The types of buildings listed above will have a ‘Plan of Subdivision’ registered with the titles office, available for all owners to view. The Plan of Subdivision for a building divides areas into private lots (the responsibility of each individual owner) and common property (the responsibility of the owners corporation).
If you own an apartment or townhouse on a (oc) property with a Plan of Subdivision, you automatically become a member of the owners corporation.
This group of owners, or asset holders, together makes up the owners corporation.
What does the owners corporation do?
The owners corporation is responsible for:
- Maintaining building insurance
- Maintenance of the common property
- Enforcing the owners corporation rules
- Raising levies from all owners to pay for the above services
- Providing owners corporation certificates to owners who wish to sell
The owners corporation is a legal entity comprising of a group of owners who own property in the same development, and the responsibility of performing the above functions is governed by legislation. These include the Owners Corporations Act (Vic) 2006, The Owners Corporations Regulations (Vic) 2007, and several other pieces of law pertaining to corporations, tax, contract law, building codes, and more. For more information, you can refer to our article on Governing Documents.
The main body for making decisions in relation to the above responsibilities is the owners corporation Annual General Meeting (AGM) where decisions are made by casting votes. At the AGM, the owners corporation may elect a committee to make other decisions on behalf of the owners corporation in the interim.
An owners corporation may also engage contractors to provide services, and can delegate additional decision making powers to these service providers if it so wishes. These contractors can include:
Across each year, the committee works with various professional advisers to make decisions on behalf of the owners corporation, through means of passing general resolutions and ratifying policies for the benefit of all owners.
Are you looking for a new owners corporation manager? Melb OC are experienced professional advisers who can help you with the best outcomes for your precinct. Call us today on 03 9108 3910.
