1. Home
  2. Formation of Owners' Corporation
  3. The arrangement to fill the vacancy of the chairman of the management committee of an owners' corporation

The arrangement to fill the vacancy of the chairman of the management committee of an owners' corporation

If a vacancy occurs in the office of the chairman of a management committee (MC), it can be filled in accordance with paragraph 6(4) of Schedule 2 to the Building Management Ordinance (Cap.344) (BMO). The paragraph stipulated two ways to fill the vacancy of the chairman:

(a)
the owners' corporation (OC) may, by a resolution passed at a general meeting of the OC, appoint a person, from amongst the members of the MC, to fill the vacancy till the next annual general meeting of the OC at which the members of the MC retire under paragraph 5(1); or
(b)
if no general meeting of the OC has been so convened or no appointment is made to fill the vacancy at a general meeting so convened, the members of the MC may appoint a person, from amongst themselves, to fill the vacancy till the next general meeting of the OC.

If a vacancy occurs in the office of the chairman, the MC should adopt the mechanism stipulated in paragraph 6(4) of Schedule 2 to the BMO to fill the vacancy as soon as possible, so that the OC can assume normal operation.

In a case tried by the Lands Tribunal in August 2014, the chairman of an OC had resigned after receiving the request of not less than 5% of the owners to convene a general meeting. As the MC failed to fill the vacancy of chairman at appropriate time to follow up on the request of the owners, the Lands Tribunal finally determined to dissolve the MC and appoint an administrator to convene the general meeting of owners after considering the facts of the case.

For the judgment of the Lands Tribunal on the above case, please refer to the Judiciary website (LDBM 300/2013).

Please note: The information above is for general reference only. OCs and owners who need to quote the case above are advised to seek advice from legal professionals.