Changing Body Corporate Managers: A Plain-English Guide for Committees

Changing your body corporate or strata manager is one of those jobs that sounds complicated, drags on for weeks, and gets put off for years because nobody on the committee quite knows where to start. I watched this happen over and over during my time at Accor, Smarter Communities, and Bright & Duggan. A committee would tell me they were unhappy with their current manager, agree they wanted to change, and then nothing would move because the process felt opaque.

It is not opaque. It is just unfamiliar. This guide walks through what actually has to happen, in the right order, with the main things to watch for.

Before I start, a note on where this comes from. My 12+ years in strata have been on the business development side of the industry, not as a licensed manager. I am also a strata owner myself. So what follows is written from the committee-facing perspective and from the owner-in-a-scheme perspective: what I have seen committees do well, what I have seen them do badly, and what the common stumbling blocks look like. None of it is legal advice. For anything specific to your scheme or agreement, get proper strata or legal advice.

If you already know you want to benchmark your current manager or request fresh proposals, BCGC lets you compare up to three established and trusted partners for free. Request proposals here.

The short version

You can change your body corporate or strata manager in almost any scheme. The process usually looks like this:

1. The committee decides it wants to test the market or change manager.
2. The committee calls for proposals from a shortlist of managers.
3. Proposals are compared, preferred provider selected, terms negotiated.
4. A motion to appoint the new manager is put to a general meeting (AGM or EGM).
5. Owners vote. If passed, the new manager is appointed from the handover date agreed in the motion.
6. Records, funds, and insurance are transferred to the new manager.

The whole thing commonly takes four to eight weeks end to end, occasionally longer if the general meeting is some way off.

The rest of this guide explains each step.

Step 1: Get the committee aligned

Before you do anything else, the committee needs to agree on whether it wants to change manager or simply test the market. These are different conversations with different outcomes.

Testing the market means comparing fresh proposals against the current manager’s fees and scope. The outcome might be “stay with current, with renegotiated terms” or “change to new provider”. Testing the market is standard governance and most well-run committees do it every three to five years.

Changing manager means the committee has already decided the current relationship is not working and is actively seeking a replacement. This is a shorter process on the front end (no “is it worth looking” debate) but it still has the same formal steps.

Either way, a committee resolution to call for proposals is the usual starting point. The committee secretary or chair records the decision and the reason for the review. Keeping a short written record of why the review is being undertaken is useful later if any owner asks.

Step 2: Understand where your current agreement is up to

Most body corporate and strata management agreements run for a fixed term, commonly one, two, or three years, sometimes longer.

Read the current agreement and note:

• The end date of the current term. If you are inside the term, check what the termination rights look like. Most agreements allow the body corporate to terminate for cause (usually defined). Many also allow the manager to terminate on notice.
• Any handover obligations. Most agreements require the outgoing manager to hand over records, software access, trust account balances, insurance documents, and lot owner data within a set number of days of termination.
• Any ongoing obligations. Bond holdings, trust account commissions, outstanding invoices.

If you are partway through a term and the agreement does not contain a clear termination right for the body corporate, changing manager becomes harder and may require specific legal advice. Most modern agreements do contain a termination-for-convenience clause for the body corporate, but older agreements can be harder to unwind.

This is the step committees most commonly skip, and the one that causes the most pain later. Read the agreement first.

Step 3: Shortlist the managers you will approach

Two or three proposals is the standard. More than that and the comparison becomes hard work; fewer than that and you are not really testing the market.

Look for managers who:

• Operate in your region and actively service schemes your size
• Have appropriate licensing for the jurisdiction (NSW requires a strata management licence; QLD managers operate under the BCCM Act and must meet insurance and trust account obligations)
• Hold current professional indemnity insurance
• Can demonstrate service scope that matches what your scheme needs
• Come with committee references you can verify

Committees commonly source proposals through word-of-mouth recommendations, developer referrals, or by searching directly. The issue with those channels is that the committee is comparing whoever happens to land in front of it. A partner-based approach like BCGC means every partner has already been assessed for licensing, insurance, operating history, and scope, so the committee’s comparison is between three established and trusted options rather than three unknowns.

Either way, the key discipline is that the committee chooses who to approach. Avoid handing the process to a single manager or letting one manager introduce “their” competitor.

Step 4: Compare proposals properly

Proposals vary more than most committees expect. The number on the front page is almost never directly comparable. Things to read carefully:

• What is included in the base fee. AGM attendance, EGM attendance, insurance renewal management, levy issuance, arrears chasing, maintenance coordination, and committee meeting attendance can be core inclusions or extras depending on the manager.
• What is charged separately. Hourly rates for additional meetings, photocopying, posting, disbursements, legal letter preparation, small claims, by-law enforcement, and special levies. Some managers cover most of these inside the base fee; others charge heavily on top.
• Service level commitments. Phone response time, email response time, emergency after-hours contact, meeting minute turnaround.
• Software and owner portal. How owners access levy notices, minutes, insurance documents, and financial statements.
• Agreement term and termination rights. One-year renewable, three-year fixed, rolling, right to terminate for convenience, and notice periods.
• Trust account and commissions. Where interest earned on the administrative and sinking funds goes, and whether any commissions are received on insurance placements.

