THE STRATA PROPERTY ACT - BASICS FOR STRATA COUNCIL MEMBERS

June 15th, 2009 | Rick Dickson | Property Management, Uncategorized
Elected strata council members must have an understanding of the Strata Property Act in order to properly govern the strata corporation in a diligent and effective manner.  Your Ascent strata agent will handle the details; however, each council member will have a better understanding of their duties and responsibilities after reading the sections of the act, listed below.

Now for the legal dry part, which I have made as easy as possible by condensing 319 sections into the following 30 sections, plus a little bit of other stuff.

The following information is found in the Strata Property Act (SPA) of British Columbia, a link to which can be found on our website (www.ascentpm.com).  Go to useful links, the Strata Property Act is the first item on the links page.  Read through the following and you will be far more prepared than the majority of strata council members.

 

Section             Description           Notes
Part One Definitions and Interpretations   Reading all four pages will help with the understanding of the other
clauses. There are also some important concepts
Section 3 Responsibilities of Strata Corporation  
Section 4    Strata Corporation Functions Through Council  
Section 26 Council Exercises Power and Performs Duties of Strata Corporation  
Section 27 Controll of Council
Section 28 Eligibility for Council
Section 29 Membership on Council
Section 30  Contracts not Invalidated
Section 31   Council Members Standard of Care Be sure to read this one, it is probably the most important of all of the
sections being a council member
Section 32 Disclosure of Conflict of Interest
Section 33 Accountability
Section 34   Approval of Council Member Remuneration
Section 35 Strata Corporation Records    Important to just know what records are kept. You don’t have to read
every single one of them because your strata agent will be doing it for you
Section 36   Access to Records  
Section 91 Strata Corporation Responsible for Common Expenses
Section 92 Operating Fund and Contingency Reserve Fund (CRF)
Section 96   Expenditures from Contingency Reserve Fund
Section 97 Expenditures from Operating Fund
Section 98 Unapproved Expenditures
Section 103 Budget Requirements
Section 119 Nature of Bylaws  
Section 120 Standard Bylaws  
Section 121 Unenforceable Bylaws  
Section 125 Rules  
Section 129 Enforcement Options  
Section 130 Fines  
Section 135  Complaint- Right to Answer and Notice of Decision  
Section 149 Property Insurance Required for Strata Corporation  
Section 150 Liability Insurance Required for Strata Corporation  
Section 151 Errors and Omissions Insurance  
Section 155 Named Insureds  

All the sections of the Strata Property Act pertain to all strata corporations. Each strata corporation has their own bylaws, rules, budget and financial statement.

It’s a good idea to get a three ring binder and copies of the bylaws, the rules, the most recent approved budget, and the most recent financial statements. The financial statements usually include the income and balance sheets, detailed financial statements include the income and balance sheets, as well as the accounts receivable, accounts payable, general ledger and bank reconciliation.

After looking through all of the above, remember as a council member you are acting on behalf of all of the owners’ best interests, in a very open and democratic way.
The Strata Corporation is a valuable asset to every single owner; protecting maintaining and enhancing the asset is the bottom line goal for every Council member!

 
As a volunteer working cooperatively with so council members and contributing to the betterment of your strata corporation community can be very rewarding.

We welcome any feedback you may have regarding this article.  What else would you like to know?  Please let us know if you have any questions or how can we improve the information we are providing?

We will continue to post new blogs on a regular basis.

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