Question 1

Committee members not responding or turning up

Accepted Answer

Committee members go quiet when there's no shared record of what's outstanding, no clear ownership of tasks and no easy way to respond. Fix it by putting decisions, action items and requests in one place everyone can see, setting expectations about response times, and following a documented process before treating non-participation as a governance issue.

Question 2

Minutes never getting written or sent out

Accepted Answer

Minutes stall when one person is expected to reconstruct a whole meeting from memory afterwards, with no template and no deadline. Fix it by capturing decisions during the meeting rather than after, using a consistent format, assigning the task clearly, and setting a firm turnaround for review and distribution.

Question 3

Maintenance requests getting lost or forgotten

Accepted Answer

Maintenance requests get lost when there's no single place they're logged, so they live in whoever happened to receive them. Fix it with one intake point for all requests, a simple status for each (reported, quoted, approved, done), and a habit of confirming receipt so owners know their request was actually received.

Question 4

Losing records and history at committee handover

Accepted Answer

Handover problems happen when strata records live in one person's inbox, personal drive or head instead of a shared system. Fix it by keeping meeting history, documents and access centralised year-round, transferring logins and permissions formally when roles change, and confirming the new committee can see everything, not just the most recent minutes.

Question 5

Missing Compliance Deadlines

Accepted Answer

Compliance deadlines get missed when they live in one person's memory or inbox instead of a shared, visible register. Fix it by listing every recurring obligation your scheme has, recording who's responsible and when it's due, and reviewing that list at every committee meeting — not just when a reminder letter arrives.

Question 6

Committee meetings that never make decisions

Accepted Answer

Meetings fail to reach decisions when agendas are vague, items aren't prepared in advance, or there's no clear record of what was actually resolved last time. Fix it with a tight, circulated agenda, background information sent ahead of time, a clear motion for every item, and a written record of the outcome the moment it's decided.

Question 7

Chasing Contractors and Dealing with Unapproved Work

Accepted Answer

This usually comes down to no shared record of what was approved, by whom, and to what scope. Fix it by putting every job through a written work order with a scope and an approval step before work starts, keeping one place for quotes, updates and sign-off, and having a clear rule for who can approve what without a full committee vote.

Question 8

Owners Say They Were Never Told

Accepted Answer

This almost always comes down to notices going out through inconsistent channels with no record of what was sent, to whom, and when. Fix it by using one method for formal notices, keeping a record of every notice sent, and giving owners a single place to check current and past communications for themselves.

Question 9

Committee Conflict, Dominant Members and Escalating Disputes

Accepted Answer

Most committee conflict is made worse by decisions and disagreements happening informally, with no clear record of what was actually discussed, decided or voted on. Fix it by returning to structured meetings and formal decisions with a paper trail, keeping disagreements about process rather than personalities, and knowing when to step back and get outside guidance from your strata manager or state tribunal rather than trying to resolve everything internally.

Common strata committee problems (and fixes)

Members not responding

Minutes not done

Maintenance requests lost

Committee handover

Missing compliance deadlines

Meetings with no decisions

Chasing contractors & unapproved work

Owners say they were never told

Committee conflict & disputes

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