General Meeting of the Management Corporation

As per the Apartment Ownership Act, a management corporation should be in operation in every condominium property. The owners of condominium parcels (housing or commercial units) of the condominium property are deemed as members of its management corporation.

The first general meeting of the Management Corporation should be held with the participation of all of them. In a condominium building of which the condominium declaration and plan have been registered anew in the Land Registry, the first general meeting should be held within three months of such registration. Thereafter, the general meetings should be held annually.

Importance of a General Meeting

The major responsibilities of the Management Corporation are to maintain common elements and common amenities in the condominium property and to keep them in good and serviceable condition to enable the provision of optimum service. The decisions to this effect are taken at the annual general meeting.

At the general meeting of the Management Corporation, the following matters should be discussed by the members.

1. (1)Appointment of a “council” for the coming year.
2. (2)Expenditure for the provision of services ( common water and electricity supply) and the maintenance and repairs to be carried out to the common elements in the coming year.
3. (3)The amount of money to be spent for this purpose
4. (4)How such the money would be sourced
5. (5)The amount to be incurred by each member
6. (6)The monthly subscription fee
7. (7)Removal of unauthorized structures, if any
8. (8)Other matters related to the safety of the building (insurance etc.)

The discussion of above issues will contribute the proper functioning and existence of the management corporation.

Further, if general meetings have been held previously, the audit report and accounts should be adopted at the meeting.

If there are by laws as per the Apartment Ownership Act No 11 of 1973, they too should be subject to discussion and adopted. A code of ethics may be introduced for owners/ residents.

In addition, interim proposals and special resolutions aimed at the common good of the members of the Management Corporation can also be discussed. Accordingly, the general meeting is a vital function of a condominium property.

As stated above, one of the key functions at the general meeting is to elect the “Council” of the condominium property for the coming year. As per the first schedule of the Act, the composition of the council shall be not less than three and not more than 14. The official term of office of the council duly appointed at the general meeting shall be a period not exceeding 15 months. The quorum of the general meeting is made of 50% of the members with voting rights. In the absence of quorum, the general meeting should be adjourned for 7 days and at the next scheduled date of the meeting, the council can be elected.

Voting at a general meeting

An owner of a condominium unit (condominium parcel) can cast one vote at the general meeting. If he/she owns several units he/ she is entitled to corresponding number of votes. A non owner of a unit can participate and vote at a general meeting only if he/ she has a letter of permission (proxy) from an owner.

A vote can be taken to appoint members to the “Council” or for an adoption of a resolution. Votes can be cast at a general meeting by show of hands.

An owner is entitled to vote at the general meeting only if he/she has paid all the subscription fees due to paid to the fund of the management corporation. Accordingly, only those members who have paid the subscription fee for the monthly maintenance are eligible to participate at a general meeting.

It is the responsibility of the ‘council’ to implement decisions taken at the general meeting during the coming year. The “council” appointed at the general meeting should appoint the Secretary, Treasurer of the Management Corporation and others are members of the council.