12–Apr–2026
Northmarque
In short:
- The caretaking service contractor is Aspire Facility Services – the company, not Ollie personally. As managing director, Ollie can deploy any of his staff to carry out the caretaking duties. There is no requirement for him specifically to be on site.
- The change to an off-site arrangement was approved by owners at a general meeting and is already reflected in the governing documents – the documents that needed and could be updated have been.
- The remuneration is a fixed contractual obligation that transferred to Aspire on existing terms when they acquired the management rights. It cannot be renegotiated unilaterally.
- The committee’s focus will be on ensuring the scheme gets full value from the arrangement.
The change from an on-site to an off-site caretaker was a decision formally made by owners at a general meeting in September 2025. That decision is already reflected correctly in the governing documents.
It is worth understanding what can and cannot be changed in a caretaking agreement, because the governing documents, including the Deeds and the Community Management Statement are separate to the caretaking agreement.
The caretaking agreement is a registered commercial contract. When Aspire Facility Services acquired the management rights, they purchased the agreement on its existing terms – including the remuneration. The body corporate did not have the option to renegotiate the financial terms at that point, and some owners may have been given the impression that it could. That impression was incorrect. The remuneration is a contractual obligation, not a discretionary expense the committee can adjust. It increases annually in line with CPI as the agreement provides.
What the committee can work on – and is actively doing – is ensuring the scheme gets the best possible value from the arrangement. That means establishing a clear and documented service schedule with Aspire so that the scope of works is well understood by everyone, and holding the contractor to it.
The committee will look at what further updates to the agreement are appropriate once the scheme is through the AGM and on stable footing. Any material changes to the caretaking agreement would also require owner approval and in the event, we go down this more formal path, we will likely be consulting with owners as part of the process before it even gets to formal approval.