In this article Prof. Paddock summarizes the administrative duties and additional functions of the body corporate for which trustees are responsible.

The trustees of a sectional title scheme have the following administrative duties:

  • Supply names and addresses of trustees and owners.

    The Act requires the body corporate to provide the names and residential addresses of the trustees and all owners in response to any reasonable request. Any request by an owner is reasonable, but a request by an outsider with no interest in the scheme, for example, may be considered unreasonable. This provision allows owners, bondholders and others with an interest in the scheme to contact owners and trustees directly, without going through the managing agent or the trustees.

  • Supply insurance details and information.

    If requested in writing by an owner, a bondholder or the authorised agent of an owner or bondholder, the body corporate must produce its insurance policies and premium payment receipts.

    In practice, it would make sense for the trustees or managing agent to keep copies of these documents and send them to owners and bondholders on request and after the payment of a reasonable copy fee and the cost of the postage.

    In the event of a similar request, the body corporate must confirm an owner's total levy liability, how it is payable, the extent to which it has been paid and the amount of any rates and taxes paid by it and not yet recovered.

  • Notify the Registrar of Deeds and the local authority of the body corporate's service address.

    The body corporate must notify the Registrar of Deeds and local authority of its address for service of any court process (its domicilium citandi et executandi). Normally, this notification is lodged by a managing agent, who will often arrange for the body corporate's address to be his or her office address. Any person who wants to serve court process or a formal letter on the body corporate can therefore establish its official address by a search at the Deeds Registry or the offices of the local authority.

  • Comply with laws applicable to the common property.

    The body corporate must ensure that the trustees, owners and occupiers comply with any law governing the common property or any building improvement on the land in the scheme.

    This means that the trustees must make sure that not only national legislation, such as the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act, but also local authority bylaws, such as the local zoning laws and regulations, are complied with. So, for example, if an owner extends a section without approved building plans or uses a section in contravention of the applicable zoning regulations, the trustees have failed to perform this statutory duty.

  • Control and manage the common property.

    The body corporate has a general obligation to control, manage and administer the common property for the benefit of all sectional owners. This means that the body corporate must do all things reasonably necessary to carry out its primary functions and to enforce the provisions of the Act and the scheme's rules. So, for example, if an owner starts to erect an unauthorised structure on the common property, the trustees have no option — they must take action to stop the unauthorised building. If demands and threats of legal action do not succeed in having the structure removed, they must take legal action.

Page two — additional functions

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