There are a range of documents which must be provided at least 48 hours before the first annual general meeting held on or after the new strata reforms begin on 30 November 2016.
The documents which must be provided by the original owner (as prescribed under S16 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 and clauses 6 and 29 of the Strata Schemes Management Regulation) are:
The initial maintenance schedule must also be provided, and must include maintenance and inspection schedules for:
- exterior walls, guttering, downpipes and roof;
- pools and surrounds, including fencing and gates;
- air conditioning, heating and ventilation systems;
- fire protection equipment, including sprinkler systems, alarms and smoke detectors;
- security access systems;
- embedded networks and micro-grids.
These items also must be attached to the maintenance schedule:
- all warranties for systems, equipment or any other things referred to in the schedule;
- any manuals or maintenance requirements provided by manufacturers;
- the name and contact details of the manufacturer and installer;
- any interim report or final report of a building inspector prepared under Part 11 and relating to any building on the parcel;
- any other document or item relating to the parcel or any building, plant or equipment on the parcel that is prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this section;
- if a building is required to be insured under Division 1 of Part 9 of the Act, any valuation of the building;
- maintenance and service manuals;
- all service agreements relating to the supply of gas, electricity or other utilities to the parcel;
- copies of building contracts for the parcel, including any variations to those contracts;
- the most recent BASIX certificate (issued under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979) for each building on the parcel.
If the above documents are not provided, the original owner faces a potential penalty of up to $11,000 and/or orders to produce those records.
Obligation of an original owner to create a document
Is there an obligation to ‘create’ a document if it is not in existence?
S16 (2) of the SSMA 2015 requires an original owner to deliver a thing ‘if that thing is in the possession or control of the original owner or lessor, or may be obtained by the lessor by taking reasonable steps to do so’.
S16 (3) of the SSMA 2015 provides that an original owner is not required to deliver any documents that ‘exclusively evidence rights or obligations of the original owner or lessor and that are not capable of being used for the benefit of the owners corporation or any of the other owners’.
If the document can be created ‘by taking reasonable steps’, the original owner should do so. In the case of a depreciation schedule, a cautionary approach would be to create the schedule with regards to both lot and common property.
What is the impact of the Initial Maintenance Schedule on a Owners Corporation?
Some further interesting points which arise about the Initial Maintenance Schedule, are:
- s115 (3) of the SSMA 2015 states an ‘owners corporation is not required to comply with the initial maintenance schedule for the maintenance of common property vested in it’;
- However, s115 (4) of the SSMA 2015 provides that the ‘initial maintenance schedule may be considered in any proceedings for the purpose of determining whether or not a defect in or damage to a building could have been avoided by the taking of specified action’.
