Fidelity insurance is a crucial safeguard for bodies corporate managing sectional title buildings in South Africa. It protects the financial health of the scheme and shields members from the potentially devastating consequences of theft or mismanagement of funds. Let’s look at why this type of insurance is essential, what it protects against, and the procedure to obtain it. Why fidelity insurance...
It is important to understand the extent of coverage of the body corporate’s sectional title insurance - and what your personal liability is - to avoid any oversights. This is especially true for new owners. In this article, we provide some information to clarity the matter: Sectional title insurance is a legal requirement, and the costs are calculated according to each section...
The Sectional Title Schemes Management Act (STSMA) provides clear instructions as to how improvements should be handled in sectional title schemes. In the blog post below, we detail below some guidelines on how to deal with improvements in your unit or exclusive use area, and improvements on common property and the requirements for making such improvements. Improvement of your unit Owners are...
The Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) was established in terms of the Community Schemes Service Act 9 of 2011 to regulate the conduct of parties within community schemes and to ensure their good governance. When an owner or occupier has a dispute relating to the administration of that scheme, they are able to approach CSOS for assistance to resolve such dispute. Not...
As a body corporate cannot function without funds, managing the scheme’s funds is one of the most important responsibilities the trustees have. While the trustees make decisions on how and when the funds must be allocated, they do not actually manage the funds themselves - this function falls on the managing agent. This is where problems sometimes arise and it is...