Proxies and Form C

The body corporate proxy form, and the rules behind it

A member who cannot attend a general meeting may be represented by a proxy, appointed on the prescribed Form C. In Estate Manager an owner appoints a proxy online in a minute, the proxy accepts, the two-proxy limit and the 48-hour cut-off are applied for you, and a paper form handed to the chair is checked against the same rules.

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Section 6(5) No more than two members per proxyPMR 20(5) Lodged 48 hours before the meetingPMR 20(6) Never the managing agent

The appoint-a-proxy dialog with a proxy holder, a specific mandate and an instruction for each resolution, beside a phone listing the proxies a member holds. — Appointing a proxy online, and the proxies a member holds.

The same, on a phone. — Appointing a proxy online, and the proxies a member holds.

Online appointment

Form C, completed online in a minute

An owner opens the meeting, chooses a proxy from the members of the estate and sets the mandate. General lets the proxy vote as they see fit. Specific adds an instruction for, against or abstain on particular resolutions, special conditions, or both. The details are those of Form C, and the completed form prints at any time.

The appointment covers the meeting and its adjournments. The notice pack also carries Form C prefilled with the scheme, the owner and its units, for owners who prefer paper.

Regulation 5(3) Substantially in the form of Form CPMR 15(3)(c) A proxy form with every notice

A completed Form C for the company owning unit A203: the proxy named for the special general meeting of 26 October 2026, the instructions to vote for two resolutions and against the third, and the electronic signatures of the member and the proxy. — The completed Form C, signed electronically by the member and the proxy, ready to print.

Acceptance

The proxy accepts or declines

Form C ends with the proxy's acceptance of the mandate, and rule 20(5) wants both the appointment and the acceptance substantially in that form. In Estate Manager the named proxy accepts or declines before the cut-off, and the owner sees the answer. A pending appointment already counts towards the proxy's limit.

A tenant can hold a proxy. They see the meeting only through it, read the owner's instructions and vote only for that owner.

PMR 20(5) Appointment and acceptancePMR 20(6) A proxy need not be a member

My proxies for a tenant holding two accepted proxies, for an AGM and a special general meeting, with the note that appointments close 48 hours before. — A tenant's proxies, each with its form.

Limits applied

Two members per proxy, never the managing agent

Nobody may act as proxy for more than two members, so anyone who already holds two is marked when an owner chooses, counting pending appointments as well as accepted ones. Anyone who signs in as the managing agent, or whom the managers record as working for the agent or the body corporate, is never offered. Appointments and acceptances close an hour before the meeting. One made after the 48 hours goes to the chair at the start of the meeting, as a form handed in, and a proxy may be withdrawn until the meeting ends.

The meeting's proxies tab shows the managers every appointment: the owner, the proxy, the status and whether the mandate is general or specific, with the form behind each.

Section 6(5) Two members per proxyPMR 20(6) Not the managing agent or its staffPMR 20(5)(a) 48 hours before the meeting

The proxies tab of an AGM: appointments close on 10 December 2026 at 17:00, an hour before the meeting, with the owners the person votes for, the accepted proxy they hold and the table of every appointment with its owner, proxy holder, status and mandate. — Every appointment for the meeting, with its status and mandate.

At the meeting

The chair's check at check-in

After the cut-off, a signed form may still be handed to the chair before or at the start of the meeting. The chair records it at check-in, and Estate Manager applies the same rules at once: two members per proxy, and never the managing agent or anyone recorded as staff of the agent or the body corporate.

Holders of accepted proxies who attend online check in from their phones, and count once the chair confirms who they are. The minutes record how each proxy was lodged and whether its mandate was general or specific.

PMR 20(5)(b) Handed to the chair before or at the startPMR 27(2)(a) How proxies were authorised

The check-in dialog for an owner represented by a proxy once voting has begun, which turns away a signed form handed in so late. — A paper form is valid at the start of the meeting, and turned away once voting has begun.

What the law says

Body corporate proxy rules

Proxies follow section 6(5) of the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act, rule 20 of the prescribed management rules and Form C in Annexure 3 of the 2016 regulations.

General information, not legal advice.

Section 6(5)

Two members per proxy

A member may be represented in person or by proxy, but a person must not act as proxy for more than two members.

