Who Repairs Common Property in a Strata Scheme in Australia

An Australian owners corporation, body corporate or strata company generally has to maintain and repair common property, but the duty is not open-ended: New South Wales, for example, now caps how long an owner has to bring a claim over a repair failure.

Information last verified on 21 July 2026 against the primary legislation. This page presents general legal information, not legal advice.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers the statutory duty to maintain and repair common property for strata schemes, owners corporations and body corporates, with a primary focus on New South Wales' 2025 changes and Western Australia's funding structure, verified 21 July 2026. It does not cover building defect claims against a developer or builder, which run under separate home building or building act regimes in most states.

The basic duty: maintain and keep in good repair

New South Wales' section 106 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) states the obligation plainly: an owners corporation "must properly maintain and keep in a state of good and serviceable repair the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation," and it "must renew or replace any fixtures or fittings" that form part of common property. This is not a duty that only bites once something has visibly failed; "properly maintain" implies an ongoing obligation, which is why New South Wales requires an owners corporation to prepare a 10-year capital works fund plan under section 80, anticipating major expenditure before it becomes an emergency repair.

The duty has real limits, not just a time limit

The repair duty is not absolute even within New South Wales. Section 106(3) lets an owners corporation resolve, by special resolution, that it is inappropriate to maintain, renew, replace or repair a particular item of property, so long as the decision will not affect the safety of any building, structure or common property, or detract from the appearance of the scheme. Section 106(4) also lets an owners corporation defer compliance with the maintenance duty for damage caused by an owner or another person, while it pursues action against that person over the damage, provided the deferral does not affect safety or access. An owner who suffers a reasonably foreseeable loss because of a genuine breach of the duty can recover it as damages for breach of statutory duty under section 106(5), but none of this means every defect is automatically the owners corporation's fault or automatically compensable; the specific facts, and any special resolution or deferral, matter.

New South Wales' 2025 change: a firm 6-year outer limit

A 2025 amendment to the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), confirmed in force as at the date this article was verified, rewrote section 106(6) to state that "an owner may not bring an action under this section for breach of a statutory duty more than 6 years after the owner first becomes aware of the loss." This is a discoverability-based limit, running from when the owner became aware of the loss rather than from a fixed earlier date, but it is a genuine outer boundary all the same. The limit before the 2025 amendment was 2 years. Schedule 1 item [37] of the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 No 14 omits "2 years" from section 106(6) and inserts "6 years"; readers relying on the pre-amendment position for an older claim should confirm the applicable version of the Act for the relevant period with a legal practitioner rather than relying on a commonly repeated figure that was not independently verified for this page.

Western Australia: funding the repair, not just requiring it

Western Australia's Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA) approaches the same underlying problem, how to pay for major repairs before they become urgent, through its fund structure. Section 100 requires a strata company to establish an administrative fund for day-to-day control and management of common property, and requires "designated" strata companies (and permits any strata company) to establish a reserve fund for larger, contingent or infrequent expenses. Section 100(1)(d) also lets a strata company recover, from the owner responsible and by court action if necessary, money it spent on repairs or work carried out to comply with a notice or order made under a written law, which covers a situation where an owner's own default created the need for the work.

Repairs and by-laws interact

A scheme's repair obligations do not exist in isolation from its by-laws. New South Wales' section 106(7) makes the repair duty "subject to the provisions of any common property memorandum adopted by the by-laws," any common property rights by-law, or any by-law made under section 108, meaning a scheme can, within limits, allocate some maintenance responsibility to individual lot owners through a properly made by-law rather than leaving every item with the owners corporation by default. See strata by-laws in Australia for how a by-law's validity is assessed, and strata disputes in Australia for where a disagreement over who is responsible for a specific repair is ultimately decided.

This page is general legal information about strata, owners corporation, body corporate and community title law in Australia, verified on 21 July 2026. It is not legal advice, and it does not cover every situation or every by-law or scheme rule that may apply to a particular development. For advice about a specific dispute, levy or by-law, consult a legal practitioner admitted in the relevant Australian state or territory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an owners corporation always responsible for repairing common property?

In New South Wales, the owners corporation has a statutory duty under section 106 to maintain and keep common property in good repair, but the duty has real limits: it can resolve that repairing a specific item is inappropriate in defined circumstances, and by-laws can allocate some responsibility to individual owners. Whether a specific repair falls to the owners corporation depends on the facts and the scheme's by-laws.

How long do I have to make a claim over an unrepaired common property defect in NSW?

Section 106(6) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), as amended in 2025, sets a 6-year limit running from when the owner first became aware of the loss. The limit before that amendment was 2 years, replaced with 6 years by Schedule 1 item [37] of the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 No 14.

Can an owners corporation decide not to repair something?

In New South Wales, yes, in limited circumstances. Section 106(3) lets an owners corporation resolve by special resolution that maintaining, renewing or repairing a particular item is inappropriate, provided the decision does not affect safety or detract from the property's appearance.

What is a capital works fund or reserve fund for?

Both are ways of setting money aside in advance for major, infrequent repairs, rather than raising the full cost only once the repair is urgent. New South Wales calls its version a capital works fund, built against a required 10-year plan; Western Australia calls the equivalent a reserve fund.

Can I recover money if the owners corporation fails to repair common property?

In New South Wales, section 106(5) lets an owner recover, as damages for breach of statutory duty, any reasonably foreseeable loss caused by a genuine contravention of the repair duty. Whether a specific situation qualifies depends on the facts, and this is a matter the relevant tribunal decides.

Does a by-law affect who has to repair what?

It can. Section 106(7) of the NSW Act makes the repair duty subject to any common property memorandum, common property rights by-law, or by-law made under section 108, which can allocate some maintenance responsibility to individual lot owners within the limits the Act allows.