Only about 12% of Jamaica’s roughly 1,300 registered strata corporations file annual returns in any given year. Over a three-year period, only about 10% filed the required documents. When the Commission of Strata Corporations conducts audits, 88% of the corporations examined are found to have violated multiple bylaws.
These are not edge cases. This is the norm. And it means that the vast majority of strata corporation board members in Jamaica are presiding over organisations that are, in some form, non-compliant with the law.
The Registration (Strata Titles) Act imposes a comprehensive set of obligations on strata corporations. Failure to comply can result in criminal charges, fines, inability to secure insurance or mortgages for proprietors, and diminished property values. Proposed amendments would impose fines of up to JMD $500,000 for non-submission of annual returns.
This checklist covers every major compliance obligation. If your corporation cannot tick every item, you have work to do.
1. Registration
Initial Registration
Every strata corporation must register with the Commission of Strata Corporations within 90 days of the plan being incorporated or registered with the Registrar of Titles. This is not optional. Failure to register within 90 days is a criminal offence under the Act.
Registration requires:
- A completed Application Form 7 (First Registration Form)
- Signatures from two executive committee members or the registered developer
- Payment of the applicable fee based on lot count
Fee structure for first registration:
| Number of Lots | Fee (JMD) |
|---|---|
| 2-5 | $1,000 |
| 6-10 | $3,000 |
| 11-15 | $5,000 |
| Over 250 | $125,000 |
Within 7-10 working days, the corporation receives a unique registration number in the format CSC-XXXX and a certificate of registration.
Post-Registration Obligations
Once registered, the corporation must immediately:
- Purchase a corporate seal — required for all official documents including Power of Sale notices
- Obtain an NIS (National Insurance Scheme) number
- Register for a Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN)
- Open a bank account in the corporation’s name
Many corporations complete the initial registration and stop here. That is a mistake. Registration is only the beginning.
2. Annual Filing
Annual Registration Renewal
Every year, the corporation must renew its registration with the CSC using Form 8 (Annual Registration) and pay the annual fee based on lot count.
Annual Returns
This is where most corporations fail. Annual returns must be filed using Forms 13A, 13B, and 13C within 120 days after the end of the corporation’s financial year.
The annual returns must include:
- Insurance documentation — proof of valid building insurance, or a unanimous resolution from all proprietors declining coverage
- Executive committee member appointments — current membership lists with election dates
- Meeting records — minutes of AGMs and executive committee meetings held during the year
- Financial accounts — income and expenditure statements for the period
- Audit reports — if applicable to the corporation’s size and governance requirements
Missing any one of these components renders the return incomplete. An incomplete return is effectively a non-filing.
Compliance Certificates
Corporations must maintain annual compliance certificates. These are not just administrative records — they are prerequisites for Power of Sale applications. If a proprietor owes three years of arrears, the corporation needs compliance certificates for each of those three years before it can apply to sell the unit.
3. Governance
Annual General Meetings
AGMs must be conducted according to statutory requirements. This means:
- Proper notice to all proprietors (the CSC provides templates for both electronic and in-person AGM notices)
- Adequate quorum before business is conducted
- Proper minutes documenting all business transacted
- Correct handling of proxy voting using the CSC’s prescribed proxy form
Missing AGM minutes is one of the most common violations found during CSC inspections.
Executive Committee
The executive committee must be elected at AGMs. The corporation must maintain current membership lists, track election dates and terms, and keep records of all committee decisions.
By-Law Compliance
The corporation must enforce its by-laws among proprietors, tenants, and occupiers. By-law amendments require either a 75% resolution (for First Schedule / fundamental by-laws) or a majority resolution (for Second Schedule / operational by-laws). All amendments must be lodged with the National Land Agency before they take effect.
4. Financial Management
Budgeting and Contributions
The corporation must:
- Prepare annual budgets with projected income and expenditure
- Levy contributions from proprietors based on unit entitlement (proportionate to unit size)
- Collect contributions promptly and track arrears
- Maintain accurate financial records with detailed accounting of income and expenditures
- Conduct regular audits for transparency and accountability
- Keep all funds in bank accounts in the corporation’s name
Debt Recovery
The corporation has the legal right to pursue non-paying proprietors. Accounts overdue by more than 30 days qualify for Power of Sale applications. If charging interest on arrears, the corporation must have resolution minutes approving the specific interest rate.
5. Insurance
The corporation must insure the building structure and common property. This is a legal obligation under the Act, not a discretionary expense.
The only exception: a unanimous resolution from every single proprietor to decline coverage. Not a majority vote. Not 75%. Every proprietor must agree. In practice, this makes insurance effectively mandatory.
Insurance documentation must be included in annual returns and must be available for CSC inspections. Without proper insurance:
- Proprietors may be unable to obtain mortgages — banks require evidence of building insurance
- The corporation will fail CSC inspections
- Annual returns will be incomplete
- Property values are affected
6. Property Maintenance
The corporation must manage and maintain all common property areas — hallways, gardens, recreational facilities, building systems, parking areas, walkways, and all shared infrastructure. Unauthorized structures on common property are among the most commonly cited violations in CSC audits.
7. Inspection Readiness
The CSC conducts random inspections of registered strata corporations. As of 2025, corporations receive at least 3 months’ advance written notice. Inspectors assess:
- AGM compliance and documentation
- Insurance coverage evidence
- Executive committee records and membership
- Physical condition of common areas
- By-law compliance
- Variations between strata plans and actual conditions (unauthorized structures)
If your corporation cannot produce all required documentation within a reasonable timeframe after receiving the inspection notice, you have a compliance gap that needs to be addressed now — not when the letter arrives.
8. Data Protection
Under the Data Protection Act, 2020, strata corporations must protect the personal data of proprietors and residents. This includes implementing proper data classification and access controls, complying with data protection principles, and reporting data breaches in a timely manner. Your corporation is a Data Controller under the law.
The Compliance Gap Is a Systems Problem
The reason 88% of corporations fail compliance audits is not that board members are negligent or indifferent. It is that volunteer board members, often with no training in corporate governance, are expected to manage a complex web of legal obligations using paper files, spreadsheets, and institutional memory.
The CSC offers quarterly workshops on annual returns and bookkeeping — but sessions are capped at 15 participants. That cannot scale to serve 1,300 registered corporations, let alone the thousands of gated communities that will come under regulation through the Registration (Shared Community) Act 2026.
What corporations need is a system that tracks every obligation, stores every document, sends every reminder, and provides a compliance dashboard that shows green, yellow, or red for each requirement — not once a quarter in a workshop, but every day.
That is what FiWi Community is built to do. Compliance tracking, document storage, automated deadline reminders, financial management, AGM scheduling, insurance tracking, and inspection readiness — all in one platform designed specifically for the Jamaican regulatory environment.
If your corporation is among the 88% with compliance gaps, the first step is knowing what the gaps are. This checklist is the starting point. A proper compliance system is the solution.
See how Caymanas Estate recovered J$6.1 million
679 lots. 53% to 77% good standing. 87,000+ visitors processed digitally. See how FiWi Community turned policy into results.
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