Is your body corporate manager doing the job?

Signs your manager isn’t doing the job

One slip is not a pattern. When several of these keep happening, it is worth a closer look:

• Slow replies, or none at all. Emails and calls from the committee or owners go unanswered, or you have to chase the same question several times.
• Late or wrong levy notices. Owners must get written notice at least 30 days before a levy is due. Notices that arrive late, show the wrong amount or miss a discount or penalty the body corporate has set are a warning sign.
• AGM and EGM deadlines missed. The AGM must be held within 3 months of the end of the financial year. Owners must get at least 21 days’ written notice of an AGM or an EGM, and AGM minutes must go to every owner within 21 days of the meeting. A manager authorised to handle these steps should never leave you short of time.
• Poor or late financial statements. Where a manager is authorised to manage the funds, a reconciliation statement for all accounts must be prepared within 21 days after the end of each month. The committee should be able to see where the money is without asking twice.
• Sinking fund plan not kept up to date. The sinking fund budget must reserve for likely spending over at least the next nine years. If the plan has not been looked at for years, a large special levy can come as a surprise.
• Insurance or valuation lapses. The body corporate must keep its compulsory insurance in place, and an independent valuation must be done at least every 5 years. Owners should receive the policy and valuation details each year.
• Maintenance requests stalling. Quotes are not collected, approved work orders are not sent, or nobody follows the job through to completion.
• Records that are hard to get. The committee asks for minutes, statements, insurance documents or correspondence and has to wait, or never receives them.
• The committee doing the manager’s work. Committee members end up drafting notices, chasing contractors or reconciling accounts themselves, even though the body corporate is paying a manager to do it.

What a good manager should deliver

This is the standard Estate Plaza works to for the around 200 schemes we manage from our Mackay office. Use it as a yardstick for any manager, including us.

• Meetings run to the timetable. Invitations for motions and nominations, AGM notices, agendas, budgets and voting papers go out on time, and minutes follow promptly.
• Levies that are right first time. Budgets prepared with the committee, levy notices issued well before each due date, and overdue levies followed up and reported.
• Accounts the committee can read. The administrative and sinking fund accounts reconciled every month, with financial statements and arrears reports the committee can follow.
• Insurance kept current. Renewals arranged with the body corporate’s broker, valuations at least every 5 years, and claims lodged and followed through promptly.
• Maintenance that gets done. Quotes organised, work orders sent for approved work, jobs followed up, and the common property inspected before each AGM.
• Records on request. The roll and records kept in order and available to the committee and owners when they ask.
• A committee that is kept informed. Decisions acted on, and the committee told about anything significant between meetings.

See what is included in each of our body corporate services.

What the law expects of body corporate managers

Section 118 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld) applies the code of conduct for body corporate managers and caretaking service contractors, set out in schedule 2 of the Act. The code is automatically part of every manager’s engagement and prevails over anything in the engagement that is inconsistent with it. In plain terms, it requires:

• Knowledge of the Act and the code: a good knowledge of the Act and the code, as they apply to the manager’s work.
• Honesty, fairness and professionalism: acting honestly, fairly and professionally, and not attempting to unfairly influence the outcome of a committee election.
• Skill, care and diligence: exercising reasonable skill, care and diligence.
• The body corporate’s best interests: acting in the body corporate’s best interests, unless it would be unlawful to do so.
• Keeping the body corporate informed: keeping the body corporate informed of any significant development or issue.
• Staff compliance: taking reasonable steps to make sure its employees comply with the Act and the code.
• No fraudulent, misleading or unconscionable conduct: not engaging in fraudulent, misleading or unconscionable conduct.
• Conflicts: not accepting an engagement for another scheme if that would put its duties or interests for this scheme in conflict with its duties or interests for the other scheme.
• Competitive prices: taking reasonable steps to make sure goods and services it obtains for, or supplies to, the body corporate are obtained or supplied at competitive prices.
• Showing the records are kept: if the body corporate or its committee asks in writing, showing that the body corporate’s records have been kept as the Act requires, within the reasonable period stated in the request.

A manager also acts on the body corporate’s instructions and sits on the committee as a non-voting member. The manager is not responsible for maintaining common property, although it can organise the work when the committee asks. Where it is authorised to manage the funds, it must prepare a reconciliation statement for all accounts within 21 days after the end of each month.

If things aren’t right: talk to your manager first

Most problems are fixed by a direct conversation. A practical approach for committees:

• Write down the specifics. Note what has gone wrong, with dates and examples, rather than a general complaint.
• Raise it with your manager. Put the issues in writing, ask for a plan and a timeframe, and add the matter to the next committee meeting agenda.
• Ask for the records you need. Request the statements, minutes or insurance details the committee is missing.
• Give it a fair go, then review. Check whether the agreed changes have actually happened.

If things still do not improve, ask us for a no-obligation proposal and a review of your current arrangement. We will look at the services and reporting your scheme receives now and show, in writing, how we would manage it. A new body corporate manager is engaged by the owners at a general meeting. If your body corporate engages Estate Plaza, we handle the handover and the transfer of records for you.

Frequently asked questions

How do we know if our manager is underperforming?

Look for a pattern rather than a one-off: slow or no replies, late or wrong levy notices, missed AGM or EGM deadlines, late financial statements, an out-of-date sinking fund plan, insurance or valuation lapses, stalled maintenance, records that are hard to get, and a committee doing the manager’s work. Compare what is happening with the services listed in your manager’s written engagement and with the code of conduct in schedule 2 of the Act.

What records should our manager give the committee?

At a minimum, expect meeting notices and minutes, budgets, levy and arrears reports, financial statements and insurance details. Where the manager is authorised to manage the funds, a reconciliation statement for all accounts must be prepared within 21 days after the end of each month. Under the code of conduct, if the body corporate or its committee asks in writing, the manager must show that the body corporate’s records have been kept as the Act requires, within the reasonable period stated in the request.

Can Estate Plaza review our current arrangement?

Yes. Request a proposal and tell us what is and is not working. We will look at the services and reporting your scheme receives now and send a written, no-obligation proposal showing how we would manage it. We do not give legal advice about your existing contract.

What happens to our records if we engage Estate Plaza?

We handle it for you. Once the owners engage us at a general meeting, we arrange the transfer of the body corporate’s records and accounts from the current manager, set up the bank accounts, roll, insurance details, contractors and levy schedule, and write to every owner with our contact details.

Sources

1. Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld), section 118 and schedule 2: code of conduct for body corporate managers
2. Body corporate manager (Queensland Government)
3. Owner's contributions (Queensland Government)
4. Holding an annual general meeting (Queensland Government)
5. Running an annual general meeting (Queensland Government)
6. Calling an extraordinary general meeting (Queensland Government)
7. Sinking fund (Queensland Government)
8. Building insurance and valuation (Queensland Government)
9. Compulsory insurance (Queensland Government)
10. Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management

Checked 26 October 2026. The law and official guidance change, so check the current source before relying on it. This page is general information about Queensland body corporate law, not legal advice. For advice about your situation, speak with a lawyer.