Why risk starts before the work even begins
Completing Management Authorities – Getting It Right From Day One Wednesday 11 February 2026 10.30am to 11.45am (AEDT) Online
This session is designed for commercial property professionals who want clarity, not guesswork, around what their authority actually allows them to do.
We walk through:
- correct entity names, titles, ASIC checks and trusts
- PM scope, what’s in, what’s out, and what must be clarified
- setting realistic service expectations
- compliance wording, fees, delegations and rent collection authorityThis isn’t a new issue. We regularly see agencies across commercial property management, sales, leasing, owners corporation and business broking operating outside the scope of their written authorities.
What has changed is the scale of exposure, and how quietly it’s been building. And this isn’t just a property management problem.
Across sales, leasing and management, we continue to see authorities where:
- the landlord, lessor or vendor entity name is incorrect
- trusts are not properly identified
- ASIC details don’t match the legal owner
- the authority is signed by someone with no legal standing
Which means the agency is contracting with the wrong entity for a list of services. That’s not a technicality. That’s a contractual problem. If the authority isn’t legally sound, everything that follows is built on sand. Fees. Instructions. Delegations. Liability. When something goes wrong, insurers and lawyers all start in the same place: Is there a valid authority with the correct legal owner? If the answer is no, the risk shifts very quickly to the agency.
The hidden risk in “helping”
Most commercial claims don’t start with negligence. They start with good intentions. A recurring theme in claims across sales, leasing and management is agencies stepping outside their authority to “help”. In property management, this often looks like project-managing landlord works.
In sales and leasing, it can include:
- giving advice or approvals beyond the listing authority
- coordinating works or upgrades pre-lease or pre-sale
- selecting materials or finishes to make a property market-ready
- dealing directly with contractors without a clear scope
Often without:
- the authority permitting it
- the required qualifications or specialist expertise
- or professional indemnity cover for those activities
It feels harmless at the time. But commercial property has a long memory. A decision made during a lease-up or sale campaign can resurface years later, long after the transaction is complete and the agent has moved on.
At claim stage, insurers don’t look at intentions. They look at three things:
- Was the service authorised?
- Was the correct legal entity engaged?
- Was it covered by the PI policy?
If any answer is no, the agency carries the risk.
How principals close the authority and insurance gaps
The solution isn’t fear. And it isn’t paperwork for the sake of it. It’s clarity and alignment.
Every commercial authority, whether sales, leasing or management, needs to:
- correctly name the legal owner, including entity, trust and trustee
- clearly define what services are included
- explicitly exclude what the agency does not do
- align with the scope of the agency’s professional indemnity cover
This alignment should be reviewed:
- when authority templates are updated
- when services expand or change
- at every PI renewal
- when new staff join
- when agencies move into new asset classes
Just as importantly, teams need to understand in plain English what their authority and insurance do not allow them to do.
And operational systems must support this:
- workflows that steer staff away from risky activities
- documentation that records non-involvement
- specialist work pushed to appropriately insured professionals
Agencies protect themselves by operating inside their:
- authority
- competence
- qualifications
- insurance cover
Being helpful is part of the job. Being unknowingly exposed for years after a transaction isn’t.
If the authority is wrong, everything that follows is built on sand.
Where this leads next
This conversation sits directly behind our first online practical workshop for 2026:
- where agencies get exposed, and how to close the gaps
- common authority errors and how to fix them
Participants leave with a practical, step-by-step authority checklist they can apply immediately.
(c) Wendy Thomson December 2026
