NSW: Q&A Improving Strata Committee Communications

A NSW committee member would like to know how to improve communications within the strata committee.

Table of Contents:

• QUESTION: How do you ensure that the day to day decisions of the strata committee are conveyed to the strata manager? Is it best to nominate a single strata committee member to be the communication channel?
• QUESTION: What is the correct channel for raising issues pertaining to our strata complex? Should the lot owner first contact the Strata Manager or the Strata Committee?
• QUESTION: I’m secretary of our strata committee and the chairperson refuses to communicate about upcoming structural changes. How can we improve communications?

Question: How do you ensure that the day to day decisions of the strata committee are conveyed to the strata manager? Is it best to nominate a single strata committee member to be the communication channel?

Answer: We do find one main point of contact between the strata manager and the committee helpful for a lot of our strata schemes.

Yes, a lot of our strata schemes do have a day to day contact between the strata committee and us as the Strata Manager. This doesn’t prevent other members of the strata committee from contacting the strata manager at all, it just assists with process and governance.

I would suggest that if you do appoint a representative to contact the strata manager, when that person emails the strata manager with an instruction, copy the rest of the committee into that email. This way, everyone is kept in the loop and knows what’s going on. It makes sure there is transparency.

Whether or not we insist on this can depend on the volume of communication and whether there are any politics at play in the strata scheme but we do find one main point of contact on the committee helpful for a lot of our strata schemes.

Rod Smith
The Strata Collective
E: [email protected]
P: 02 9879 3547

This post appears in the March 2022 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.

Question: What is the correct channel for raising issues pertaining to our strata complex? Should the lot owner first contact the Strata Manager or the Strata Committee?

Could you please provide the correct channel of raising matters when it comes to issues pertaining to our strata complex? Should the lot owner first contact the Strata Manager or is the Strata Committee the first port of call? We don’t have a building manager.

There is an ‘Owners Corporation’ letter box, but I don’t know if it ever gets cleared. If our Strata Committee has email addresses, we don’t have access to these. Should this be in the AGM Minutes once the Committee has been approved?

Is there a basic step by step chain of who to contact and if the matter still hasn’t been addressed, then what is the next step?

Answer: The first port of call is the strata manager. Send them an email or give them a call.

Depending on what the matter is, the first port of call is to the strata manager for response. Depending on the request, the strata manager will either make a decision on the spot or they’ll pass it back to the strata committee.

It’s highly unusual for strata committees to pass out their personal email address or phone numbers. I’ve recently had this end in disaster where a strata committee member gave their mobile phone number to an owner. The owner was upset and was texting late at night and so forth. My advice to the strata committee member was ‘Block that number’. That normally doesn’t happen, but the first port of call is the strata manager. Just send them an email or give them a call.

If you want an email passed on to the strata committee, normally they’ll do that, depending on the content and how it’s written. If it’s professional and courteous, normally, that would get passed across to the strata committee. If it’s guns blazing and all crazy, it probably won’t but I assume that it will be courteous and professional email they’ll be sent so that should get passed to the committee.

Rod Smith
The Strata Collective
E: [email protected]
P: 02 9879 3547

This post appears in the December 2021 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.

Question: I’m secretary of our strata committee and the chairperson refuses to communicate about upcoming structural changes. How can we improve communications?

I am the secretary of a strata committee and the chairperson has been in charge of structural change required to comply with a fire upgrade. He is not answering my calls or texts in relation to obtaining more information about the changes.

There has been very little communication within the committee and I’ve found out by accidentally stumbling across a builder on-site, that decisions have been made about material choices.

What can I do?

Answer: Call a Meeting to discuss these issues with the entire committee to make sure that all members are in agreement regarding the course of action.

This is an excellent question. The Secretary should call a Strata Committee Meeting to discuss these issues with the entire committee to make sure that all Strata Committee members are in agreement regarding the course of action.

I would suggest that the scope of works, quotations and any council orders be provided to all members of the strata committee prior to the meeting. The builder should also attend the meeting to discuss any questions.

I would suggest that you engage both the chairperson and the strata manager to put together the agenda. This will ensure that they are also informed of the requirement of the other members of the strata committee to improve communications and transparency.

It is likely that a strata manager will have experience with dealing with fire matters and they would likely be a good resource for your strata committee moving forward.

Rod Smith
The Strata Collective
E: [email protected]
P: 02 9879 3547

This post appears in Strata News #272.

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• NSW: Taming Keyboard Warriors – How to Deal With Unreasonable Strata Communications
• Decisions of the Strata Committee

This article is for reference purposes only and is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the developments in the law and practice or to cover all aspect of the subject matter. It does not constitute legal or other advice and should not be relied upon this way. Readers should take legal or other advice before applying the information containing in this publication.

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