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The articles included in Paddocks Press focus on the legal, financial and administrative aspects of sectional title scheme management. Once a month the best of these articles are selected to appear in our Paddocks Press publication, which is e-mailed to over 40,000 readers throughout South Africa.
In this article we set out the management rules prescribed by the regulations to the Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986 which govern sectional title Annual General Meetings (AGMs).
When must the AGM be held? In terms of prescribed management rule ("PMR") 51, the AGM must be held within four months of the end of each financial year. The financial year runs from the first day of March to the last day of February unless otherwise decided at a general meeting of owners or by the trustees.
The good news in South Africa is that 95% of the time, when we build walls, we build "cavity" brick walls consisting of two "skins" separated by a hollow space. This serves two purposes, firstly, it prevents moisture from penetrating from the exposed outer wall to the inner wall, and secondly, the cavity itself helps in insulating the building by acting as a thermal break between the two skins. It is possible and even advisable for individuals that really want to "go green" to further insulate existing cavity walls, but in South Africa, we have the insulation of our walls reasonably sorted already.
Hold on, don’t pop the champagne just yet, what about the roof?
There are very few sectional title schemes in South Africa that do not have at least one full- or part-time employee working for them. Amongst others, these include gardeners, cleaners, security guards, and for larger schemes; supervisors, caretakers, and even in-house management teams. Employees play a vital role in the effective upkeep of a scheme, but very often, because sectional title schemes are not businesses aimed at making a profit, employees are left to their own devises and are not managed in line with applicable legislation.