This is one of the most common questions that we receive from Strata Councils. How many meetings should we have per year? What is ideal?
The answer to that question will really depend on a number of factors, which I will detail for you below:
The size of the property. The larger the property, the more moving parts there can sometimes be, with more stakeholders involved. Larger properties usually have monthly meetings, or at the very least, every second month. Smaller properties may only have one Council meeting to finalize the budget prior to the AGM.
The age of the property and number of ongoing projects. The older the property, the more work that is likely required. Major projects can tend to take up a lot of time, and often require more meetings to facilitate communications. These could include re-roofing, an elevator refurbishment, or a repiping project.
How much can get done between meetings. If 95% of the issues are being resolved via email between meetings, then the meetings become more of a formality to ratify decisions on paper than anything else, and likely aren’t required every month.
The staffing situation with the strata. If the strata employs full time caretakers and building managers, then fewer meetings are likely required as decisions are being made on a daily basis, and again, meetings may just be a formality.
As you can see, the needs of your Strata will very depending on some of the these factors noted above. Some stratas hold very few, and some hold too many. Remember that you can always hold meetings without your management company being present. If you think about your Strata being a business, which it is, how often would you meet if you were running your own business?
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