How much notice does an OMC need to give for its AGM?

Two laws, one number

As a company, your owners’ management company (OMC) must call its annual general meeting on at least 21 days’ notice, unless its constitution asks for more CA 2014 s.181(1). The Multi-Unit Developments Act adds its own rule for OMCs: at least 21 days’ notice of the annual meeting to each member MUD 2011 s.17(3).

If your constitution sets a longer period, the longer period applies. Check it before you pick a date.

What “clear days” means

Neither the day the notice is served nor the day of the meeting counts towards the 21 days CA 2014 s.181(4). In practice, that means sending the notice 22 days before the meeting at the latest.

Example	Date
AGM	Thursday 26 November 2026
Last day to hand over the notice	Wednesday 4 November 2026
Last day to post it	Tuesday 3 November 2026

Posting it? Add a day

A notice sent by ordinary prepaid post to a member’s registered address counts as given 24 hours after posting CA 2014 s.181(3). If you post, send it 23 days before the meeting.

Who must receive the notice

• Every member. In an OMC, that means every unit owner. Membership moves automatically when a unit is sold MUD 2011 s.8, so check your register of members for recent sales before you send.
• The directors and the company secretary.
• The statutory auditors, unless the OMC uses the audit exemption CA 2014 s.180.

An accidental omission to give notice to someone does not, by itself, invalidate the meeting, unless your constitution says otherwise CA 2014 s.181(6). That is a safety net, not a plan.

What the notice must say

The Act lists what every notice must specify CA 2014 s.181(5):

1. The place, date and time of the meeting.
2. For a meeting held fully or partly online: the platform, access details, how and by when to confirm attendance, how attendees will be identified, how to ask questions, and how voting will work.
3. The general nature of the business, including consideration of the section 17 annual report.
4. The text or substance of any special resolution.
5. With reasonable prominence: that a member may appoint a proxy using the form in section 184, that a proxy need not be a member, and when and where proxy forms must be received.

A company limited by guarantee whose constitution does not allow proxies leaves out that last statement CA 2014 s.1204A. Our guide to OMC proxy forms covers the rest.

The annual report travels with it

Every member must receive the OMC’s annual report at least 10 days before the meeting MUD 2011 s.17(4). Many boards send it with the notice: one envelope, one deadline to track. See what the annual report must contain.

Can you give shorter notice?

Only if all the members entitled to attend and vote agree, plus the auditors if the OMC has any CA 2014 s.181(2). In a development of forty units, that is rarely realistic. Plan for 21 clear days.

Where and when to hold it

The meeting must take place within reasonable proximity to the development and at a reasonable time, unless 75% of members agree otherwise in writing MUD 2011 s.17(5). A Saturday morning in the local community centre ticks both boxes; a weekday lunchtime across the city does not.