At SSKB, we’re committed to making strata living as smooth and informed as possible. To support our lot owners, we’ve compiled clear and concise answers to the most frequently asked questions. These FAQs provide quick access to essential information, helping you better understand and manage your responsibilities within your community.
If you need further assistance or have additional questions, our Community Managers and Client Solutions Team are here to help. Don’t hesitate to reach out for personalised support tailored to your needs.
Updating Your Address and Contact Details with SSKB
Legislation requires all address changes to be submitted in writing. As an owner, it is your responsibility to update your details, which can easily be done via the mysskb.com.au or the SSKB Strata App.
Using the mysskb.com.au
Using the SSKB Strata App
A Form 8 is a notification of transfer of ownership and an information form required to update the Body Corporate Roll, as mandated by BCCMA Legislation. This form is typically provided by your solicitor at the time of settlement.
The Form 8 ensures the Body Corporate records are updated to reflect your ownership and must include:
Who Needs to Complete the Form?
The purchaser(s) must complete the form, providing all required information in writing to the Body Corporate as required by law.
Your solicitor can assist you in completing and submitting this form to ensure compliance.
To complete and submit a Form 8 go to mysskb.com.au
Legislation requires all address changes to be submitted in writing, and it is the owner’s responsibility to provide this notification. To ensure your information is updated accurately and to protect your privacy, SSKB requests that owners update their details via the SSKB Portal or the SSKB Strata App. For detailed instructions, please refer to our FAQ titled ‘How to Update Your Address and Contact Details.’
Timely contribution payments are essential for your community to meet its financial obligations for maintenance and services.
If contributions remain unpaid, your body corporate is entitled to take recovery action. In fact, under the Act, the body corporate is required to pursue recovery of overdue contributions, including any accrued interest and reasonable costs associated with the recovery process.
Delays in payment can lead to additional expenses for the body corporate, as budgets are carefully calculated to cover only the funds necessary to maintain common property and fulfil contracted commitments. To avoid these extra costs, we encourage all owners to keep their contributions up to date.
An arrears notice is forwarded when your body corporate has not received payment for your community (body corporate) fees (usually) from the previous period/s by the due date. This arrears notice is sent out under authorisation of your committee. Dates for payment of contributions are set out in the minutes of your annual general meeting forwarded to you each year.
If you’ve made a late levy payment and lost your discount while incurring interest or arrears fees, you may submit an application to your Body Corporate Committee to request reinstatement of the discount. Your application should include the reasons for your request.
How to Submit Your Application
Via mysskb.com.au
Via the SSKB Strata App
The body corporate is made up of you, the owners, while SSKB serves as your community manager. Our role is to work closely with your committee to ensure your community runs smoothly and complies with the relevant Act and regulations that apply to your scheme.
Your committee provides SSKB with instructions on various matters, including financial management, maintenance, compliance, and more. SSKB supports your community by implementing these decisions and offering expert guidance to help your scheme operate effectively.
Administrative Fund – contribution entitlements
The Administrative Fund covers expenditure required to cover the cost of the daily running and general maintenance of the common property and body corporate assets. This includes all repairs and maintenance that would occur to buildings, plant and equipment, electrical, gardens and grounds, pools, etc. (This applies if it is a building format plan). It would also include contracted fees, such as caretaking fees which are for the building manager to clean and maintain parts of the common property as per the caretaking agreement, a lift maintenance contract and contract for body corporate management.. It would also include community power for the running of pumps, lights, lifts etc. If the body corporate is a lot in another scheme the administrative fund will also include contributions to the other scheme’s administrative and sinking funds.
Sinking Fund – contribution entitlements
This is a separate fund to the Administrative Fund. The amount owners contribute is based on a sinking fund forecast. A Sinking Fund Forecast is usually prepared by a quantity surveyor. It is a 10 year forecast of major expenditure, which covers such items as painting the common property (including the exterior of the building), major repairs and refurbishment to lift cars, and other common property items. These items are considered as capital, or non-recurring major expenditure, and therefore need to be contributed to by all owners over a period of time. The purpose of this fund is that, for example, if you owned your lot for 5 years and the re-painting of the exterior of the building is due in year 10, your lot has contributed for 5 years towards the painting of the building. Your individual contribution to the Administrative Fund and Sinking fund is based on your lot’s contribution entitlement and is used to calculate administrative and sinking fund contributions as well as the lot’s share of utility charges not able to be measured.
