One of the most fundamental and important areas of an Owners Corporation is the requirement to repair and maintain common property under Sections 46 & 47 of the Owners Corporation Act 2006.
Owners Corporation Committees are put in a challenging position to ensure levies are optimised for their owners whilst making sure that best practice maintenance of common property is undertaken. This can lead to cost pressure on tradespeople to do the job cheaper, rather than better and more effectively for long term savings.
Some VBCS clients insist on obtaining 2-3 quotes on all non-urgent works, no matter how small. This tends to slow progress at these buildings, causing frustration from non-Committee owners due to lengthy delays for simple repairs.
These delays are generally caused by the overwhelming amount of correspondence to the Committee upon receiving instruction, then co-ordinating trades to quote and perform the work. Trades express reluctance to attend such buildings to quote for small jobs and often include the time taken to prepare the quote in their price, leading to a higher cost for the Owners Corporation.
Rather than obtaining quotes for every job required, we recommend placing a cost cap for your building on the value of non-urgent work for trades to complete at your property. That means advising the tradesperson to proceed if the work is under a certain dollar amount, usually $1,000.
For your peace of mind, VBCS only issues work orders to successful, qualified, and compliant tradespeople with whom we have good working relationships.
VBCS recommends all buildings adopt the following methodology when handling routine repairs.
Routine Works
The Manager is authorised to approve works up to $1,000. However, for works exceeding this amount a quotation will be obtained for the Committee’s consideration.
Typical works for completion without quotes and to complete immediately if under $1,000:
- Door closer repair
- Door hinge adjustment
- Minor repairs to fire services / equipment
- Letterbox locks / doors not closing
- Painting of one door
- Minor electrical repairs
- Minor roof repairs
- Minor plumbing / HW repairs
Tendering Process
For works between $1,000 – $10,000 in value, the Manager will seek two or three quotations (where possible) from suitable trades against a written scope of works approved by the Committee.
The scope will outline the works generally, not technically, along with a list of names and relevant details of businesses considered capable of carrying out the major works. The scope of works should only be issued to suitable businesses.
Major Works over $10,000
For works over $10,000 or technical work, VBCS strongly recommends these buildings consider engaging an engineer to specify the work, project manage and sign off on the works. This gives you certainty on quality and representation should there be complications with the job.
In certain circumstances, a major domestic building contract may be required by law. A qualified engineer will be able to provide guidance on this.
Emergency Works
The only exception to the above is emergency works. If it is apparent that works require an immediate response to repair, and it will cost less than $2,500, the work will proceed.
If it becomes apparent the emergency response can be separated from the definitive repair work, then competitive quotes should be organised as for “routine works”.
Unfortunately, the nature of many emergency works is often going to pre-empt competitive quotes. However, there is some protection via selecting from suggested trades and proceeding to competitive quotes where definitive repair work can be separated from the emergency response.
For all buildings managed by VBCS, we aim to have tradespeople assigned in the following areas:
- Plumbing
- Electrical
- Handyman
- Locksmith
Afterhours Service
In the event of damage to common property which requires emergency trade services, please contact our afterhours service on 1300 799 261.
Call out fees start at a minimum of $400 + GST. All non-emergency matters should be reported to our office during business hours. Should you contact the afterhours service for non-emergency matters, the Owners Corporation may be charged a processing fee.
In the event of an emergency such as fire, injury or theft please call 000.
