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Complaints and CSOS disputes

Body corporate complaints with a paper trail

Owners and tenants file a complaint against the scheme's own rules and follow every step. The trustees and the managing agent acknowledge it, investigate, keep internal notes and answer with a note the reporter reads. Before the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) takes a dispute, it asks what was tried within the scheme first. The timeline keeps that record.

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CSOS directive 15.34 Resolve the dispute within the scheme firstCSOS directive 15.35 Show proof of the internal processCSOS directive 15.39 No application fee
A short-term letting complaint in the dark theme as its reporter sees it, marked being investigated, with the rule, the unit, what happened, the remedy asked for, a note on who sees who filed it and its timeline, from the filing to the managers' message.
A complaint and its timeline, as the reporter follows it.

Filing

Filed against the scheme's own rules

A resident files from a phone or a computer: the type of complaint, the rule broken where one applies, the unit concerned, when it happened and what happened. They confirm it is true to the best of their knowledge, and that they may have to be named if it goes further.

The managers keep the catalogue of types and rules. Every scheme starts with noise, parking, pets, refuse, damage and other, and when new conduct rules come into force in the rules builder, the catalogue follows them.

  • No name to type: the reporter is the member signed in
  • The managers are emailed at once, and the email names nobody
  • A rule in use is retired, not deleted, so old complaints keep their meaning
How the rules feed the catalogue
The complaint form on a phone, saying who sees a complaint and that an application to CSOS names the person who applies.
Filing a complaint, with who will see it stated first.

Handling

Acknowledged, investigated, answered

The managers acknowledge the complaint, investigate it, and resolve or dismiss it with a note the reporter reads. Internal notes stay with the managers. Messages reach the reporter on the complaint's page, with an email to say one is waiting. Every step lands on a dated timeline that shows the reporter the manager's role, never their name.

The scheme's complaints sit in one table, with figures above it for those waiting to be acknowledged, being investigated or reopened, and the median time to resolve this year.

  • Resolving or dismissing needs a note to the reporter
  • Filters by status, type and the days filed
  • A CSV download without the reporters' names
  • Every step, and the managers' reads of who filed, in the audit trail
The managers' view of a short-term letting complaint: the reporter's name and unit, marked confidential to the managers, what the owner of the unit was told without naming the reporter, and the next step.
Handling a complaint, with the reporter's name kept to the managers.

Confidential, and open to dispute

Named only to the managers, with 30 days to dispute

Only the scheme's managers, the trustees and the managing agent, see who filed a complaint. Other members never do, and the managers name whoever filed it to the owner of the unit it concerns only when resolving it needs that. There are no anonymous complaints, because handling one fairly means knowing who made it.

A resolved or dismissed complaint can be disputed within 30 days, with a reason, which reopens it for the managers. The 30 days are Estate Manager's workflow, not a period the Act sets.

My complaints on a phone, with a note on who sees a complaint above a pets complaint and a refuse complaint, each with its status and dates.
Each resident sees only the complaints they filed.

From complaint to CSOS

How a complaint should run

What the regulations' complaint form and the CSOS practice directive expect, in order. General information, not legal advice.

  1. 01

    Try to settle it directly

    Where it is safe, speak to the person concerned first. The complaint form in the regulations asks what was done to resolve the matter, who was spoken to and what they offered.

    Regulations, Annexure 4
  2. 02

    Complain in writing

    Name the rule or section breached, describe what happened with dates and times, and say what remedy you want. Keep a copy and proof of delivery. In Estate Manager the complaint and every step after it are dated.

    Regulations, Annexure 4
  3. 03

    The scheme decides

    The trustees hear both sides and decide, with reasons. The regulations' record of a body corporate decision notes the outcome and tells each party that they may apply to CSOS if they are not satisfied. Estate Manager tells the reporter the outcome and that right, and the owner of the unit complained about too, once the managers have told them of the complaint.

    Regulations, Annexure 4
  4. 04

    Apply to CSOS

    Since 1 April 2026 CSOS asks for new disputes on CSOS Connect, by its notice of 27 March 2026, though its directive and the regulations still allow other ways of delivery. The application asks how internal remedies were exhausted, the relief sought and the supporting documents. The directive says no application fee is payable. The CSOS Act and its fee regulations still prescribe R50 on application and R100 for adjudication.

    CSOS notice of 27 March 2026, directive 15.4 and 15.34 to 15.39
  5. 05

    Conciliation, then adjudication

    Where a settlement looks possible, CSOS refers the dispute to conciliation. If that fails, an adjudicator decides. An order may be appealed to the High Court on a question of law only, within 30 days after its delivery.

    CSOS Act, sections 47, 48 and 57

What the law says

Complaints, disputes and CSOS

What the Act, the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011 and the 2025 CSOS practice directive say.

General information, not legal advice.

CSOS directive 15.34 to 15.36

The scheme first

Every applicant must first try to resolve the dispute within the scheme and submit proof that any prescribed internal process was exhausted. That falls away if the applicant proves that the respondent refused to take part or rejected an invitation, or that the scheme has no functioning executive committee, and it never stops an application for urgent interim relief.

CSOS directive, Annexure B

A process in the rules

CSOS expects an internal dispute resolution process for owners to be embedded in the rules, so that owners are heard fairly before a matter reaches it. A rule that sends disputes to private arbitration instead is undesirable.

CSOS Act, sections 38 and 39

Who may apply, and for what

Any person who is a party to a dispute, or materially affected by it, may apply. The relief must fall within section 39, such as an order that behaviour is a nuisance and must stop, that a rule is invalid or unreasonable, that a resolution is void, or that a managing agent comply with its appointment.