Insurance Contribution – interest entitlements
The “Insurance Reimbursement “is a separate payment for paying the Building replacement and reinstatement insurance premium. Although, in most instances the Insurance premium will be included in the Administrative Fund Budget, some bodies corporate are required to have it as a separate amount when the lots in the scheme have varying interest entitlements. If applicable to your body corporate, your individual contribution to the Insurance Reimbursement is based on your lot’s interest entitlement. Interest entitlements are also used to calculate the unimproved value of the lot and for the purpose of calculating local government rates and charges. Bodies corporate are usually titled in one of two ways, as a Building Format Plan or as a Standard Format Plan. As a Building Format Plan, the body corporate is responsible for the insurance of the building and the common property. As a Standard Format Plan, the body corporate is responsible for insuring common property only. In this instance, individual residences are the responsibility of the owners. In a Standard Format Plan, common property would include any gates, light poles and infrastructure which could be damaged or need replacing under an insurance claim. The cost towards the Public Liability and Office Bearer’s Liability portion of the premium is always included in the Administrative Fund.
A Contribution Notice bill will be received if you are a lot owner in a body corporate. Contributions are the body corporate levies paid by the owners to give the body corporate the funds to operate and maintain the common property. The amount and the frequency of the contributions required to properly run the body corporate are decided by your committee in order to maintain your community. The budget is proposed by the committee and submitted for all owners to vote on at the AGM each year.
A Contribution Notice bill will be received if you are a lot owner in a body corporate. Contributions are the body corporate levies paid by the owners to give the body corporate the funds to operate and maintain the common property. The amount and the frequency of the contributions required to properly run the body corporate are decided by your committee in order to maintain your community. The budget is proposed by the committee and submitted for all owners to vote on at the AGM each year.
Administrative Fund: For day to day running of your building
Sinking Fund: for non-recurring items or capital expense
Insurance: where lots have varying interest entitlements, this amount is for the replacement cost of the building
Community contributions are set based on the financial needs and commitments of each specific community, which can vary from one body corporate to another.
The process for setting contributions is as follows:
Each owner’s contribution is calculated based on their contribution entitlement and, if applicable, interest entitlements. These entitlements represent each owner’s percentage share of the scheme as outlined in the community’s governing documents.
This ensures that contributions are allocated fairly and in line with the financial requirements of the scheme.
Your contribution is pooled with other owners’ payments to maintain your community and common areas to meet regular expenses such as:
Your money is deposited into your Community’s own bank account controlled by your committee and spent in accordance with the budget approved by your committee and adopted by all owners at their AGM each year.
The 1st and 2nd levy periods are based on the previous year’s budget and are adopted at the prior year’s AGM. These levies are issued in advance and deducted from the new financial year’s budget. They may include an increase, typically aligned with CPI.
The 3rd levy period, and occasionally a 4th, represents the balance of the new financial year’s budget as adopted at the current year’s AGM.
Your committee has appointed SSKB to assist in managing your community’s administration, including collection of the contributions.
Each year, before the AGM, your body corporate committee determines the funds required to maintain and manage your community for the upcoming financial year. This includes considering CPI adjustments and potential increases in expenses such as electricity, maintenance, and other operational costs.
SSKB does not make the decision to increase body corporate fees, as we are not voting members of your community. This decision is made collectively by you, the owners.
The process works as follows:
As your contribution notice was not paid by the due date stated in the notice, and has remained unpaid, SSKB would have been requested by your committee to instigate legal action to recover outstanding contributions, interest, solicitors fees etc. These are additional fees incurred over and above the budget adopted at the AGM by the body corporate.
All purchasers, upon acquisition of their lot should have been made aware by their solicitor, through disclosure material supplied, of the contribution amounts and dates upon which they are due and payable. The legislation sets out that it is the lot owner’s responsibility to ensure that the address held by SSKB is correct.
Any change of address must be sent to SSKB in writing. For detailed instructions, please refer to our FAQ titled ‘How to Update Your Address and Contact Details.’
With internet access anywhere in the world, you can securely log in to mysskb.com.au or the SSKB App using the email address linked to your lot on the Body Corporate Roll. Through these platforms, you can check your account balance and pay your levies.
Alternatively, you can set up an email address to receive your notices electronically or designate another person to receive your notices by mail.
The body corporate will be advised when the broadband network is to be rolled out in their area. The body corporate will need to consent to the wiring within the building. If the committee is swift in providing consent after receiving notice, NBN Co can complete the work on schedule, which will be well in advance of the rest of the street. When the street fibre cabling is finalised, they can easily connect the building without issues. Workers would not need access to individual lots, as the work will be contained in common areas.
