Timely strata repairs can prevent major costs for all owners
If your strata scheme falls behind on repairs, it can quickly lead to major costs, legal issues and property damage that all owners must pay for.
For example, a major insurer reported that more than 50% of residential strata insurance claims related to water damage. Burst pipes, water leaks and roof damage need to be managed in a timely way to avoid further damage, increased costs and large claims.
Neglecting repairs and maintenance can also lead to insurance problems for your strata scheme. This includes:
- increasing the cost of insurance paid by all owners through their levies
- decreasing the coverage your insurer will provide - they often won’t cover problems caused by a lack of repairs and maintenance
- increased excess to be paid, as insurance companies will impose higher excess amounts (such as for water damage claims)
- less choice in insurance provider or inability to obtain cover at all, as insurance companies may decline to insure your building without ongoing repairs and maintenance.
Owners don’t just share the costs and consequences of a lack of repairs, they also have a legal responsibility:
- NSW laws require the owners corporation to repair and maintain the common property – owners corporations that fail to meet this duty may be liable to legal action
- All property owners automatically belong to their owners corporation.
Take the Strata Building Health Check
Answer the questions below yourself or involve your strata committee and/or strata manager, asking them to do it with you.
You can also share this information with other owners to start the conversation and review how your strata scheme manages repairs and maintenance.
Reporting repairs
Question: Do owners and residents know how to raise a request for repairs and maintenance?
Making it easy encourages faster reporting of repairs and avoids costly delays.
Next step: Share this page with owners and residents so everyone knows what to do and who to contact.
Planning ahead
Question: Does your scheme regularly include repairs and maintenance on meeting agendas?
Planning ahead reduces costs and stress.
Next step: If repairs and maintenance aren't a regular agenda item, schedule a meeting to review and resolve on upcoming repairs needed now using our simple guide.
You can check previous meeting minutes for past repair and maintenance decisions.
Keeping plans current
Question: Has your scheme reviewed the 10-year capital works fund plan in the last five years?
Regular reviews ensure critical repairs and maintenance aren’t overlooked and cost estimates are accurate.
Next step: Add this review to the agenda for your next meeting. Check past minutes or inspect your records if you’re unsure when it was raised last.
Note:
- You may engage an expert when developing your 10-year plan. They can help determine your objectives, define the extent of works required and assist with forecasting costs for repairs.
- Two-lot schemes may be exempt from having a capital works fund and 10-year plan.
Fund repairs and maintenance
Question: Does the capital works fund have enough money to cover scheduled repairs and maintenance?
Proper financial planning for repairs avoids shock when bills arrive.
Next step: Ask that a discussion about funding options be added to the agenda of your next meeting, without delay. The discussion should include levies and loans, if necessary.
Getting expert help
Question: Does your strata scheme routinely hire licensed builders or tradespeople for repairs and maintenance?
Hiring licensed professionals protects your property and investment.
Next step: always check a builder or tradesperson is licensed before engaging them. Also consider if their experience and references are a good match with your type of building or complex.
For works that need to comply with the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020, make sure licensed professionals also meet the requirements of either a design or building practitioner for the kind of works required. Learn more about Remedial building work.
Insurance cover
Question: Has the building had a valuation in the last 2-5 years and the insurer been notified of any changes to ensure proper insurance cover?
Being properly insured prevents costly gaps in cover.
Next step: If not, schedule a valuation now with your strata committee and/or strata managing agent.
Refer to your building's insurance policy to check the insurer has been promptly notified of any changes.
For help finding the right insurer, refer to the Insurance Council of Australia.
How did your strata building rate?
If you answered ‘yes’ to all six questions, your scheme sounds like it is tracking well for repairs and maintenance. Continue to review your scheme regularly and improve how you manage repairs and maintenance.
If you didn’t answer ‘yes’ to all questions, you should contact the strata committee to let them know and follow these steps:
- put repairs and maintenance on the agenda of each meeting
- share our information with the other owners
- follow the guidance of this page, including the two-step repair and maintenance review.
