Body Corporate Basics

Basics

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Receive an obligation-free proposal

We offer an obligation-free quote.

The first step is a short phone or in-person meeting to better understand the needs of your committee and scheme. This will only take around 10 minutes.

From there, we’ll put together a tailored proposal, including our easy-to-understand fee package.

Submit our proposal form, including the best contact time, and we’ll be in touch.

Receive an obligation
free proposal

We'll need to get some details about your building. Let us know the best time to contact you.

Just purchased a lot for the first time in a body corporate scheme? Here are some basics of body corporate to help get your started.

What is a body corporate?

A body corporate is a legal entity which is created automatically when a community titles scheme (CTS) is created. A body corporate is the legal structure that allows individual owners in a development to jointly own, manage and pay for the shared areas of the development.

A body corporate is similar to a company, where the owner of each lot in the body corporate is like a shareholder. The body corporate’s sole purpose is to manage and operate the development for which it was created.

What legal obligations does a body corporate have?

  • Maintenance
  • Insurance
  • Taxation
  • Financial accounting
  • Governance and management
  • Compliance and reporting
  • Record keeping
  • Disclosure

Who is a member of the body corporate?

All lot owners in the development are automatically members of the body corporate. In a townhouse development with 100 lots, there would be 100 members of the body corporate.

Membership of the body corporate is not optional and all members have some obligations.
While all members have some obligations (e.g. paying levies), participation in the democratic decision-making processes is optional.

What is a body corporate lot?

Occasionally a special levy will be issued even when there are sufficient monies in the sinking or administrative funds. Why – because the work in question won’t have been allowed for in the sinking fund forecast as mentioned earlier in this article.

For example, the current sinking fund balance is $100,000. The body corporate has allocated $20,000 for pool repairs, $10,000 for a new fence and $70,000 to resurface the driveway. If unexpected repairs on the pool rise to $30,000, the body corporate is obligated to recover the additional $10,000 via a special levy.

If a special levy is not issued, the body corporate is spending sinking fund money allocated to other capital expenses which is not lawful.

What is a community titles scheme?

A community titles scheme (CTS) is a type of development under which multiple lots and common property can be created on a single piece of land. This structure allows individual people to buy the separate lots and jointly own and manage the shared areas on the land.

This type of scheme is very common for duplexes, residential units and high-rise, townhouses, commercial office parks and other developments.

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