Stay in the loop with the BC Noticeboard - Your Body Corporate Quarterly Newsletter |
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| - Introducing Ashleigh Marr & Emma Judd
- AGM's - Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters)
Amendment Bill - Preparing Your Unit for the Autumn Weather Ahead
- Evaluating and Prioritizing Property Maintenance Requests - Stay Connected: Get weekly updates on our Facebook page! |
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Introducing Ashleigh Marr and Emma Judd
Can you believe we're already in April? Time certainly flies. We hope this newsletter finds you well and refreshed after what we hope was a wonderful Easter break spent with friends and family.
Here at CBCS, we are absolutely thrilled to share some exciting news with you. We have a couple of fantastic new team members onboard, a brand new website in the works, and numerous other exciting developments in store.
We wanted to take a moment to express our genuine appreciation for your unwavering support during these uncertain post-COVID-19 times. Your trust in us has allowed us to keep growing and improving as a team, dedicated to providing the best possible service to our valued clients. We genuinely appreciate your ongoing support, and we look forward to bringing you more updates in the next issue.
Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Ashleigh Marr, our new Body Corporate Manager, and Emma Judd, who has stepped into the role of Body Corporate Coordinator. We are confident that their appointments will bring a fresh wave of energy and expertise to Complete Body Corporate Solutions, enabling us to enhance the quality of our services and provide you with an even better experience.
Read on to learn more about their professional backgrounds and how they will add value to the CBCS team. |
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Ashleigh Marr : Body Corporate Manager
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Ashleigh is an expert administrative professional with a talent for coordinating people, processes, and systems. Over the course of her career, she has gained extensive experience working across diverse industries, including logistics, social services, and administration. Her unwavering dedication to providing exceptional customer service is a driving force behind her work, as she strives to ensure the best possible experience for all involved.
Ashleigh is responsible for managing a range of critical administrative functions, including organizing AGMs and EGMs, administration, and handling all correspondence. As your primary point of contact for all administrative matters related to CBCS, Ashleigh can be contacted on 04-970-5435 or admin@cbcs.nz.
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| Emma Judd : Body Corporate Coordinator
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Emma is an established coordinator with a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Management. Holding previous titles of Visitor Services Coordinator, Business Manager, and Operations Executive, some of her strengths include attention to detail, problem-solving, and communication. Emma places a strong emphasis on building strong relationships and is dedicated to creating an exceptional customer experience. As a Body Corporate Coordinator, Emma will provide comprehensive administrative support to the Body Corporate Manager, including overseeing and managing insurance renewals. Emma can be reached at 04-970-5435 or admin@cbcs.nz. |
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With 31 March now behind us, the Annual General Meeting season is now in full swing. We are currently working with Chair's and committees to lock in dates that work best for Body Corporate's and also allow us to meet our obligations as a good employer. Dates of Annual General Meetings
For the AGM's that we are asked to plan and manage, our time is available to hold those meetings during normal business days. If the Body Corporate wishes to hold the AGM on a weekend, we can not guarantee a CBCS team member will be able to attend. We would be happy to prepare all the pre meeting documentation, reminders, resolutions and also type up the minutes post the AGN (if it was recorded via video conference). If the Body Corporate's preference is to hold a weekend AGM, please contact CBCS to discuss how we might be able to assist, though as per above, we will unlikely have someone available to attend in person.
Timing of Annual General Meetings
Traditionally AGM's have been held in the evenings, but with concerns around staff health and safety (not having our team out late after dark) and the challenges that come with asking staff to work till late evening, we now avoid starting meetings after 4.00pm for large body corporates or after 4.30pm for smaller body corporates. As part of the Employment Relations Act, we also must ensure that we offer staff flexibility with regards to the way they carry out their roles; asking staff to work till late into the evening does not meet those requirements. We received a lot of positive feedback last year from body corporates around this change in approach, as it allowed unit owners to attend the meeting and then head home for dinner, rather than having to head home and then come back out again.
The flexibility that we must provide as part of the Employment Relations Act, is available to all unit owners that also work for an employer. Hence, finishing your day 30 to 60 minutes early, just once during the year for the Body Corporate AGM, to ensure that we can retain the best possible staff to look after your Body Corporate, is hopefully not too much to ask. We do also offer times throughout the day, with a number of Body Corporates last year opting for a 12.00/12.30pm AGM start. Attendance of Annual General Meetings
During the COVID-19 pandemic, temporary legislation was introduced to allow Body Corporate meetings to be held via video conferencing. Late last year, the ability to allow unit owners to continue attending meetings virtually was included within the Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. While the AGM still needs to be held at a physical location, there is the ability for unit owners to now attend the meeting and vote on resolutions virtually. Hence, if attending an earlier meeting in person proves tricky for unit owners, you will have the ability to attend via video link. Hopefully this will now encourage unit owners that live outside of Wellington to attend the meeting virtually.
