Functions of councils

The functions of a strata company shall, subject to this Act and to any restriction imposed or direction given at a general meeting, be performed by the council of the strata company.

The council of a strata company shall be constituted and shall perform its functions in accordance with and in the manner provided by the by-laws of the strata company.

Schedule 1 By-Laws taken from the Act - see link.

1. Meet together for the conduct of business and adjourn and otherwise regulate its meetings as it thinks fit, but the council shall meet when any member of the council gives to the other members not less than 7 days’ notice of a meeting proposed by him, specifying in the notice the reason for calling the meeting;
2. Employ on behalf of the strata company such agents and employees as it thinks fit in connection with the control and management of the common property and the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of the strata company; ( the interpretation of this within the Act includes terminating and ceasing of services and agents, a strata manager is deemed a service provider, the same as a gardener, electrician etc)
3. Subject to any restriction imposed or direction given at a general meeting of the strata company, delegate to one or more of its members such of its powers and duties as it thinks fit, and at any time revoke the delegation.
4. A member of a council may appoint a proprietor, or an individual authorised under section 45 of the Act by a corporation which is a proprietor, to act in his place as a member of the council at any meeting of the council and any proprietor or individual so appointed shall, when so acting, be deemed to be a member of the council.
5. A proprietor or individual may be appointed under sub-bylaw (3) whether or not he is a member of the council.
6. If a person appointed under sub-bylaw (3) is a member of the council he may, at any meeting of the council, separately vote in his capacity as a member and on behalf of the member in whose place he has been appointed to act.
7. The council shall keep minutes of its proceedings.

Other critical information to consider

Below is some information to assist you with cessation of strata management, we are more than happy to assist you with all or part of the following process.

Termination of your strata manager

Is there an existing strata management agreement in place? If so, refer to the strata management agreement to see;

1. Dates of the contract
2. Successive Terms noted, if any
3. Is the contract signed by the council members (two must sign)
4. Termination clause, typically 15 of the Standard SCAWA agreement

The Termination clause will typically state the terms in which the contract may be terminated outside the “normal “agreement due to Material Breach, Mutual termination, and other reasons as outlined within this clause.

AGM/ GM

Was a motion passed at an AGM pertaining to the appointment of the strata company manager, if so what period, any other information, defining comments / contract etc.

Termination

The strata company may then, based upon the information collected as above decide whether to proceed with Termination and if so, how i.e. termination due to Material Breach, Mutual termination or Notice of Cessation.

The notice of cessation is best facilitated in writing to the Strata Company manager, advising them of the termination date and handover of all strata company records etc to the new manager and if necessary other restrictions such as expenditure etc may be imposed.

The Strata Company may also attempt to negotiate an early exit, pay a negotiated exit fee i.e. two months fee instead of three and exit/ handover to the new manager at say 1 – 2 months.