manager | Strata manager |
|---|---|---|
| Raising work orders within your limit | ✔ | |
| Quotes for larger works | Gets quotes, recommends | Puts to committee or meeting, issues contract |
| Paying invoices | Checks and approves work done | Pays from the right fund |
| Insurance claims | Makes safe, photos, quotes | Lodges and manages the claim |
| By-law breaches | Records evidence, reports | Issues notices |
| Owner records, levies | ✔ | |
| Keys and access registers | ✔ | |
| Notices to residents about works | Drafts and posts | Sends to owners if required by law |
| Contractor insurance and licence records | ✔ (or shared) |
Owners, tenants and residents
Residents will often see you as the face of the building. Some practical rules:
- Respond to everyone, act for the body corporate. Every owner and resident deserves a prompt, polite answer. That doesn’t mean you do what they ask: you do what the body corporate has asked.
- Tenants talk to their landlord’s agent about their own lot. A tenant whose oven is broken contacts their agent, not you. A tenant reporting a leak from the ceiling into their lot from upstairs is reporting a possible common property problem, so you act.
- Keep owners’ business private. Don’t discuss one owner’s levy arrears, dispute or complaint with another.
- Use the right channel for formal things. A by-law complaint should be in writing so it can be acted on. Many schemes have a form.
- Write for everyone. Notices on the lift wall, in plain English, with dates and a contact. In multicultural buildings, a few translated key lines (water off, fire drill) are worth the effort.
Conflicts of interest and gifts
The law: Queensland’s code of conduct requires caretakers to deal openly with conflicts. Since October 2025 NSW building managers must disclose in writing any connection with a supplier, the developer or a financial interest in the scheme, and strata managing agents can’t take commissions unless a general meeting has approved them after full disclosure. Other states rely on contract law and the general law on secret commissions, which is a criminal offence in several states.
Practitioner tip: a safe rule anywhere in Australia is: disclose any connection with a contractor you recommend (family, friends, past employers, any payment or benefit), in writing, before the work is approved. Refuse gifts beyond a box of chocolates at Christmas, and tell the committee about those too. The building manager who has nothing to hide is the one who keeps the job for 15 years.
At Banksia Court
The committee is split: four members want to save money, three want the building “done properly”. Each side rings you to complain about the other. You stay out of it: you give both the same information in your monthly report, put options with costs to the full committee, and act on the resolution. When one member asks you, privately, to “slow walk” a job the majority approved, you politely decline and do the job.
On the job 4
Write your monthly report template using the table above and send the first one this month. Then agree the who-does-what table with your strata manager and ask the committee to note it in the minutes.
Sources
- Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld), Schedule 2: codes of conduct
- Strata Central (2025), NSW changes that started on 27 October 2025
- NSW Government, Changes to strata scheme laws
- Consumer Affairs Victoria, Owners corporations
General education, not legal advice. Strata law is different in every state and territory and it changes often (NSW and Victoria both changed theirs in 2025 and 2026), so check the current Act and your own agreement, and get advice before acting on anything here.