FAQ and Glossary

The following information is required:

  • The Strata Plan number or company name
  • Full property address
  • The Lot number
  • The name/s of the current owner/s or shareholder/s
  • The name of the Strata
  • Management company or person (in cases where a building may be internally managed)
  • A Letter of Authority if required

Use the alphabetical list of strata managers, on the home page, to determine if and what type of authority is required. For Self managed buildings it is advisable to obtain an authority to inspect, preferable from the current owner of the unit.

The Section 184 Certificate under the strata legislation, previously known as Sec 109 Certificate, is obtainable from the Owners Corporation or the Strata Manager. After an exchange of Contracts, the vendor is obliged to provide the purchaser with this certificate which will state:

  • The Strata scheme’s insurance cover
  • Names of the Committee members, Office Bearers and
  • Strata Managers
  • Levies payable by the lot
  • Any existing arrears in the levies
  • Any specific By-laws drafted and implemented by the Owners
  • Corporation over the last 2 years

A building or collection of buildings where each individually owned property is called a ‘lot’ (such as an apartment or townhouse) and the ‘common properties’ which include the shares ownership and responsibility owners have over properties (such as foyers or driveways). (Information taken from NSW Strata Living)

Everything inside a lot is the owner’s property, making specific boundaries for common property. Common property are the boundaries of each lot formed by the upper surface of the floor (not including carpet), the under surface of the ceiling and external or boundary walls. The common property boundaries are highlighted in the strata plan for your strata scheme. It is important to know where these common properties are as alternations in these areas must receive approval from the Owners Corporation. (Information taken from NSW Strata Living)

The Owners Corporation is made up of the lot owners in a strata scheme that hold regular meeting to discuss and decide on issues affecting the strata scheme. The Owners Corporation are responsible for financial management, insurance, record keeping, repairs and maintenance of common property, by-laws, employing a strata manager and keeping up to date with all relevant laws. (Information taken from NSW Strata Living)

Yes, there are a number of responsibilities that can be delegated. However, the following can not be delegated; the power to dismiss strata committee members or the power to grant use of the common property to a lot owner. (Information taken from NSW Strata Living)
The strata committee is elected by the Owners Corporation and enable quicker decision making on many day-to-day decisions about running the scheme. However, their decisions can be overruled and limitations can be put, by the Owners Corporation. The strata committee is elected at each AGM and the size depends on the strata scheme, with a limit of nine members. If a member does not disclose a conflict of interest, this may result in them receiving a penalty of up to $1,100. The strata committee is also responsible for electing office bearers who usually perform the duties of chairperson, secretary and treasurer. (Information taken from NSW Strata Living)

Individual owners may nominate themselves or another eligible person. People eligible include: an individual who is the sole owner of a lot in a strata scheme, only one co-owner of a lot unless they own more than one lot, a company nominee of a corporation that is the sole owner of a lot and a non-owner, if nominated by an eligible owner who is not on the committee.

People who are not eligible include the building manager for the strata scheme, an agent who leases one or more lots in the strata scheme to tenants and a person connected to the original owner of the scheme or building manager. Additionally, any owner who was owing unpaid contributions before the meeting, is not eligible to be nominated. (Information taken from NSW Strata Living)
All owners must attend the meeting and can’t speak unless a resolution is passed allowed them to speak. There are no requirements for how often a strata committee meeting must be held but at least three days’ notice and an agenda before a meeting must be given. A meeting may be called by the secretary at any time or one third of the strata committee members asking to call one. (Information taken from NSW Strata Living)
A quorum exists when at least half of the committee members are present with each member having one vote unless they are owing unpaid levies or are the tenant representative. A motion can be voted on in writing of electronic means without a meeting, providing the correct procedure is followed. Strata committee decisions are treated as the those of the Owners Corporation. However, the Owners Corporation can choose to limit the powers of the committee. (Information taken from NSW Strata Living)

As individual lots also have areas within them that are common property, owners wanting to make changes or undertake renovations may require approval from the owners corporation and this will depend on the type of renovation required.