At CBCS, we use Zoom to provide this functionality and provide a link to the meeting within the final AGM documentation. |
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From 9 May 2023, a number of new provisions will take effect as part of the Unit Titles Act legislative changes, by way of the Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. Full details can be found at this link: (https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2022/0019/latest/whole.html). While we will be providing more information over the coming weeks, a summary of the key changes are outlined below: Key Points:
Additional information for prospective buyers (more information around water-tightness, seismic, financial records & maintenance, ability to cancel or delay settlements of units if not received in timely manner).
Governance of BC’s (More formal requires for BC Committees around meeting, such as agenda’s minutes, etc, code of conduct requirements for BC committees, conflicts of interest & service agreements). BC Manager standards (Code of conduct, large BC’s required to engaged professional, unless special resolution to option out, defined terms that must be in all contracts). Planning for Maintenance (Large BC’s will need to have a 30 year LTMP, will need to have it updated every 3 years, fund will need to be established unless special resolution not to, funds in LTMF only used for items in the plan).
Resolving Disputes (easier process of following up outstanding levies, tenancy tribunal about to hear cases up to $100k). Utility interests & charges to unit owners (Ability to apply multiple utility interests, IE common area used exclusively by a unit owner, BC able to install meters for metered services). New regulatory powers to MBIE from 9 May 2024 (Power of enforcement, power of entry, take over legal proceedings, etc). If you have any questions about these changes, please contact the team via admin@cbcs.nz. |
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Autumn has arrived, and as we move into colder weather and hibernation, it's essential to begin preparing your property for the coming months ahead to avoid running into potential problems later, protecting your investment to a high standard.
Key areas to consider when preparing ahead are: - Ensuring maintenance jobs are completed. Regularly checking for wear and tear and damage is an excellent start to ensuring the property performs as it should while preparing for the winter months ahead.
- The Healthy Homes Regulations: In light of the Healthy Homes Regulations' requirement, unit owners must ensure their property is up to scratch by providing a warm and dry rental property. To make sure you are up to speed with the Healthy Homes Requirements, you can visit: http://www.tenancy.govt.nz/healthy-homes
- Communication with your resident/s: Once your property is up to standard on the Healthy Homes Regulations, it's always a good idea to check in with residents to see if they need anything. Regular inspections are also an excellent opportunity to do this and obtain feedback. |
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Maintaining a property unit is one of the most important tasks of a unit owner, as regular maintenance keeps your residents safe and happy and your property unit protected from investment-killing damage. However, sometimes your maintenance list can build up fast over a short period of time (and unexpectedly). It can become stressful to determine which job needs completing first when every request feels like a high priority. All maintenance requests will fall under one of these four categories: urgent, high-priority, medium-priority, and low priority. Here's how you can evaluate and distinguish between them.
All maintenance requests will fall under one of these four categories: urgent, high-priority, medium-priority, and low priority. Here's how you can evaluate and distinguish between them. Identifying Emergency Maintenance Tasks that need to be addressed immediately:
These are issues that immediately and effectively compromise the property's safety, general habitability, and long-term investment. Examples can include issues like a burst pipe that is suddenly flooding a kitchen, causing the problem of habitability for residents and will cost thousands of dollars in damage if not immediately rectified, or an HVAC failure which can potentially be dangerous, especially if there's a gas leak. Issues of this nature will need to be prioritized over other maintenance requests.
Identifying High-Priority Maintenance Requests:
Next on the list are high-priority maintenance issues. High-priority maintenance tasks are maintenance issues that will directly affect operations in the near future; these might include leaking roofs or pipes, a bedbug infestation, or most broken un-unit appliances. These responsibilities require attention sooner than later but are not considered "emergency situations" that put your residents in immediate danger but if ignored, could pose a high financial risk or negatively impact the resident's ability to live safely in the unit.
Identifying Medium-Priority Maintenance Requests:
Medium-priority maintenance tasks primarily consist of preventative maintenance. These tasks are crucial to ensuring that your unit property stays in tip-top shape and plays a role in long-term operations. These requests are time-sensitive but not urgent. Examples include changing filters, landscape clean-ups, and time-sensitive maintenance like slip prevention in the fall and winter. Accessing Low Priority Tasks:
These requests do not pose a safety risk, do not damage the property over time, and don't prevent residents from utilizing the common areas/ or unit as needed, but instead make the building generally aesthetically pleasing and comfortable. Examples can include cosmetic wall repairs or painting, noncritical repairs of appliances, etc. While these issues do not need to be addressed immediately, your residents will appreciate it when you work with them to solve minor problems. Cosmetic maintenance shouldn't be neglected in order to keep your investment in tip-top shape - waiting too long to address these things can cost you residents and affect curb appeal.
How CBCS can help:
Maintenance is a crucial part of owning and managing a unit. While it does take some planning, the preventative efforts you take can go a long way in preventing more significant issues.
At CBCS, we understand that managing your body corporate unit is a lot of work. However, through our industry expertise and unmatched commitment to client service, we can work with you to arrange property management as required, taking the stress out of managing your unit and resulting in a more profitable and enjoyable experience as it should be. So, if you are interested in learning more about the benefits of full-service property management, give us a call today on 04 970 5435.
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