Bodies Corporate – don’t forget the important Unit Titles changes due in October this year

Sam is part of the Body Corporate committee for the apartment building he lives in. When the new Unit Titles law came into force the committee hurriedly tried to get up to speed with the new requirements.

They had an AGM before 20 December 2011 as required, and set up disclosure templates. They thought that they had done everything required and could now rest easy. They were wrong!

There are some transitional parts of the new laws that Bodies Corporate need to be aware of and prepare for that only come into effect in October this year (unless you had passed special resolutions to have them apply earlier).

They are:

Long Term Maintenance Plan – the Body Corporate must have a Long Term Maintenance Plan in place by October 2012. This covers future work on the building for a 10 year period. Although there is no specific punishment for not having such a plan, buildings without such plans will be unattractive to potential purchasers.

Rules - the default Operational Rules detailed in the regulations will only take over a Body Corporate’s old Rules in October 2012 (unless you have resolved to change them earlier).

Repair and Maintenance – Section 138 which says that repair of common property and any building elements and infrastructure (as defined in the Act) is the responsibility of the Body Corporate, will only apply automatically after October 2012.

If your Body Corporate is unsure of its obligations, it should take legal advice.