If you wish to make improvements to your lot or to a structure on the common property, you must submit a request to the Body Corporate or Owners Corporation Committee.
Key Steps for Submitting Your Application
Submission Methods:
You can submit your application via mysskb.com.au or the SSKB Strata App.
Submitting via the SSKB Portal
Submitting via the SSKB Strata App
To seek approval for having a pet at your property, you’ll need to submit a written application to the committee. The required Pet Application Form is available on mysskb.com.au and the SSKB Strata App. Once completed, the form will be forwarded to the committee for consideration in accordance with your Scheme’s By-laws. Please note that SSKB does not have the authority to approve pet applications.
If applying as a Tenant, you will also need to provide evidence of the Owner’s approval to keep a pet.
Submitting a Pet Application via the SSKB Portal
Submitting a Pet Application via the SSKB Strata App
A Certificate of Currency is a document that confirms the current insurance coverage as of the date issued. This document is often required for individual financial purposes and is not a shared expense among all owners.
The building’s insurance cover is detailed in the Insurance Report attached to the annual general meeting notice sent to all owners each year.
A fee of $33.00 (including GST) applies.
Submitting Your Request via mysskb.com.au
Submitting Your Request via the SSKB Strata App
For additional support, please contact the SSKB team.
The excess on each community insurance policy differs depending on the number of claims each community has made. The regulations referring to insurance excess provides that if the claim only affects one lot, and if there is an excess, then the lot owner is to meet that amount, unless certain circumstances dictate that it is a body corporate responsibility.
Insurance is charged progressively in advance either via an Insurance reimbursement or included in the Administrative Fund contribution throughout the year to enable funds to be available to pay the following year’s insurance. The developer pays the insurance for the first year. However under the terms of the unit purchase contract, the developer may collect an adjusted amount at settlement from each purchaser.
Body corporate insurance covers events which relate to accidental damage, vandalism, fire, and theft etc. Insurance claims do not cover maintenance. However, resultant damage can be claimed. The body corporate’s policy does not cover personal contents, such as carpets and curtains, stereos etc. Under a standard format plan, the owner is responsible for insurance cover on the building. The body corporate provides insurance coverage for common property and public liability only.
With some buildings, the interest entitlements differ from the contribution entitlements. The amount of each lot owner’s reimbursement is set according to the interest entitlements that attach to the lot. The Community Management Statement sets out each lot’s entitlements. The interest schedule entitlement has been calculated to reflect that owner’s relative market value of the lot compared to other lots in the scheme. As the name suggests, it must reflect the market value of the lots except to the extent that it is just and equitable not to reflect the market value. The interest lot entitlement is used to calculate each lot owners potion of the reinstatement and replacement insurance premium and is also used to calculate rates and the land tax for the scheme.
In each instance you would need to refer to the title or plan of your lot. The plan will indicate whether the boundary of your lot extends to the balcony doors or to the outer perimeter of your balcony, in which case the doors are inside your title and therefore your responsibility. Where the title is to the balcony doors, these doors then form the boundary of your lot and become part of the common property and the body corporate must maintain doors, windows and associated fittings situated in a boundary wall (common property).
Yes. This has to be attended to so that your community complies with Workplace Health and Safety Regulations and carries out its responsibility of maintaining common property. The WH&S Act requires the committee and body corporate to ensure that the common property is a safe environment. There can be penalties for non compliance in the case of injuries registered with the Regulator.
Strata managers, appointed by the Owners Corporation or Body Corporate, oversee the administrative and legal aspects of the strata scheme. They do not handle physical maintenance but ensure operational compliance and financial management. Strata management services include:
Your strata manager serves as an expert advisor, guiding the committee on compliance and administration, helping them make informed decisions based on state legislation and strata best practices.
Unlike strata managers, building managers (or caretakers) handle the operational and physical upkeep of the property. They are often on-site, making them the first point of contact for residents regarding property upkeep. Responsibilities include:
Building managers handle day-to-day maintenance, maintaining common areas and fostering a safe, functional environment for all residents.
In the case a building does not have a building manager, their responsibilities fall to the committee.
The committee, made up of elected owners, represents the interests of all owners and makes key decisions about the strata property. They often work closely with the strata manager and provide a voice for the owners in decision-making. Key roles include:
The committee provides direction and oversight on behalf of owners, making key decisions to benefit the community.
Landlords, or lot owners who rent their property, manage their units within the guidelines of the Owners Corporation or Body Corporate. Their responsibilities involve:
Landlords balance their private property interests with community obligations, contributing to the shared upkeep of the property while managing their investment.
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