The Body Corporate and Community Management Legislation Amendment Regulation 2024 introduces significant changes affecting various aspects of body corporate management.
What is the Amendment Regulation?
The Amendment Regulation, made on 24 April 2024, modifies several regulation modules—namely the Standard, Accommodation, Commercial, Small Schemes, and Two-Lot Schemes. These changes align with the broader reforms of the BCCM Act, aiming to streamline processes, improve governance, and enhance clarity in community titles schemes.
Effective from 1 May 2024, these amendments impact:
- terminating schemes;
- smoking;
- animal by-laws and approvals;
- towing vehicles;
- alternative insurance arrangements;
- by-law enforcement;
- access to records in layered arrangements; and
- the code of conduct for body corporate managers and caretaking service contractors.
Here is a detailed overview of these changes and their implications.
Terminating Schemes
A basic community titles scheme can now be terminated under three conditions:
- By Agreement: Termination by mutual consent.
- By Court Order: Termination through legal proceedings.
- For Economic Reasons: If the body corporate agrees there are economic reasons for termination, supported by a pre-termination report, and 75% or more of lot owners support the termination.
These changes simplify the process for terminating schemes that are not in a layered arrangement.
Smoking
Bodies corporate now have the authority to create by-laws that:
- Prohibit or restrict smoking, including vape devices, on common property or outdoor areas like balconies.
- Address second-hand smoke exposure as a nuisance, hazard, or unreasonable interference, thus enhancing the quality of living within the community titles schemes.
Animal By-Laws and Approvals
Key amendments include:
- Prohibiting bodies corporate from banning pets outright in community titles schemes.
- Limiting the reasons for refusing a request to keep an animal.
- Implementing a 21-day response period for pet requests, after which the request is automatically approved if no decision is made.
These changes support pet ownership and ensure fair handling of pet-related requests.
Towing Vehicles
Previously, towing a vehicle required an adjudicator’s order. The amendments now:
- Allow bodies corporate to tow vehicles without going through the usual dispute resolution process subject to adopting an appropriate by-law.
- Require bodies corporate to consider legal obligations under towing laws administered by the Department of Transport and Main Roads.
Alternative Insurance Arrangements
The amendments shift the approval of alternative insurance from the Commissioner to an adjudicator, and expand eligibility for alternative insurance to:
- Schemes registered under a standard format plan of subdivision.
- Buildings on lots within a community titles scheme with a common wall to an adjoining lot.
These changes provide more flexibility for securing appropriate insurance coverage.
By-Law Enforcement and Access to Records in Layered Arrangements
For schemes in layered arrangements, the amendments enhance:
- By-law enforcement against bodies corporate, lot owners, occupiers, and subsidiary schemes.
- Access to records, ensuring transparency and accountability within complex, multi-tiered developments.
Code of Conduct for Body Corporate Managers and Caretaking Service Contractors
The code of conduct now explicitly prohibits managers and caretaking service contractors from unfairly influencing the outcome of body corporate motions. This amendment aims to ensure integrity and fairness in body corporate decision-making processes.
Administrative Changes
Several administrative and procedural clarifications include:
- Eliminating the requirement for a body corporate seal.
- Clarifying the management and classification of electronic records.
- Allowing the use of modern technology, such as online file-sharing, for inspecting or obtaining records.
- Specifying how documents and information must be provided to lot owners and other relevant parties.
- Requiring bodies corporate to notify Titles Queensland of changes in their address for service within a specific timeframe.
- Restricting changes to the financial year to once every five years, decided at a general meeting without needing an adjudicator’s order.
- Clarifying the process for counting votes for motions requiring a special resolution.
These amendments streamline and modernise administrative processes, making body corporate management more efficient and transparent.
Detailed Focus: Pet Approval Process
To complement the changes the Act confirming the longstanding position that a by-law cannot unreasonably restrict the bringing or keeping of animals onto a lot or the common property, the Amending Regulation introduces new procedural requirements for body corporate decision making in relation to pet requests:
- 21-Day Prescribed Period: Committees have 21 days to make a decision on a pet request.
- General Meeting Decisions: If a general meeting is needed to determine a request, the request is deemed approved if the meeting is not called within 21 days or if a decision is not made within six weeks of the meeting notice being sent out.
Detailed Focus: Smoking By-Laws
Bodies corporate can now make by-laws that prohibit or restrict smoking (including vape devices) on common property or an outdoor area such as a balcony.
The amendments include that regularly exposing a person in another unit or on common property to second-hand smoke may be:
- a nuisance
- a hazard, or
- an unreasonable interference that should not be occurring.
Depending on the nature of the change to the Bylaws, this is by normal practice completed by way of Special Resolution at a General Meeting of the Body Corporate and registration of a new Community Management Statement.
Additional Resources
For further details, you can access the full text of the Amendment Regulation and its explanatory notes:
- The Amendment Regulation can be found at:
Body Corporate and Community Management Legislation Amendment Regulation 2024 - The Explanatory Notes for the Amendment Regulation can be found at:
Body Corporate and Community Management Legislation Amendment Regulation 2024 explanatory note - QLD Gov Changes Page
Changes to the BCCM Act | Your rights, crime and the law | Queensland Government (www.qld.gov.au)
Conclusion
The Body Corporate and Community Management Legislation Amendment Regulation 2024 brings significant updates aimed at improving the governance and management of community titles schemes. By introducing clear timeframes and standardised processes, the amendments foster a more efficient and transparent environment for all owners. Clients and body corporate lot owners should familiarise themselves with these changes to ensure compliance and take advantage of the streamlined procedures.
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