Is Your Client's Community Scheme Registered? The CSOS Wants to Know
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The(CSOS) has made it clear in its latest Notice that unregistered community schemes are no longer acceptable, and managing agents are expected to be part of the solution.
The CSOS announced an active campaign to drive compliance with the registration requirements of the . For accountants and financial practitioners who work with homeowners' associations, sectional title schemes, or residential estates, this is a development worth paying attention to.
Unregistered Community Schemes: Managing Agents Must Act Now
The Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) has made it clear — unregistered community schemes are no longer acceptable, and managing agents are expected to be part of the solution.
In a notice issued on 19 March 2026, the CSOS announced an active campaign to drive compliance with the registration requirements of the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011 (CSOS Act). For accountants and financial practitioners who work with homeowners' associations, sectional title schemes, or residential estates, this is a development worth paying attention to.
Who Is the CSOS?
The Community Schemes Ombud Service is the regulatory body mandated to oversee compliance within community schemes across South Africa. Its core functions include registering community schemes, reviewing their governance documentation, and providing an accessible dispute resolution mechanism for conflicts that arise within schemes. The CSOS also plays an active role in promoting sound governance through training and stakeholder awareness programmes.
To support this mandate, the CSOS operates CSOS Connect, a free, secure online platform through which schemes can register, submit governance documentation, file annual returns, and make digital payments. The platform is available to scheme executives, trustees, owners, tenants, and managing agents, and is designed to make compliance straightforward and manageable.
What the Law Requires
Regulation 18(3) of the CSOS Act is unambiguous: community schemes must register with the CSOS within 30 days of the regulation coming into effect, or within 30 days of the scheme's incorporation. This is not a new obligation — but it is one that many schemes have quietly ignored.
The CSOS is now actively addressing that gap.
Why Managing Agents Are in the Spotlight
The CSOS has acknowledged that a significant number of community schemes are administered by professional managing agents. As a result, the regulator is directly appealing to those agents to take responsibility for ensuring the schemes under their management are registered on the CSOS Connect platform.
This places managing agents in a position of accountability that goes beyond day-to-day administration. If a scheme you manage is unregistered, the expectation is clear — you should be facilitating compliance, not leaving it to the scheme executive alone.
What This Means for Accountants
Many CIBA members provide accounting, bookkeeping, and financial management services to community schemes. If your client base includes any of the following, this notice is directly relevant to your work:
Homeowners' associations (HOAs)
Sectional title schemes
Share block companies
Retirement villages or housing cooperatives
As trusted advisers, accountants are often the first to identify governance gaps within these structures. This is an opportunity to add value by checking whether your clients are registered and, if not, guiding them through the process.
It is also worth noting that the CSOS levy — a statutory contribution that registered schemes must collect and submit — forms part of the financial reporting obligations of these entities. Non-registration means non-compliance across multiple fronts, including financial governance.
The Bottom Line
The CSOS campaign is a reminder that good governance in community schemes is not optional. Registration is a legal requirement, and managing agents who overlook it — whether deliberately or through inaction — are exposing both themselves and their clients to regulatory risk.
If you work with community schemes, now is the right time to check their registration status and ensure their financial records reflect full compliance with the CSOS Act.
