CONDUCT RULES

The developer may register a set of rules when the Sectional Title Register is opened. If this is not done the prescribed conduct rules will be deemed to apply to the complex. These rules are contained as annexure 9 to the Sectional Titles Act.

These rules are very basic and usually do not meet the needs of most complexes.

The conduct rules may be changed or amended by the body corporate at a later stage. This requires a special resolution, and the new or amended rules need to be registered with the Registrar of Deeds. If the rules or amendments are not registered these rules will be unenforceable. The previous rules or, if there were no rules previously, the prescribed rules are enforceable.

The rules or amendment are only enforceable from the date of registration with the Registrar of Deeds.

Before the commencement of the current act (Act 95 of 1986), sectional title was regulated by the Sectional Titles Act, 1971. If the rules prescribed by the 1971 act were adopted and no amendments were made to them, the rules in their entirety were replaced by the prescribed rules of the Sectional Titles Act, 1986. If the rules prescribed by the 1971 act were amended (and registered), these rules were not replaced.

If the amended rules used under the 1971 Act were irreconcilable to the 1986 Act rules, the 1986 rules will be followed in the instances where these are irreconcilable. In this situation it is better to draft a new set of rules, approve them with a special resolution and register them.

The trustees must keep a copy of the current rules, and must supply them to the following, if requested to do so:

•  an owner of a unit;

•  an occupant of a unit;

•  a prospective purchaser of a unit;

•  the holder of any registered sectional mortgage bond;

•  the managing agent; and

•  the auditor or accounting officer.

A reasonable fee may be charged for the copy of the conduct rules.

All owners (including chairperson and trustees) must follow the registered rules of the complex. The body corporate is responsible to ensure that owners follow the rules. The body corporate includes all the owners of units within a complex.