Body Corporate Long Term Maintenance Plans
The Unit Titles Act 2010 (‘the Act’) as amended by the Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2022 (the ‘2022 Act’) imposes an obligation on all Bodies Corporate to establish and regularly maintain a long term maintenance plan. The Act and 2022 Act dictate that for properties of less than 10 units, the LTMP must cover the next 10 years, while this is extended to 30 years for large (i.e. greater than 10 unit) developments.
The 2022 Act also dictates that the LTMP should be prepared by suitably qualified professionals (albeit this requirement can be repealed through special resolution).
10 v 30 years
30 years is a long time in the age of a building – most modern buildings will be designed to last for 60-80 years, however this would only generally apply to the structure. There are many building elements – including those relating to the weathertight envelope or building services – that will have a much shorter life expectancy (for example typical heating equipment such as boilers or heat pumps would be expected to last from 15-25 years). There can be significant cost involved in replacing these elements, especially on large developments, so the theory is that Bodies Corporate are well aware of high items of expenditure many years in advance, allowing them to tailor their levies to suit.
The 2022 Act does not expect a Body Corporate or their advisors to predict the future, so beyond 10 years, our LTMPs will give a high-level indication of costs, rather than a year-by-year expenditure profile. Reviewing your Body Corporate LTMP every 3 years will help ensure you are budgeting for high cost works well in advance.
How can Pinnacle help?
Pinnacle Building Consultancy has extensive experience delivering Body Corporate LTMPs, and Director Ollie Cottam helped author the RICS Professional Statement for Planned Preventative Maintenance. Our approach has a particular focus on ensuring our reports achieve exactly what our clients need from them – too often we have seen LTMPs deliver so-called maintenance strategies which do not come near a realistic budget, nor do they give the end-user sufficient advice regarding how to prioritise or deliver the works.
As chartered building surveyors, we are “suitably qualified professionals” so will ensure you are complying with the legislative requirements. We will use our knowledge and experience to ensure not only are you compliant, but that you have an LTMP that is appropriate and useable by the Body Corporate.
The 2022 Act also requires the Body Corporate LTMP to be reviewed as a minimum every 3 years – we will provide indicative fees for doing so, and include them within the report so they can be factored into levies.