Regulation 5(3), PMR 15(3)(c)

The prescribed form

A member's notice appointing a proxy must be substantially in accordance with Form C, and every notice of a general meeting encloses a proxy form in that format.

PMR 20(5)

48 hours, or at the start

The appointment and the proxy's acceptance are delivered to the body corporate 48 hours before the meeting, or handed to the chair before or at its start.

PMR 20(6)

Who may be a proxy

Anyone except the managing agent, an employee of the managing agent or an employee of the body corporate. A proxy need not be a member.

PMR 20(7)

Joint owners

Two or more people who share one vote exercise it through one person, who may or may not be one of them, appointed jointly as their proxy.

Annexure 3, Form C

What the form covers

A proxy to speak and vote at general meetings, including adjournments: one meeting, every meeting before a date, or every meeting up to and including the next annual general meeting (AGM). With no special conditions or instructions, the appointment is unconditional.

Free template

Form C proxy form

Form C, "Notification, appointment of proxy and acceptance of mandate", laid out as Estate Manager prints it, blank to complete by hand. In Estate Manager it goes out with every general meeting's notice, prefilled with the scheme, the owner and its units.

Download Form C

PDF

form-c-proxy-form.pdfPDF · free download

The scheme's name and SS number
The member's name and units, and one proxy's name
The meeting it covers, including adjournments
Special conditions or instructions, such as for, against or abstain on each resolution
Signature lines for the member and the proxy
The section 6(5) note and the 48-hour lodging line

Questions

Questions about body corporate proxies

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

How many proxies can one person hold?

Proxies for no more than two members (section 6(5) of the Act). The Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) reads the limit as members, not units, so a member who owns several units counts once. Estate Manager counts pending and accepted appointments against the limit and marks anyone who already holds two.

What are the two types of proxy?

Two, depending on how Form C is completed. Left blank, its special conditions or instructions make the appointment unconditional: a general mandate, under which the proxy votes as they see fit. Filled in, they make it a specific mandate, such as an instruction to vote for or against a resolution. Estate Manager records either kind and lets an instructed proxy vote only as instructed.

Can a trustee or the chairperson be a proxy?

Yes. Rule 20(6) excludes only the managing agent, an employee of the managing agent and an employee of the body corporate. A trustee, the chairperson, another owner or a tenant may act as proxy, within the limit of two members.

Can a tenant vote at an AGM?

Not in their own right: a member's vote follows the sections registered in their name (section 6(6)). A tenant can vote as a member's proxy, since a proxy need not be a member (rule 20(6)). In Estate Manager a tenant accepts the proxy and votes only for that owner, following any instructions.

Is a proxy counted for the quorum?

Yes. Business needs a quorum present or represented (rule 19(1)), so members represented by proxy count. At a meeting adjourned for want of a quorum, the members present in person or by proxy form it after 30 minutes (rule 19(4)). Estate Manager's sectional title rule counts proxies in the live quorum.

Can a proxy speak at the meeting?

Yes. Form C appoints the proxy to speak and vote at general meetings, including adjournments, on the terms the member sets. With no special conditions or instructions, the appointment is unconditional and the proxy votes as they see fit.

What if the form misses the 48 hours?

Rule 20(5) gives a second route: the form may be handed to the chair before or at the start of the meeting. In Estate Manager the chair records a paper form at check-in, and an appointment made online after the 48 hours, until an hour before the meeting, goes to the chair at the start as a form handed in. Either way the proxy is checked against the two-member limit and the managing agent exclusion at once.

Is Form C filed with CSOS?

No. Form C is the member's notice to the body corporate of a proxy appointment, in Annexure 3 of the regulations (regulation 5(3)). It need only be substantially in the prescribed form (rule 20(5)).

What it does not do

An appointment may cover one meeting and its adjournments, every general meeting before a date, or every one until the next AGM, as Form C offers. A standing appointment comes with each later meeting's notice and takes a general mandate or special conditions, not instructions on resolutions.
A proxy without a sign-in for the estate is named in full. The chair checks them in at the meeting and records their votes, and the app cannot tell whether they work for the managing agent, which the chair checks.
The app knows the staff of the agent and of the body corporate only once the managers record them on the members page. The chair checks anyone else.

See a proxy go from appointment to vote

A demo follows a proxy on a fictional scheme: appointed online, accepted, checked in and voted as instructed, with the form and the minutes to show for it.