Jadon Place [2000] QBCCMCmr 519 (12 October 2000)

P J HANLYREFERENCE: 0574-2000

ORDER OF AN ADJUDICATOR

MADE UNDER PART 10 OF CHAPTER 6

BODY CORPORATE AND COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT ACT 1997

Number of Scheme:	11184
Name of Scheme:	Jadon Place
Address of Scheme:	31 Hooker Drive BROADBEACH QLD 4218

TAKE NOTICE that pursuant to an application made under the abovementioned Act by

Graham Nicholas Frogley, the co-owner of lot.8



I hereby order that, upon receipt by it of the appropriate photocopying fee payable by the applicant, Graham Nicholas Frogley, the body corporate shall thereafter within 7 days, provide to the applicant, Graham Nicholas Frogley, a copy of the complete body corporate roll of owners.


STATEMENT OF ADJUDICATOR’S REASONS FOR DECISION - REF 0574-2000

“Jadon Place” CTS 11184

The applicant, Graham Nicholas Frogley, has sought an order of an adjudicator under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (the Act) that the body corporate provide him with a copy of the roll of owners.

Section 223(1) of the Act provides that an adjudicator may make an order that is just and equitable in the circumstances (including a declaratory order) to resolve a dispute, in the context of a community titles scheme, about –

a) a claimed or anticipated contravention of the Act or the community management statement; or

b) the exercise of rights or powers, or the performance of duties, under this Act or the community management statement; or

c) a claimed or anticipated contravention of the terms, or the termination of, or the exercise of rights or powers under the terms of, or the performance of duties under the terms of an engagement contract or an authorisation contract.

An order may require a person to act, or prohibit a person from acting, in a way stated in the order (section 223(2)). An adjudicator’s order may contain ancillary or consequential provisions the adjudicator considers necessary or appropriate (section 230(1)).

In the supporting grounds, the applicant states that he sought a copy of the body corporate roll from the secretary on 22 May 2000. The applicant further states that at the annual general meeting held on 6 June 2000 the secretary advised him that there are 340 owners, and the computer printout would be between 12 to 15 pages. The applicant further states that the secretary has been instructed
by the chairperson not to provide a copy of the roll to the applicant as his request was “too controversial”.

I have decided, under the powers delegated to me by the commissioner, (section 189 of the Act), that there is good reason for dispensing with the requirement to give notice of this application to the body corporate (section 194(5) of the Act). I have spoken with the secretary, Mr Nessen, on 12 October 2000. Mr Nessen confirmed that he had been instructed by the chairperson not to provide a copy of the roll to the applicant as “owners do not want it”.

Section 162 of the Act provides as follows:
ú

Information to be given to interested persons

162.(1) This section provides for the giving of information by the body

corporate for a community titles scheme from the body corporate’s records.

(2) Within 7 days after receiving a written request from an interested

person accompanied by the fee prescribed under the regulation module

applying to the scheme, the body corporate must—

(a) permit the person to inspect the body corporate’s records; or

(b) give the person a copy of a record kept by the body corporate.

(3) The body corporate must, within 7 days after receiving a written

request from an interested person accompanied by the fee prescribed under

the regulation module applying to the scheme, issue a certificate (a “body

corporate information certificate”) in the approved form giving financial

and other information about the lot.

(4) A person who obtains a certificate under subsection (3) may rely on

the certificate against the body corporate as conclusive evidence of matters

stated in the certificate, other than to the extent to which the certificate

contains an error that is reasonably apparent.

(5) In this section—

“interested person” means—

(a) the owner, or a mortgagee, of a lot included in the scheme; or

(b) the buyer of a lot included in the scheme; or

(c) another person who satisfies the body corporate of a proper

interest in the information sought; or

(d) the agent of a person mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c).

Section 151 of the Body Corporate and Community Management (Standard Module) Regulation 1997 (Standard Module) provides as follows:

Fee for information given to interested persons—Act, s 162

151.(1) For section 162(2) of the Act—

(a) the prescribed fee for inspection of the body corporate’s records

is—

(i) if the person inspecting the records is a lot owner—$10; or

(ii) if the person inspecting the records is not a lot owner—$20;

and

(b) the prescribed fee for obtaining a copy of a record kept by the

body corporate is 50c for each page supplied.

(2) For section 162(3) of the Act, the prescribed fee to accompany a

request for a body corporate information certificate under the subsection is

$40, plus a priority fee of $15 if the certificate is required within 24 hours,

plus a fee of $10 if the certificate is to be faxed.

(3) The priority fee mentioned in subsection (2) must be refunded if the

certificate is not supplied within 24 hours.

The applicant has made his request for the roll in writing, and has included the prescribed fee of $10.00. The applicant has also acknowledged that he has to pay the further sum of $0.50 per page. The Act makes it perfectly clear that the body corporate has no discretion as to whether it provides the information sought. It is certainly not a matter for the owners to refuse the request because they “do not want it”, or for the chairperson to direct the secretary that the information is not to be provided because it is “too controversial”.

I have ordered that the body corporate shall provide a copy of the roll to the applicant within 7 days after he has paid to the body corporate the appropriate sum payable for the photocopying charges.1n