Renovations fall into three categories; cosmetic changes, minor renovations, major renovations. Renovations other than cosmetic work or minor renovations require the permission of the owners corporation by a special resolution. Major renovations need a higher level of approval because such work may seriously affect the common property. This applies to structural changes; waterproofing; work that changes the external appearance of your lot, such as an access ramp; and any work for which approval is required under other laws.

Builders are required to provide statutory warranties on the construction of residential premises. The warranty period for new residential building work is 2 years for all defects and 6 years for `major´ defects from the date the building work was completed.

The owners corporation must notify the developer or builder of a potential defect as soon as it becomes aware of it. To secure rights under the warranties, legal proceedings must commence within the relevant warranty period (2 years or 6 years).

If the defect only becomes apparent in the last 6 months of the warranty period, the law provides a further 6 months (from the end of the warranty period) to commence legal proceedings.

All strata schemes have a set of by-laws (rules) that owners, occupiers and, in some cases, visitors must follow.

By-laws cover issues such as whether or not pets are permitted on the scheme, how smoking is regulated, parking, noise, and the conduct of residents and visitors.

The owners corporation can enforce these rules through the Tribunal, which may penalise a person who breaches a by-law. Owners corporations can determine the bylaws that suit the preferred lifestyle of the strata scheme.

By-laws cannot be harsh, unconscionable or oppressive, restrict children from the scheme, or restrict dealings in a lot, such as the owner renting out their lot.

You can access a set of model by-laws from the Fair Trading website, which provide ‘sample rules’to guide the owners corporation in setting their own by-laws. These may be adopted as is, or with changes to suit the individual scheme’s requirements.

To make or change a by-law, the owners corporation must agree to a motion put forward on the proposed new by-law with no more than 25% of votes cast against it.A by-law cannot be enforced by a strata scheme unless it is also registered with the NSW Office of the Registrar General.
Contributions/levies are payments that are set after an annual budget is decided, showing the financial situations and estimate of payments made and received. The contributions can be paid by instalments and the amount and due date can be varied. Special levies are a special contribution given when there are insufficient funds to cover expenses. (Information taken from NSW Strata Living)
A person licensed under the Property, Stock and Business Agents Act 2002, to help manage the Owners Corporation strata scheme. The Owners Corporation have an existing contract with strata managers that outlines the responsibilities and duties. However, a strata manager can’t delegate their powers, authorities or duties to others. Additionally, they can’t set the contributions to be paid by the owners or make a decision on a restricted manner. (Information taken from NSW Strata Living)
Both funds must be established to administer the finances of the strata scheme. The administrative fund is used to manage day-to-day expenses of running the scheme such as maintenance and repairs in both common and personal property. The capital works fund enables major work to be undertaken to common property. Contributions made by owners to the fund are not refundable even if an owner moves out of the strata scheme. The Owners Corporation must prepare a plan of anticipated major expenditure to be met from the capital works fund. (Information taken from NSW Strata Living)
Unpaid contributions attract 10% simple interest rate a year if not paid within one month after it is due. The Owners Corporation can make a special resolution to charge no interest and can vote to provide a 10% discount if paid before its due date.
The Owners Corporation can delegate approval for minor renovations to the strata committee by passing a by-law to permit this. In general, lot owners should advise the strata managing agent of major problems to the scheme.
At the AGM of the owners corporation, the strata managing agent must also report if their current role in the strata scheme has earned them any commissions (not disclosed in the agency agreement) or training service benefits
Yes. Payment can be made using major credit cards and bank transfers.
Yes. However, charges will only be made once the inspection has been confirmed and booked. An acknowledgement and receipt will be sent to you.
By filling out the online order form (put in link). All details regarding the property can be found in the Contract of Sale and with the use of our authority list, you can check whether written authority is required. Once all this information is gathered and submitted with the order form, we will contact you to confirm the scheduled inspection date and fees.
Our reports are presented in a PDF format.
It is important to have a professional inspection carried out of the records when buying a home unit, townhouse or villa, both for residential and commercial purposes. A strata report will allow a buyer to be completely aware of all that may be happening at a building as well as relevant information for a mortgagee assisting a buyer with their purchase.
A scheme will always be known by the original strata plan number allocated to it, irrespective of later internal subdivisions. A contract for sale must have included in it copies of not only the original, but also all subdivision plans and the common property title
The main part of our inspection is the reading of minutes of meetings because traditionally that is where major issues are recorded and resolved; we can only read meetings that are part of the records. Sometimes a building will hold meetings internally and may not pass these minutes onto the strata manager. Similarly, when matters of the structure of a building such as repairs and maintenance are raised, we try as best we can to dig through the records to find whatever information we can. Issues of defects must be recorded in the minutes; these things take time, meetings have to be held to decide what to do and whom to appoint to investigate. Then it’s decided what works need to be done, call quotes, discuss them and only then may costs be known.
In all respects, our report on the building will always be the same irrespective of which lot is being sold, the only difference being the name of the owner and the levies they pay. These details are obtainable by other means, e.g. a Title Search for the owner and a Section 109 Certificate which the vendor will issue following an exchange of contracts, which will disclose the levies.

