When you own in a strata title building, the easiest way to imagine what you actually own is the airspace within the ceiling, floor and 4 outer boundary walls (which seperate your apartment from others and from common areas).

Examples of common property:

1. original windows, balcony doors
2. original tiles in bathrooms and balconies
3. main entry front door
4. any plumbing and wiring behind the common property walls

Examples of Lot property:

1. any internal fixtures and fittings such as toilet, sink, kitchen joinery and appliances, wardrobes
2. internal doors
3. internal dividing walls
4. carpet and paint

If you would like to undertake renovations, check with your strata manager or building manager first as to what level of approval is required.  It is best to provide a detailed scope of work with a diagram showing the proposed changes where there are changes to the layout of the apartment.

The Strata Schemes Management Act defines 3 categories of work:

Cosmetic Work – no approval is required

1. painting
2. laying carpet
3. installing or replacing internal curtains and blinds
4. installing or replacing built in wardrobes
5. filling in minor holes and cracks in internal walls
6. installing or replacing handrails
7. installing or replacing hooks, nails or screws for hanging things on walls

Minor Renovations – Strata Committee or Owners Corporation can approve (special resolution not required, approval may be subject to reasonable conditions and cannot be unreasonably withheld)

1. renovating a kitchen
2. changing recessed light fittings
3. installing or replacing hard floors
4. installing or replacing wiring or cabling or power points
5. work involving reconfiguring walls

Major Renovations – Requires Owners Corporation approval by special resolution and a special by-law

You will see on your levy notice that there are 2 components of the levy contributions – The Administrative Fund which is like a day to day cheque account for the Owners Corporation’s expenses, and the Capital Works Fund which is like a long term savings account where funds are set aside for large capital projects and replacing components of the building as they reach their end of life.

The main expenses in an Administrative Fund are:

1. insurance premium
2. cleaning of common areas
3. gardening maintenance
4. strata management
5. building management
6. repairs and maintenance
7. electricity, water and gas used in common areas e.g. carpark, hallways, foyer/lobby
8. routine maintenance of assets such as fire system, garage door, stormwater pumps,
9. Pest control
10. Quarterly Servicing of lifts

The main projects a Capital Works Fund budgets for are:

1. repainting internal and external parts of the building
2. replacing items at the end of life such as hot water systems, garage door, windows and balcony doors, roof, waterproofing, balustrades
3. replacing owners corporation owned assets such as gym equipment, playground equipment
4. addressing structural issues that occur with age such as foundation underpinning, rebuilding a retaining wall, concrete render/spalling work

A strata committee is elected at every Annual General Meeting and consists of 1 – 9 members, unless you are a large strata scheme (over 100 lots) in which case the minimum number of strata committee members is 3. For a 2 lot scheme both owners are automatically elected to the strata committee.

Office bearers of Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer are also elected within the Strata Committee. While most of the duties of these office bearers are delegated to the Strata Manager, for those who wish to have a more active role, please read the relevant sections (42 – 44) of the Strata Schemes Management Act which sets out the duties of each office bearer role:

The strata committee members are volunteers who have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the Owners Corporation and make day to day decisions around maintaining the building. The core responsibility of a strata committee is to control, administer and manage the common property for the collective benefit of all owners, residents and tenants. The strata committee is also responsible for enforcing the by-laws and to grant approvals under by-laws. There are some decisions that the Strata Committee do not have the power to make, and these are decided by an Owners Corporation by convening a General Meeting.

A simplified overview of the main roles and responsibilities of a strata manager are the following:

1. convening meetings of the Owners Corporation and Strata Committee, chairing the meeting and drafting and distributing the notice and minutes
2. maintaining and operating the trust account on behalf of the Owners Corporation including issuing levy notices, paying invoices, preparing financial statements including quarterly BAS, annual tax returns, preparing annual budgets, debt collection for levy arrears
3. ensuring compliance with all legislative requirements such as fire safety, asbestos, lift registration, swimming pool registration, pool fencing requirements
4. ensuring that all components of the building that require routine maintenance are on a maintenance contract and that preventative maintenance is carried out regularly, these include items such as quarterly servicing of lifts, 6 monthly pest control treatment to common areas, 6 monthly service of stormwater pumps, 6 monthly gutter cleaning
5. ensuring the building has insurance cover as required by legislation and submitting insurance claims on behalf of owners and the Owners Corporation, including obtaining building valuations, liaising with insurance brokers to ensure the best terms are obtained
6. Record keeping and general correspondence and enquiries from owners, tenants, solicitors, building managers, tradespeople, engineers, consultants, local council
7. Dispute resolution and mediation – where there are matters that can be resolved prior to engaging in a legal process, Allied Strata offer in house mediation and dispute resolution services to try and achieve a win/win outcome for the parties involved