ABMA Building Compliance Accreditation Agency Ltd
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About Us

Welcome to the ABMA

Introduction

We started out back in 2012 as a group of Facilities Managers, lawyers, compliance consultants and service providers practicing in the residential strata space, joining forces to volunteer our time to come up with an easier way to navigate the 100+ Acts, Regulations and Australian Standards imposing duties on us for regulatory compliance around the maintenance of common property. Nowhere in Australia was there one reliable resource for all the information we needed to know to maintain the common property of a residential or mixed-use scheme, in simple, relevant language.

ABMA Building Compliance Accreditation Agency Limited (the ‘ABMA’) is a not-for-profit community support organisation incorporated to provide a platform for information, advice and self-assessment around regulatory compliance standards for the maintenance, repairs and care of common property in Australia.

Our efforts in lobbying Governments for more support around the structural integrity of scheme buildings includes recommendations for the Facilities Management Plan to be supplied by the Developer to all new schemes, and Defect Assessment Reviews to happen on every new building. We are also campaigning for a Compliance Schedule to accompany each occupancy permit, so all building owners know precisely what regulatory compliance obligations they hold from the first day of the newly registered scheme.

The ABMA and its network of specialist thought leaders will continue to campaign for supportive legislative reform, enforcement of existing legislation and Government support to building owners around compliance and structural integrity for the full life of the building.

Regulatory Non-Compliance as a Challenge for Residential Strata

A Griffith University pilot study into statutory non-compliances existing around the maintenance of common property revealed over 90% of strata schemes inspected were non-compliant under existing legislation [Dr. Sacha Reid, circa 2015]. This high percentage of non-compliance has the potential to adversely affect the long-term structural viability of buildings and therefore should be of grave concern to all residential strata communities.

With an estimated 250,000+ strata schemes across Australia housing over 5 million people the ABMA has an important task in assisting those that have duties to comply in understanding their regulatory compliance commitments.

ABMA Building Management Code© as the First Step Toward 100% Compliance  

First forming the Independent Review Panel in 2015, the ABMA’s primary function is to act as the custodian of the ABMA Building Management Code© which is published annually in every state and territory of the country. Through the ABMA Code we give clear explanation of duties and responsibilities to inspire confidence in volunteer Committees through knowledge and understanding of how to manage statutory compliance obligations. The ABMA Building Management Code© is 100% specific to residential and mixed-use strata schemes in Australia.

We quickly learned that reading a reference guide to complex legislation was not the sole answer to the regulatory non-compliance problem, so the ABMA Regulatory Compliance Self-Assessment Tool was developed. Freely available to any ABMA Code subscriber it is the only platform of its kind in Australia. Building owners and their Facilities Managers can start their regulatory compliance journey by completing the ABMA online self-assessment questionnaire today.

Governance

Led by the CEO and governed by the Board and Independent Review Panel the ABMA has been helping building owners, Committees, caretakers and Facilities Managers to improve their compliance outcomes and lower overall administration and capital upgrade costs since 2015.

There are four divisions within the ABMA agency:

All funding for the ABMA comes from the sales of the ABMA Building Management Code© and associated Guidebooks. In order to provide a fully impartial and inclusive community service the ABMA does not accept conflicted revenue such as membership fees, donations and/or sponsorship.

Mission & Vision  

The ABMA Building Compliance Accreditation Agency seeks to be recognised as the nationally consistent, objective standard for the maintenance of common property, facilities management and caretaking of residential and mixed-use strata schemes, for the full life cycle of the building. Where legislation is complex, the ABMA seeks to simplify and provide sector-relevant information directly to stakeholders. Where legislation is silent, the ABMA provides objective, measurable and justifiable standards for industry to work to.

Through its Independent Review Panel, the ABMA provides the national platform for joining forces to set standards for self-assessment of regulatory compliance.

Through its Regulatory Compliance via Self-Assessment tool, the ABMA provides the national platform for self-testing and measuring compliance.

Through its CEO and Board, the ABMA provides the only national platform for assessing, accrediting and evolving national building management standards in an inclusive environment via consultation at the highest industry level, excellence in customer service, transparency and impartiality in all dealings along with rigorous testing ethics.

 

 
Resource: www.abma.org.au/about-australian-building-management-accreditation.php Printed: 2024-03-19
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