Glossary

  • A/F Administration Fund
  • AFSS Annual Fire Safety Statement
  • AGM Annual General Meeting
  • BMC Building Management Committee
  • CA Community Association
  • CP Common Property
  • CW/F Capital Works Fund
  • DP Deposited Plan
  • EC Executive Committee
  • ECM Executive Committee Meeting
  • EGM Extra–Ordinary General Meeting
  • ia inter-alia (amongst other things)
  • I&E Income & Expenditure
  • MA Managing Agent
  • OC Owners Corporation
  • SC Strata Committee
  • S/F Sinking Funds
  • SP Strata Plan
  • SCM Strata Committee Meeting
  • UE Unit Entitlements
  • WH&S Work Health & Safety

Other Concepts

  • The levies and any outstanding levies for the unit noted in the reports are as advised to TSRS by the manager, frequently supported with a photocopy provided by the manager
  • Levies are normally calculated after an AGM passes its annual budget
  • Sometimes vendors are in arrears; arrears are noted in documents provided and confirmed to the buyer before settlement
  • The arrears may persist until settlement and should be adjusted at settlement
  • After an exchange of contracts, the vendor is obliged to provide the purchaser with a Section 184 Certificate which discloses several details about the strata scheme, such as the current insurance details, names of the Committee members, Office Bearers and Strata Manager as well as the levies payable by the lot and any arrears
  • In essence therefore, the buyer obtains the unit being purchased free of any debts to the strata plan
  • The Strata Act has, amongst its regulations, a legislated set of “rules” or “By-laws”; these are the rules and regulations which all unit owners have to abide by; they set out the rules of behaviour for all owners living in a community situation that is home unit living( see Current By-laws.pdf)
  • Each new and prospective owner of a home unit is advised by his/her legal advisor of the details of all the standard By-laws; many Strata Managers present new owners with a “welcome package” and may include a printed list of all the current By-laws governing a particular strata scheme, either the regulation By-laws + any registered changes/additions to the standard By-laws
  • By-laws can only be altered, added to or repealed at a general meeting. These changes are then formally recorded/registered on the common property title within 2 years of promulgation
  • It is imperative to read a copy of the official Common Property title as enclosed in a Contract for Sale of a unit; it is mandatory for the vendor to include in the contract, amongst other compulsory documents, a copy of the Common Property title and any and all registered changes/additions to the By-laws; a buyer is then fully appraised of the current situation of all the rules he/she must abide by when owning a unit in that building
  • A legal advisor for a buyer will receive a contract which will include, amongst other documents, a “package” comprising the Memorandum & Articles, constitution and house rules of the Company that owns the building, often with a financial statement
  • The contract should describe the number of shares and distinctive share numbers allocated to the unit; these shares allow the occupation of that particular unit
  • The Memorandum & Articles/ Constitution / house rules contain the many regulations of the company