How to Prepare for a CSC Random Inspection (Without Panic)

Your strata corporation receives a letter from the Commission of Strata Corporations. A random inspection has been scheduled. You have three months.

Three months sounds like plenty of time. But when you start assembling the documentation — AGM minutes from two years ago, insurance certificates that may have lapsed, financial statements that were never properly produced, executive committee records that changed hands when the last secretary moved out — three months can feel like three weeks.

The good news is that the CSC gives at least three months’ advance written notice before inspections. The bad news is that if your corporation has not been maintaining its records consistently, three months is not enough to fabricate a compliance history that does not exist.

The only way to pass a CSC inspection without panic is to be inspection-ready year-round.

What Inspectors Assess

CSC inspectors evaluate strata corporations across several categories. Understanding what they look for is the first step toward being prepared.

AGM Compliance and Documentation

Inspectors want to see evidence that annual general meetings have been held in accordance with statutory requirements. This means:

• Proper notice was given to all proprietors (using prescribed templates for electronic or in-person meetings)
• Quorum was achieved
• Minutes were taken and properly documented
• Resolutions were recorded with vote counts
• Executive committee elections were conducted

Missing AGM minutes is one of the most common violations found during inspections. If minutes were never taken — or were taken but cannot be located — the corporation cannot demonstrate that it has been governed properly.

Insurance Coverage

Inspectors verify that the corporation maintains valid building insurance covering the structure and common property. They will ask for:

• Current insurance policy certificates
• Evidence that coverage has been maintained continuously
• If insurance was declined: a unanimous resolution from all proprietors (not just a majority)

Inadequate or missing insurance is an immediate compliance failure. It also affects every proprietor’s ability to obtain or refinance a mortgage.

Executive Committee Records

The inspection assesses whether the corporation maintains current records of its governing body:

• Current membership list with names, roles, and election dates
• Evidence of proper elections at AGMs
• Records of committee decisions and actions
• Contact information for committee members

Physical Condition of Common Areas

Inspectors physically assess the condition of shared spaces and infrastructure. They look for:

• General maintenance standards of hallways, gardens, parking areas, and recreational facilities
• Evidence of deferred maintenance
• Operational status of building systems
• Overall condition relative to the corporation’s financial resources

By-Law Compliance

Inspectors assess whether the corporation’s actual practices align with its registered by-laws:

• Are by-laws being enforced?
• Have amendments been properly passed (75% for First Schedule, majority for Second Schedule)?
• Have amendments been lodged with the National Land Agency?
• Are there discrepancies between the registered by-laws and actual community rules?

Variations from Strata Plans

This is where physical inspections get specific. Inspectors compare what they see on the ground with what is shown on the registered strata plan. Common findings include:

• Unauthorized structures on common property (parking enclosures, storage sheds, building extensions)
• Modifications to common areas not reflected in the strata plan
• Encroachments by individual proprietors onto common property

The CSC has the power to order demolition of illegal extensions and removal of unauthorized structures. These orders carry legal force.

The Inspection Reality Check

When the CSC audits registered corporations, 88% are found to have violated multiple bylaws. This is not because inspectors are unreasonably strict. It is because most corporations do not maintain the basic records and practices that the law requires.

Common failure scenarios:

The missing years. The current executive committee took over two years ago. The previous committee did not hand over minutes, financial records, or insurance certificates. The new committee has been managing day-to-day operations but has not reconstructed the historical record. When the inspection notice arrives, there is a two-year gap in documentation.

The insurance lapse. The building insurance policy expired six months ago. Nobody noticed because the committee member responsible had moved away and no handover was completed. The corporation is now uninsured — and proprietors who applied for mortgages during this period may have issues.

The informal by-laws. The community has rules about parking, noise, and renovations that everyone follows. But these rules were never formally adopted as by-laws, never voted on, and certainly never lodged with the National Land Agency. As far as the law is concerned, they do not exist.

The spreadsheet problem. Financial records exist in a spreadsheet on one person’s laptop. That person is the treasurer. The spreadsheet is not backed up, not shared, and not in a format that produces the statements required for annual returns. When the inspection asks for financial accounts, the treasurer needs two weeks to produce something presentable.

The unauthorised structure. A proprietor enclosed their patio three years ago. The committee discussed it at the time but never formally objected or recorded the discussion. The enclosed patio is now identified as an unauthorized structure during the physical inspection.

How to Be Ready Year-Round

Passing a CSC inspection is not about heroic preparation during the three-month notice period. It is about maintaining compliance as a continuous practice.

Maintain a Compliance Calendar

Track every recurring obligation: annual registration renewal, annual returns filing deadline (120 days after financial year end), insurance renewal dates, AGM scheduling. Do not rely on anyone’s memory.

Centralise Document Storage

Every document that an inspector might request should be stored in a single, accessible location — not scattered across email accounts, filing cabinets, and personal laptops. This includes AGM minutes, committee meeting notes, financial statements, insurance certificates, by-law documents, and maintenance records.

Produce Financial Statements Regularly

Do not wait until annual returns are due to produce financial statements. Generate income and expenditure reports at least quarterly. This ensures the data is accurate, issues are caught early, and year-end statements are a summary of work already done — not a scramble to reconstruct twelve months of transactions.

Document Every Meeting

Every AGM and every executive committee meeting should produce formal minutes. These minutes should record attendance, business discussed, motions made, votes taken (with counts), and resolutions passed. Store minutes immediately in the central document system.

Track Insurance Proactively

Know when your insurance policy expires. Set reminders well in advance. Store certificates where they can be retrieved instantly. If coverage amounts need to be reviewed or updated, do so at renewal time — not when an inspector asks.

Audit Common Property

Conduct an annual walk-through of all common property areas. Identify unauthorized structures, maintenance issues, and by-law violations. Address them proactively. Waiting for an inspector to find them puts the corporation in a reactive position.

Keep Executive Committee Records Current

Every time the committee changes — which happens at every AGM — update the membership list immediately. Record the date of election, the role assigned, and contact details. Ensure outgoing members hand over any documents or responsibilities they held.

The FiWi Approach

FiWi Community provides a compliance dashboard that shows the status of every obligation at a glance. Green means compliant. Yellow means a deadline is approaching. Red means something needs immediate attention.

Financial records are maintained continuously, producing the statements required for annual returns directly from the accounting data. Meeting minutes are captured in structured templates. Insurance policies are tracked with automatic renewal reminders. Document storage is centralised and accessible to every authorised committee member.

When the inspection letter arrives, the corporation that uses FiWi does not need three months to prepare. The preparation has been happening every day.

The 88% compliance failure rate among audited corporations is a systems problem, not a people problem. The people are volunteers doing their best. The systems need to support them. That is what FiWi is built to do.