Your work, your contractor, your choice!
The attitudes of some management firms really astound us at times.
We have been appointed as managers of three properties this year where the former management companies (different companies) dictated to their clients which contractors they could or could not use.
As owners within a body corporate the choice of which contractor carries out a job is yours; afterall it is your work and your money will be used to pay for the work to be done. The role of the manager should be to provide assistance, advice and where necessary options for quotations for the works.
The manager does not have a vote and doesn't choose who carries out the works on the property, although we expect that in adding value to your corporation that the manager will recommend a contractor who has carried out similar good quality work at a reasonable price on another property.
Where managers act in a demanding manner on contractor usage it makes us suspicious that there are motives involved other than acting in your best interests.
It is common for managers to receive commissions from contractors for works on properties which ultimately means that the works cost owners more and we have seen these as high as 10%.
Strata Management SA do not receive or accept any commissions for maintenance works carried out on our clients properties and as such have been able to save our clients significant amounts on their maintenance works.
At Strata Management SA we seek win-win results for contractors and our client corporations.
No one has ever thanked a contractor for working without any profit margin and sending themselves out of business (this is generally frustrating as we cant find the contractor in future years when we need more work done as we've recently had with two painters sought for work in Blackwood) and we seek good quality work at a fair price.
If owners have a contractor that they wish to put forward for a job, we check their registrations, licenses and insurance to address risk management for the corporation but we are happy to work with them. This service is a part of our management service and is not an additional cost to the corporation.
It is your choice who carries out work at your property, do not let anyone tell you otherwise.
