Can the committee cut a service without asking the owners?

A committee trims the gardening contract, and owners discover the change when the weeding stops. Ben Quirk’s answer in LookUpStrata is a qualified yes: a Victorian owners corporation committee has delegated authority to make day-to-day operational decisions, and “does not have to seek approval from all owners before making routine maintenance decisions” — including decisions about a gardening contractor, provided they fall inside that delegated authority.

What the committee can and cannot decide

The owners corporation can establish a committee and delegate functions to it, and routine operational decisions are the point of having one. What the committee cannot do is step outside its authority, spend inconsistently with the approved budget or maintenance plan, or act contrary to a resolution the owners corporation has already made.

Committee members also carry duties: to act in the best interests of the owners corporation, and not to use their position to gain an advantage for themselves or anyone else. A decision that quietly benefits a handful of owners is the kind of decision that attracts questions.

The question underneath the question: whose garden is it?

Whether reduced gardening is a problem turns largely on whether the areas being maintained are common property or form part of individual lots:

• If the hedge, trees and gardens are on common property, the owners corporation is responsible for maintaining them, and that maintenance should generally be applied consistently.
• If the gardens sit inside individual lots, the owners corporation is generally not responsible for them unless the plan, the rules, or an agreement says otherwise.

If common property adjoining three lots is being weeded at owners corporation expense while equivalent common property elsewhere is not, that is worth asking about — it may be a reasonable decision, or it may be favouring some owners without a basis.

How to hold the decision to account

1. Request the committee meeting minutes — they should record what was decided and why.
2. Ask the committee to explain why only some properties are receiving the service.
3. Check whether the affected areas are common property or private lots on the plan of subdivision.
4. Compare the spend against the approved budget and maintenance plan.

Red flags: inconsistent maintenance of equivalent common property, a private benefit to particular owners, spending outside the budget, or a decision that contradicts an earlier resolution of the owners corporation.

Where to go next

Who pays for repairs explains the lot / common property boundary, and the glossary covers committees, common property and special resolutions.

Source: VIC: Can a committee cut gardening services without consulting owners by Ben Quirk, Senior Owners Corporation Manager at TOCS, first published by LookUpStrata. Regulator guidance: Consumer Affairs Victoria — property maintenance.