Most owners of property in the CBD are members of an Owners Corporation (formerly called a Body Corporate) – a legal entity that owns the “common property” in the building, as opposed to the part of it YOU own.

The Owners Corporation, for example normally looks after matters such as building cleaning, insurance, maintenance, lifts, security etc – that is, everything that is not “private”. It will set and levy fees to administer these services. These entities can sometimes have problems resulting in, for example, conflicts between neighbours about pets, noise and anti-social behaviour.

Most Owners Corporations appoint a “manager” to run their affairs – keep the books, call meetings etc. It is a good idea to be involved in your Owners’ Corporation and attend the AGM’s.T he Owners Corporation Act is an important document a Committee should be familiar with…Owners Corp Act-6  OC’s often have Rules registered at Land Victoria which state  the “do’s” and “don’ts” within a building. It is important to read these before buying. If there are no such rules, the Model Rules as defined by Consumer Affairs automatically apply.

Find out about Owners Corporations by looking at clicking here.