The committees who got the best outcomes during my time in the industry built a simple side-by-side comparison table covering these items, scored each proposal, and then called the top two for a clarification call before deciding. The committees who got the worst outcomes picked the lowest headline fee without reading past page one.

Step 5: Negotiate the preferred proposal

Once you have a preferred manager, negotiate.

Normal things to adjust:

• Fee inclusions (ask the manager to roll in one or two items currently extra)
• Service level commitments (get response times in writing)
• Term length (shorter term gives the committee more optionality)
• Termination rights (confirm what the body corporate can do if the relationship goes wrong)

Most managers will move on two or three items. Very few will move on the base fee itself once it has been quoted. Focus the negotiation on scope and terms rather than on discount.

Step 6: Put the motion to a general meeting

In Queensland, appointing a new body corporate manager is done by ordinary resolution at a general meeting (AGM or EGM) under the applicable regulation module (Standard, Accommodation, Commercial, Small Schemes, or Specified Two-Lots). In New South Wales, appointment is by ordinary resolution of the owners corporation at a general meeting.

The motion should include:

• The name of the incoming manager
• The proposed agreement (attached or summarised)
• The term
• The fee schedule
• The handover date

Notice periods for general meetings are set by the relevant regulation module (QLD) or the Strata Schemes Management Act (NSW). Typically 21 days’ notice for an AGM. EGM notice periods are similar.

If the motion passes, the committee can then sign the new agreement and begin the handover. If it fails, the committee goes back to the drawing board.

Step 7: Handover

This is the step where things most often slow down. The outgoing manager is obliged to hand over:

• All scheme records (roll of owners, insurance policies, compliance certificates, historical minutes, financials)
• Trust account balances
• Software access and owner portal data
• Keys, fobs, and common property access devices held on behalf of the body corporate

Handover timeframes are set in the outgoing agreement. Forty-five days is common. Some handovers are quick and smooth, others drag. A good incoming manager will have a structured handover checklist they run through.

Once handover is complete, the incoming manager issues the next set of levy notices, takes the calls, and you are moving forward.

Common mistakes committees make

Five that I saw more often than any others.

1. Not reading the existing agreement

Most committees start a manager change without looking at the current agreement. If there is a fixed term with limited termination rights, the committee discovers this at step 3 and loses weeks.

2. Approaching only one alternative

One proposal is not a comparison. The committee then has nothing to benchmark against and ends up with a gut-feel decision.

3. Focusing on the headline fee

The headline fee is the easiest number to compare but it rarely tells the full story. Two managers with the same headline fee can have materially different total costs once scope and extras are factored in.

4. Skipping the reference calls

A 15-minute call with a reference from a committee of similar size and type is the best piece of due diligence you can do. Almost nobody does it.

5. Not preparing the motion properly

Motions that are vaguely worded, missing key terms, or unsupported by a clear explanatory note are more likely to be voted down. Take the time to write the motion well and include a simple cover note explaining what the committee considered and why it recommends the change.

How long does it take?

A clean change runs four to eight weeks from “committee decides to test the market” to “new manager issues first levy notice”. Breakdown:

• Week 1. Committee resolution. Proposal requests issued.
• Weeks 2 to 3. Proposals arrive. Committee compares.
• Week 3 to 4. Preferred manager selected. Terms negotiated. Motion drafted.
• Weeks 4 to 7. Notice period for general meeting. Vote.
• Weeks 7 to 8+. Handover.

It can run longer if the AGM is months away (in which case an EGM may be faster), if the current agreement has tight termination rights, or if the handover stalls.

Queensland versus New South Wales

The process is fundamentally the same. Key differences:

Feature	Queensland	New South Wales
Main body	Body corporate	Owners corporation
Committee	Body corporate committee	Strata committee
Governing Act	Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997	Strata Schemes Management Act 2015
Licensing	Managers operate under the BCCM Act. Must hold a corporate trust account and PI insurance.	Managers must hold a strata management licence under the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002.
Appointment resolution	Ordinary resolution at general meeting under applicable regulation module	Ordinary resolution at general meeting
Regulator	Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management	NSW Fair Trading
Tribunal	QCAT	NCAT

Related reading

• Strata Managers and Changing Providers, Q&A on manager roles and the change process
• Body Corporate Fees Explained, understand what you are actually comparing
• Our Partners, how BCGC selects its partners

Primary sources

• Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld)
• Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW)
• Queensland Government, Body corporate information
• NSW Fair Trading, Strata information

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Last updated: April 2026
Written by: Jeff Blaszkowski, Founder, Body Corporate Gold Coast
Background: 20+ years in business development, including 12+ years in QLD strata (Accor, Smarter Communities, Bright & Duggan). Strata owner. Not a licensed strata manager.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jeffblaz

This information is general in nature and is not legal, financial, or strata advice. For advice specific to your scheme or current agreement, consult a qualified strata professional or lawyer.