Why Us

The conflicts your manager won't tell you about

Queensland's body corporate industry has a structural problem. The people paid to manage your building often hold financial interests that conflict directly with yours.

Body corporate managers are paid by the body corporate, but their real loyalty is to their own business. When a management contract comes up for renewal, who advises your committee? Usually no one. When your manager recommends a contractor, do they receive a referral fee? Often. When you review the financials, can you tell how much your manager actually earns from your scheme? Rarely.

Insurance commissions are another hidden layer. Multiple parties in the chain can each take a cut, a cost ultimately borne by owners through their levies, and frequently never disclosed at all.

But the conflict that does the most damage is also the least understood, and it sits with the voting register itself.

The voting power problem

In many hotel-managed complexes, the operator holds the management rights and owns a significant block of lots in the same scheme. That lot ownership carries voting power at general meetings. The operator can vote to extend its own management contract, defeat motions that would scrutinise its fees, and help install a friendly committee. Owners who want accountability are structurally outvoted. This combination, management rights plus voting control, is one of the most damaging dynamics in Queensland strata, and we are built to explain it clearly and help affected committees navigate it.

Our pledge to you

Harding Strata Advisory holds no management contracts, receives no commissions from insurers or contractors, does not act for building managers or caretakers, and has no commercial relationship with any manager referenced in our engagements. We work exclusively for committees and lot owners. This independence is a continuing obligation, not a marketing line.

Common conflicts we uncover
Hotel operator voting blocsAn operator that owns lots in the scheme it manages can use that voting power to shape the committee and protect its own contracts.
Undisclosed Schedule B feesCharges for maintenance calls, file requests and meeting attendance buried in the agreement, often not itemised on invoices.
Long-term management agreementsLengthy management-rights contracts with limited termination rights, set when the scheme was established and rarely reviewed since.
Insurance commission stackingSeveral parties in the insurance chain each taking commissions, paid by owners through levies and rarely disclosed.
Captured committeesCommittees that defer entirely to management without independent review, a well-documented failure mode in complex and hotel-brand schemes.
Where We Fit

Three parties. Only two are on your side.

A strata lawyer genuinely acts for the body corporate, but at a price most committees only pay once a dispute has already started. We occupy the gap: independent and proactive, without the hourly bill.

Your Manager & Caretaker
Not on your side
Acts for
Their own business
Paid by
Your levies, but loyal elsewhere
Incentive
Keep the committee uninformed and dependent
A Strata Lawyer
On your side, but costly
Acts for
You, genuinely
Cost
High, typically billed by the hour
Usually called
Once it's already a dispute
Harding Strata Advisory
On your side, and affordable
Acts for
You, and only you
Cost
Agreed up front, a fraction of legal cost
When
Proactively, before problems escalate

We are consultants, not lawyers. We don't give legal advice or represent you at QCAT. Where a matter genuinely needs a legal opinion or representation, we'll tell you plainly and refer you to a suitably qualified strata lawyer. For everything short of that, we're the faster and far more affordable option.

Suspect something doesn't add up in your scheme?

An independent review is the fastest way to find out. Start with a free, no-obligation conversation.

Get in touch