Note: Information on this page is provided as general information only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from a qualified professional. For more, visit our disclaimer page.
Take the two-step repair and maintenance review
Delaying repairs and maintenance can increase costs and risks while lowering the value of your property. Act now to protect your investment and keep your building safe. Many proactive schemes across NSW regularly follow these two simple steps to stay ahead.
Prioritise immediate repair and maintenance
Your strata committee should make current repairs and maintenance a priority. Check your 10-year capital works fund plan to see which works are due. Delay could mean costly damage or safety risks.
There are specific considerations if the repair:
- is urgent and will need a special levy
- relates to a building defect
- is classified as remedial building work
Otherwise, when repairs or maintenance are needed, this is the process…
How do we get started?
Write to your strata secretary or strata manager, providing clear details of the repairs or maintenance needed.
Your strata manager (if any) can work with your strata committee and owners corporation to coordinate and get approval for the jobs to be done.
If you are unsure of the role and delegated authority of your strata manager, check the strata management agency agreement for details.
Some repairs shouldn’t wait for a meeting to be held and can simply be approved by the strata manager or strata committee. If the repairs are costly and there are not enough funds, then a meeting should be called. Upgrades and maintenance normally go to a meeting but may also be decided by the strata committee.
If you’re having issues, there are steps you can take. Find out about strata disputes.
What steps do we need to take?
Once your strata committee has confirmed the current repairs and maintenance required, here are the steps to follow:
Check documentation
- Check the 10-year plan for scheduled work. Owners can access a copy by looking at annual general meeting (AGM) documents, asking the strata manager (if any) or by inspecting the records of the owners corporation.
- Check existing service agreements or warranties in case the work is covered.
- Check if the building is less than 6 years old and covered by a statutory warranty period to get defects fixed. Owners corporations with buildings up to ten years old that have serious defects in the common property should lodge their building defect with the Building Commission NSW.
- Check the by-laws to ensure that the proposed work complies with these rules.
Confirm approvals
- Confirm required approvals needed to carry out the work (for example, Council approval).
- Get relevant approvals before starting the work. Certain types of work, such as upgrades or new installations will require approval at a general meeting of the owners corporation and may require council approval.
Get quotes and contracts
- Source at least 2 quotes for works over $30,000 and check the licence of the builder or tradesperson before agreeing to any of the work.
- Get a ‘small jobs’ contract for any residential building work between $5,000 and $20,000. For work over $20,000, an extensive home building contract is required. You should consider getting three quotes. To learn more, use the Building Commission NSW Guide to home building contracts.
- Hire a fully insured and qualified consultant under the Design and Building Practitioners Act if the work is complex.
Notify and monitor
- Notify owners and residents clearly and early in advance of the planned work.
- Monitor the work on-site and review work completed before finalizing payment.
Identify and plan for future repairs and maintenance
Your strata scheme must have 10-year capital works fund plan which is reviewed at least every five years. This applies to all schemes except for some duplexes.
The plan enables your scheme to 'forward plan' for replacing or repairing common property items such as carpet in the lobby or roof guttering.
If you’re getting a company to prepare the 10-year plan for you, make sure they visit your building or complex so the plan reflects the true state and condition of all assets for your property.
The 10-year plan will:
- outline a schedule of items for repair, maintenance or replacement including cost estimates
- prevent unexpected costs due to overlooked issues
- support annual budget and levy setting for your scheme.
If updates are needed, ensure the changes to the 10-year plan are approved at an AGM. To find out more, including details on approvals and exemptions, visit our Managing strata Finances and insurance page.
Remember: When owners corporations estimate the levies needed for the capital works fund at each AGM, they must consider the 10-year plan and carrying out as many as practicable of the scheduled repairs and maintenance tasks detailed in the plan.
Implementation of the plan is critical not just to the maintenance of your building and its longevity. It has flow on impacts to insurance, asset resale value and costs of future repairs.
Need help with your 10-year plan?
