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Property leadership topic

Governance and records

Prepare decisions, establish authority, and preserve the evidence of what was approved.

A connected decision sequence

Use the guides in the order that matches your current decision. Keep the evidence, approval, and next action connected as work moves between the board, management, vendors, and specialists.

  1. Start with the annual calendarWho can approve this decision?
  2. Assemble the packet and prepare the meetingWhich record demonstrates notice and approval?
  3. Record the decision and control its evidenceWho verifies follow-through after the meeting?

Guides in this topic

Build the decision record

For the issue in front of you, name the responsible sponsor, collect the current source records, list material gaps, and identify the acceptance test. Retain a version of the evidence used at the decision date so later changes remain explainable.

These resources provide operational frameworks. Property-specific technical conclusions, deadlines, funding authority, and coverage decisions need the applicable records and appropriate professional review.

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Need help connecting the evidence and the decision?

Discuss a focused review

Keep authority, notice and execution connected

Map the current governing documents, officer roles, management agreement and adopted policies before assigning work. Distinguish a legal requirement, a local operating practice and a discretionary recommendation. Minutes preserve the adopted decision; an action register tracks its execution.

Interpretation checks

  • A record-access workflow needs an authorized owner, a retrievable version and a method of protecting restricted information.
  • An informal discussion or draft motion should not become an adopted outcome in the action register.
  • Start with one proposed decision: the authorised reviewer, evidence needed, conditions still open and the record that will capture approval. Separate an agenda item, a recommendation and a resolution before choosing a guide.

Questions for this decision area

What should a board brief resolve first?

Identify the decision and approving authority, then the evidence and alternatives. Make material information gaps visible before the vote.

How should unresolved evidence be handled?

Record the missing item, retrieval owner and effect on the decision. Document the scope of any authorized interim step and its review point.

Follow a connected review · Check terminology

Evidence at each handoff

What permits the next step?

A task being finished does not establish that its output is ready for the next team. Use these checkpoints to keep the evidence, responsibility and release condition connected.

  1. Establish authority

    Record to obtain
    Current governing documents, delegation and proposed decision
    Suggested coordination role
    Responsible coordinator
    Check before release
    Approving role and participation process identified

  2. Prepare the record

    Record to obtain
    Common options, missing evidence and proposed motion
    Suggested coordination role
    Brief preparer
    Check before release
    Reader can identify the decision without reconstructing attachments

  3. Preserve the outcome

    Record to obtain
    Authorized meeting record and adopted commitment
    Suggested coordination role
    Record custodian
    Check before release
    Adopted version distinguished from discussion and drafts

  4. Verify execution

    Record to obtain
    Action evidence and authorized amendments
    Suggested coordination role
    Assigned verifier
    Check before release
    Completion matches the commitment; remaining questions retained

Proposed operating workflow, not a universal legal sequence. Confirm authority, professional requirements and permitted parallel work for your property.

Work through a decision in this area

Use this when a meeting item needs a clear choice, authority and follow-through rather than another document bundle.

Hypothetical example: A board is considering a revised records-access workflow. The brief distinguishes the proposed procedure from the currently adopted policy, names who can approve it and records the unresolved access question.

What would demonstrate closure?

Retain the adopted outcome, applicable notice and approval evidence, assigned execution owner and a retrievable final version. A prepared motion is not an adopted decision.

Review the decision brief structure
A number, its evidence and the decision

An action count needs an acceptance test

A meeting can approve a task without demonstrating that it was implemented. Count completion only when the agreed acceptance record exists, and keep overdue decisions separate from overdue delivery.

  1. Decision

    Name the approval and its governing authority.

  2. Assignment

    Confirm the responsible role and due date.

  3. Verification

    Examine the evidence against the acceptance test.

  4. Closure

    Record acceptance and the next review trigger.

A worked example with visible assumptions

In a fictional monthly review, 20 actions are due and 14 have accepted completion evidence. Closure is 14 ÷ 20 × 100 = 70%. The six unresolved actions need an owner and next check; the percentage does not measure board competence or legal compliance.

Original hypothetical arithmetic example. The amounts describe a fictional scenario, not observed property performance or a recommended target.

Continue with Board Decision & Action Register Template

Explore the calculation

Enter non-negative values using the same scope and period. This calculation stays in your browser tab.

Use the example values or enter your own, then calculate.

Attendance is not acceptance

Meeting attendance, an email acknowledgment and a closed ticket each establish different facts. State which one is required for this decision.

Use the right population

Count actions due in the same review period. Do not mix new tasks with old closures unless the definition explicitly requires it.

Separate the dependency

If a task awaits a board decision, distinguish the approval delay from a service execution delay.