Summary
Do not tell owners one day that a fire safety upgrade is urgent and then tell them 6 days later that they have 12 months to comply, when nothing has changed in the interim.
Detail
It is important that staff members try to be consistent when they advise owners about critical issues such as fire safety.
Do not tell owners one day that a fire safety upgrade is urgent and then tell them 6 days later that they have 12 months to comply, when nothing has changed in the interim.
Detail
It is important that staff members try to be consistent when they advise owners about critical issues such as fire safety.
Imagine that you have been served with a fire upgrade order by the local Council on 13 January relating to a building you manage and that it requires compliance within 28 days. Imagine also that you have obtained 3 quotes to do the upgrade work and they are on the agenda for an AGM of the owners corporation scheduled for 4 February.
If a staff member tells the AGM that he and the committee have already engaged a contractor without allowing the owners corporation to vote on the motion because the work is supposedly "urgent", and the minutes confirm that, make sure that he lets other staff members know what he said.
It is not a good look if six days later another staff member states the following in writing:
"Also attached for your reference please find the Council orders, which simply require that the building be in a position to lodge an Annual Fire Safety Statement within 12 months from the date of their notice."
Having overridden the democratic process regarding which company to use due to "urgency", you should at least try to pretend that the work really is urgent. If you do not organise any fire upgrade work between 13 January when you received the upgrade order and 6 August, it would not look good.
Similarly if you tell owners that they have 12 months to comply with an order you should ensure that you have that in writing from Council. If an updated fire order issued just 13 days later on 23 February specifies 3 months for compliance not 12 months, owners might start to really question the integrity of your staff members.
