New body corporate certificates to apply from 1 August 2025

From 1 August 2025, the disclosure requirements for the sale of an existing lot under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (BCCM Act) will change.  

The section 206 disclosure statement will no longer exist, and instead there will be two new prescribed forms:  

• Form 33 Body corporate certificate; and 
• Form 34 Body corporate certificate for specified two-lot schemes.   

(Body Corporate Certificates) 

Form 33 is intended for use in all community titles schemes except those governed by the Specified Two-lot Schemes Module.  It provides comprehensive information about the lot, including financial contributions, by-laws, insurance, common property, and any service contracts or embedded networks.  It also includes details about the body corporate’s financial position, including administrative and sinking fund contributions, penalties for late payments, and any special levies.

Form 34, on the other hand, is specifically designed for two-lot schemes regulated under the Specified Two-lot Schemes Module. While it contains similar categories of information as Form 33, it is tailored to the simpler governance structure of two-lot schemes. For example, decisions in these schemes are made by lot owner agreement rather than by committee or general meeting, and the financial arrangements are typically less complex.

 

Does a seller need to provide a body corporate certificate to a buyer?

Under the new seller’s disclosure regime, if the property being sold is a lot in a community titles scheme, the seller is obligated to provide a body corporate certificate to a buyer before the buyer signs the contract.  The body corporate certificate is a ‘prescribed certificate’ under the Property Law Regulation 2024.

 

Who prepares the Body Corporate Certificate?  

Unlike a section 206 disclosure statement, only the body corporate can prepare the body corporate certificate for the lot.  

The seller (or their agent, if authorised) will need to send a written request for a body corporate certificate, to their body corporate manager or committee.

Importantly, the Property Law Regulation 2024 stipulates that the body corporate must provide the certificate within five business days of receiving a written request. The body corporate can also charge a fee for producing the certificate. 

 

What happens if the body corporate does not provide the certificate? 

There may be circumstances where a body corporate does not have the information needed to provide the body corporate certificate.

Section 5(1)(i)(ii) of the Property Law Regulation 2024 provides that a seller is not required to give a body corporate certificate if a reason under section 6 applies, and that the seller can instead provide an ‘explanatory statement’ in its place.   

The relevant reasons under section 6 include:  

(1) the body corporate for the scheme has advised the seller in writing that the body corporate does not have records that could be used to prepare a body corporate certificate, including, for example, because the records are missing, destroyed or in disarray; or 

(2) all of the following apply—

(i) any of the following regulation modules apply to the scheme—

A. the Body Corporate and Community Management (Accommodation Module) Regulation 2020;
B. the Body Corporate and Community Management (Commercial Module) Regulation 2020;
C. the Body Corporate and Community Management (Small Schemes Module) Regulation 2020;
D. the Body Corporate and Community Management (Standard Module) Regulation 2020;

(ii) the original owner control period for the scheme has ended;
(iii) the first annual general meeting of the body corporate for the scheme has been held;
(iv) no committee for the body corporate for the scheme has been chosen;
(v) for a scheme other than a commercial module scheme—no body corporate manager has been engaged under chapter 3, part 5 of the regulation module applying to the scheme to carry out the functions of the committee for the body corporate for the scheme.

The explanatory statement is a document made by the seller of the lot stating:

• that a copy of the body corporate certificate for the lot is not attached; and
• the reason under section 6 why the seller has not been able to obtain a copy of the body corporate certificate for the lot.

The REIQ will release template explanatory statements in Realworks from 1 August 2025.

In circumstances where a body corporate does not respond to a request in time or at all, the seller will need to seek legal advice about how their disclosure obligations will be impacted.

DISCLAIMER: This article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice and should not be used as such. Formal and independent legal advice should be sought in particular matters. REIQ cannot and does not warrant and nor does it represent in any way that the information contained herein is current and/or will remain current beyond the time and date of release.

Read more: Best practice: Issuing sales contracts leading up to 1 August 2025.

Read more about property sales.