AGMs + Heatwaves: The Body Corporate Compliance Playbook

As AGM season collides with summer weather risks, it’s the perfect moment to tighten owners corporation/body corporate compliance—so insurance holds, penalties are avoided, and committees stay out of breach-of-duty trouble. Here’s a field-tested playbook for small strata businesses and committees.

1) Introduction: A Season of Meetings—and Storms

“We’re fine—until something happens.” That was the refrain at a mid-city owners corporation as heatwaves and storm forecasts loomed. The committee assumed the strata manager “had it covered.” But compliance isn’t magic; it’s method. AGMs are not just about motions and minutes—they’re your checkpoint to prove essential safety measures are logged, insurance sums insured and valuations are current, trust accounts reconcile, and manager commissions/conflicts are transparently disclosed in AGM papers.

2) The Wake-Up Call: Missing Logs, Outdated Sums Insured

What surfaced in the pre-AGM scan

Essential Safety Measures (ESM) logbooks had missed quarterly entries and no signed contractor attestations.
Insurance renewal used a three-year-old valuation—well below post-inflation rebuild costs.
Trust account reconciliations were a month behind, with unclear audit trails.
AGM papers lacked disclosures of manager commissions and potential conflicts of interest.
WHS/asbestos registers weren’t cross-referenced to current common-area works.

Summer amplifies the stakes: heat, storms, and fire risk increase the likelihood of claims, and any compliance gaps can jeopardise insurance responses or invite penalties under state legislation.

3) Clarify Accountability: Committee vs Strata Manager

Confusion kills compliance. While a body corporate (strata) manager may provide guidance, the committee retains legal responsibility for compliance. A body corporate manager provides administrative services and can carry out committee functions where no committee exists—but this doesn’t make them the responsible party for legal compliance unless your contract says so. Remember:

Committee/Owners Corporation: ultimately responsible for compliance (ESM, insurance adequacy, disclosures, financial controls).
Strata Manager: coordinates, documents, advises; not automatically contractually obliged to provide legal compliance advice.
Property Manager: manages tenants for individual lots, not the scheme’s compliance.

Set roles in writing before the AGM so tasks don’t fall through the cracks.

4) Build the Pre-AGM Compliance Checklist (and Prove It)

Checklist essentials

Verify ESM logbooks: confirm frequency, signatures, defect rectification, and photos.
Confirm insurance sums insured: obtain an up-to-date professional valuation and adjust for inflation, demolition, and escalation costs.
Reconcile trust accounts: bank reconciliation to the statement date; fix variances; ensure external audit readiness.
Prepare disclosures: manager commissions, soft-dollar benefits, related-party suppliers, and any conflicts—insert into AGM papers.
Review WHS/asbestos registers: align with current works and contractor inductions.
Confirm contractor compliance: licences, insurances, SWMS, and incident logs.
Minutes and motions: table rectification plans, capex priorities, and reserve funding implications.

Evidence to file

PDFs of signed ESM logbook pages and photos.
Current valuation report and insurer confirmation.
Bank recs, GL snapshots, and auditor correspondence.
Disclosure statement signed by the manager; highlighted in AGM papers.
Risk register update noting summer weather controls (drains, roof checks, vegetation clearance).

Actionable Tip: Run the checklist 2–4 weeks pre-AGM and store evidence in a single, shareable folder with read-only permissions for committee review.

5) Make It Work Anywhere: Single Source of Truth

Systems over heroes

“Document your business or get out.” It’s blunt because it’s true. Remote staff, casual assistants, and rotating committee members need clear, step-by-step instructions to follow the law consistently.

Create a master “AGM Compliance SOP” that links to the checklist, templates, and evidence folder.
Use a consistent naming convention: YYYY-MM-AGM-Compliance-[Item]-[Status].
Grant tiered access (view vs. edit) and keep an immutable “Evidence” subfolder.
Embed due dates and owners in your task tool; require a checklist sign-off with timestamps.

Why it matters

A single source of truth avoids contradictory versions, reduces onboarding time for remote workers, and preserves continuity across committee changes.

6) Execution Sprint: Close Gaps Before the AGM

Schedule ESM contractor for overdue inspections; update and sign logbooks; log defects and remedial actions.
Order a valuation; update sums insured; confirm coverage conditions in writing with the insurer/broker.
Complete trust account reconciliations; prepare the audit pack; document any adjustments with approvals.
Draft and insert manager commission/conflict disclosures into AGM papers; circulate to owners ahead of notice deadlines.
Run a summer-readiness sweep: gutters, pumps, stormwater, evacuation signage, fire doors, and vegetation management.
Hold a pre-AGM “war room” (30 minutes): review red/amber/green status and assign last-mile owners.

Risk checks

Confirm contractor licences/insurances are unexpired on service dates.
Ensure motions reflect any rectification budget increases.
Capture all decisions in minutes to create a defensible audit trail.

7) Measurable Wins: Insurance Intact, Penalties Avoided

Insurance preserved: updated sums insured and valuation letter on file; insurer confirmed no compliance impediments.
Audit-ready: reconciled trust accounts and clean variances passed external review.
Transparency: clear commission/conflict disclosures reduced owner disputes and meeting noise.
Risk reduction: ESM logs current; storm-readiness reduced incident probability during peak weather.
Governance uplift: a repeatable SOP lowered key-person risk and breach-of-duty exposure.

Bottom line: the cost of documenting and checking beats the cost of claims denied, fines under state legislation, or committee liability claims.

8) Outro: Your Next Best Step

Start now, not at the table. Book a 30-minute pre-AGM compliance huddle, run the checklist, and lock your evidence folder. Assign one owner for ESM, one for insurance/valuation, one for finance, and one for disclosures. In one week, you’ll move from “we hope” to “we can prove.”

Download or draft your checklist today.
Calendar the war room and notice deadlines.
Confirm who signs off each evidence item.

In strata, luck is not a strategy—documentation is.

AGMs + Heatwaves: The Body Corporate Compliance Playbook