If you ask a body corporate committee chair what changed for them in 2024, the most common answer is some version of 'something happened with the rules, I think.' That isn't quite accurate. The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2022 came fully into force in three phases, with the final phase completing in May 2024. The changes are significant. Most committee chairs we speak to can't name what they are — or whether their building is compliant with them.
The first phase, from late 2022, allowed bodies corporate to hold meetings with remote attendance. The second, from May 2023, was the big one for buyers and governance: sellers now have to provide much more information in pre-contract disclosure statements — including financial statements and meeting minutes — and buyers have stronger remedies if the disclosure is wrong. Bodies corporate got clearer requirements around decision-making, record-keeping and meetings. And large developments — 10 or more principal units — became required to engage a body corporate manager and have a committee, unless owners vote by special resolution to opt out.
The May 2023 phase also brought body corporate managers inside the Act for the first time: their role and duties are now defined in law. The final phase, in May 2024, added the detail — a code of conduct in the Regulations that every manager must comply with, requiring honesty, fairness, good faith, due care and diligence, proper record-keeping and proactive disclosure of conflicts of interest. MBIE gained enforcement powers at the same time: it can issue improvement notices, require bodies corporate and managers to produce documents, inspect developments, and apply to the Tenancy Tribunal for pecuniary penalties.
May 2024 also introduced mandatory contract requirements for management agreements — the things we covered in the contract post. Reporting obligations, performance reviews, termination grounds, records handover. Contracts entered into from 9 May 2024 that don't include them are non-compliant with the Act.
Maintenance planning changed in May 2024 too. Large developments now need a 30-year long-term maintenance plan rather than a 10-year one, reviewed at least every three years, with input from building professionals or other suitably qualified people where appropriate — unless owners vote by special resolution otherwise. The plan must also summarise the current state of the common property and state where the money is coming from.
There is also the mandatory management requirement that gets far less attention than it should. Since May 2023, buildings with 10 or more principal units must engage a body corporate manager, unless the owners vote by special resolution to opt out. Self-managing buildings that have grown past that threshold, or that have always been above it and just never engaged a manager, are now technically non-compliant with the law.
A 10-question compliance check that every committee should be able to pass: Is your management contract compliant with the May 2024 requirements? Is your manager complying with the code of conduct? Does your LTM plan cover the right period for your building size? Has your LTM plan been reviewed within the last three years? Are your AGM notices and processes meeting the updated requirements? Is your owner register current and accurate? Are your financial statements being prepared annually? Are you holding the right insurance with an appropriate sum insured? Do your operational rules reflect how the building actually operates today? Are levy calculations traceable and documented?
The purpose of the changes was to raise the baseline standard of body corporate governance in New Zealand. Many buildings were being managed very badly — financially, operationally, and in terms of how owners were treated. The changes don't guarantee good management, but they give owners more rights when things go wrong and give the regulator more tools to address it.
Quarter is the new body corporate — transparent, owner-first, and built for the way people actually live together. See how it works at quarter.nz.