Section 13(1)(e), PCR 7(1), PMR 30(b)

Noise and nuisance

An owner must not use a section or exclusive use area, or permit it to be used, in a way that may cause a nuisance to any occupier, and the conduct rules forbid noise likely to interfere with another's peaceful enjoyment. The body corporate must take all reasonable steps to stop such a nuisance.

Section 8(2), CSOS Act, section 41

Trustees within their powers

Each trustee must act honestly and in good faith, in the body corporate's interest, never without or beyond their powers, and avoid conflicts of interest. An application to have a decision of the trustees, or of the body corporate, declared void must reach CSOS within 60 days, unless CSOS condones a late one on good cause shown.

CSOS directive 15.33

Not confidential at CSOS

CSOS must give notice of an application to the scheme and every person materially affected, so what an applicant submits is not treated as private. Personal information is redacted.

Questions

Questions about body corporate complaints

Anything else: ask us when you book a demo, or write to info@nanotech-computers.com.

How do I complain to my body corporate, and is there a form?
Complain in writing to the trustees or the managing agent. The regulations include a complaint form (Annexure 4) that asks for the rule or section breached, what happened with dates and times, what you have tried, the remedy you want and a signed declaration. Keep a copy. In a scheme on Estate Manager, file it from your phone and follow each step. The app's form asks for what you have tried and the remedy you want, as Annexure 4 does, with the same consent to its use.
What does CSOS expect a scheme to have tried first?
An attempt to resolve the dispute within the scheme, and proof that any prescribed internal process was exhausted (CSOS directive, paragraphs 15.34 and 15.35). CSOS Connect asks every applicant how internal remedies were exhausted. The step falls away if the applicant proves that the other side refused to take part or rejected an invitation, or that the scheme has no functioning executive committee, and it does not stop an application for urgent interim relief. General information, not legal advice.
Is there an ombudsman for sectional title complaints and disputes?
Yes. The Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) is the ombud for sectional title schemes and the other community schemes the CSOS Act names, among them homeowners' associations, share block companies, housing schemes for retired persons and housing co-operatives. It hears disputes that could not be resolved within the scheme, through conciliation and adjudication, and its Chief Ombud certifies sectional title rules.
How do I lodge a dispute with CSOS?
Since 1 April 2026, CSOS asks for new disputes to be lodged on CSOS Connect (its notice of 27 March 2026), though its directive (paragraph 15.4) and regulation 19(1) still allow physical delivery. On CSOS Connect, register or sign in, choose the scheme, give your details and the respondent's, describe the dispute and the internal remedies exhausted, choose the relief and upload your documents. You receive a reference number. The 2025 directive says no application fee is payable. The CSOS Act and its fee regulations still prescribe R50 on application and R100 for adjudication, waived for an applicant whose net household income is below R5,500 a month.
Can a complaint be anonymous?
Not in Estate Manager. Only the managers see who filed it, never other members, and they name whoever filed it to the owner of the unit concerned only when resolving it needs that. A dispute taken to CSOS cannot stay anonymous either, because CSOS shares the application with the scheme and every person materially affected (CSOS directive, paragraph 15.33).
What can be done about a noisy neighbour?
Noise likely to interfere with another's peaceful enjoyment breaches prescribed conduct rule 7(1), and the body corporate must take reasonable steps to stop a nuisance (management rule 30(b)). File a complaint against the noise rule with dates and times. If the scheme cannot resolve it, CSOS can order that the behaviour is a nuisance and must stop (CSOS Act, section 39(2)(a)). General information, not legal advice.
What if the trustees abuse their powers?
Trustees must act honestly, in good faith and within their powers (section 8(2)). Members holding 25 per cent of the quotas can require a special general meeting (management rule 17(4)), and CSOS can declare a resolution of the trustees or of a general meeting void (CSOS Act, section 39(4)(c)) if asked within 60 days of the decision. General information, not legal advice.
Is registration with CSOS compulsory, and what is the annual return?
Yes. Every community scheme must register with CSOS on Form CS 1 within 30 days of its incorporation, or, for a scheme that already existed, within 30 days of the regulations coming into effect in 2016, and registration is free (CSOS regulation 18(3), directive paragraph 1.4). Each year the scheme pays the CSOS levy and files an annual return on Form CS 2, with its financial statements, within 4 months of its financial year end (CSOS Act, section 59, regulation 18(1)). Filing stays with the scheme or its managing agent. General information, not legal advice.
What is the CSOS levy, and how is it worked out?
A monthly amount per unit that each scheme collects and pays to CSOS every quarter. It is the lesser of R40 or 2 per cent of the amount by which the unit's monthly levy exceeds R500, so a unit levied R500 or less pays nothing and one levied R2,500 or more pays R40 (CSOS regulation 11(3)). CSOS works it on the administrative fund levy alone, without reserve fund, special or exclusive use area levies (directive, paragraphs 11.24 and 11.26). General information, not legal advice.

What Estate Manager does not do

  • It keeps the scheme's own record. It does not file with CSOS: an application goes in on CSOS Connect from the person or scheme that makes it.
  • Complaints go to the trustees and the managing agent, so a complaint about the trustees reaches them too.
  • It gives no legal advice, and the 30 days to dispute an outcome are its own workflow, not the law.

Related

Related

Rules: prescribed, drafted, adopted

The rules a complaint cites, built from the regulations.

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Maintenance and access requests

Faults, remotes and suggestions, with a status residents follow.

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Documents and records

Minutes, certificates and the scheme's records, with versions.

Read more

See a complaint handled, start to finish

A demo files a complaint on a fictional scheme, takes it through acknowledgement, notes and messages to an outcome, and shows what the reporter sees.

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