There are services you can use to help your scheme develop or review its 10-year plan. Compare businesses that specialise in this area:
- review their qualifications and service offerings, such as quantity surveying (construction professionals who estimate the costs of works)
- understand how they develop a capital works fund plan that identifies the repairs and maintenance needed.
- ask for referees from other strata schemes that are similar to yours.
Consider additional specialist advice from qualified professionals that work with strata schemes and specialise in:
- detecting leaks
- repairing balconies (in particular with waterproofing)
- concrete remediation
- lift specialists
- fire safety.
What if we don’t have the money?
If there isn’t enough money for the repairs and maintenance, a meeting of the owners corporation will need to be held. Some funding options for strata schemes include:
- getting a strata loan
- increasing the owners’ regular levy payments
- introducing a special levy
- a mix of these options.
If you’re unsure if the funding for a repair or maintenance job was already approved at the last AGM, you can check the financial statements and minutes.
Owners corporation decisions should consider:
- the urgency of repairs and maintenance and what work could be staged
- the financial impact on owners, including hardship arrangements that consider the needs of owners in financial difficulty
- meeting your legal obligations
- what the repairs process should be, including who should carry out the work and their level of insurance. This will differ between new buildings (10 years old or less) compared to older buildings.
Be aware that new strata laws starting 27 October 2025 will strengthen enforcement of owners’ obligations to repair and maintain common property, with Fair Trading having new powers to order repairs and maintenance work is carried out in certain circumstances.
Markus lives in the ground floor apartment of a small redbrick double-storey apartment block. During heavy rain, water pours from rusted gutters on his side of the building and pools in his courtyard.
Markus raises the issue at a strata committee meeting. There are only two other owners and the strata manager at the meeting. One owner agrees repairs are needed. The other refuses, saying the gutters are fine on their side of the building and they shouldn’t have to contribute to the cost of these repairs.
Although shocked by this response, Markus remains calm and professional, and raises the risk of costly property damage if repairs are delayed.
The strata manager supports Markus’s point and offers to get quotes for the work and circulate them so the committee can review and approve the work.
The strata manager reminds the owners of their collective responsibility to repair and maintain common property regardless of where the building damage is located relative to their unit. They also point out that this repair is included in the 10-year plan and has been budgeted for.
The committee agrees and instructs the strata manager to get quotes and circulate them to the committee for their review and approval.
The lift in Lily’s apartment block is broken. The strata committee is made up of owners who live on the ground floor.
Lily and the other owners who live upstairs have raised this issue many times with the strata committee and strata managing agent both in writing and in person.
Days turn into weeks and the lift remains unrepaired. Lily and her neighbours are very concerned that this repair is not getting the priority it needs, especially given the access issues it’s causing them.
After attempting mediation with NSW Fair Trading, together they apply for an order from the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and are successful in having an order made for the lift to be repaired.
Common questions
What is common property?
You share ownership of common property with the other owners in your community. Common property includes spaces like entry foyers, hallways, stairs, lifts, driveways, swimming pools, balconies and gardens. It also includes parts of a building like walls, doors, roofs, pipes and wiring, as well as any shared facilities like hot water, ventilation and internet access.
To understand which repairs and maintenance individual owners are responsible for, and which are the responsibility of the owners corporation, visit our Strata repairs and maintenance page.
What if our strata scheme is new?
Newly developed schemes should refer to their initial maintenance schedule. The building’s developer provides this key document at the first AGM. From 1 July 2025, it must inform the development of the first 10-year plan for your strata scheme. Your strata committee secretary or strata manager should have this document in their records.
New developments will be covered by statutory warranties which are in effect for 6 years for major defects and two years for all other defects, commencing from the date when the work was completed. Even if these warranties are not written into the contract you sign, the law says that they still apply.
Learn more about contracts.
Owners corporations with buildings up to 10 years old that have serious defects in the common property should lodge their building defect with the Building Commission NSW.
Contact Fair Trading
If you have any further questions about strata, you can contact Fair Trading via phone or in-person at a Service NSW centre.
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