Repairs and maintenance in a NSW strata scheme — who fixes what

The short version

In a NSW strata scheme, repairs split along one line: you look after your lot, and the owners corporation looks after the common property. The corporation isn't just allowed to maintain the common property — it's legally required to, and it can't quietly let things slide because a repair is expensive. Most strata repair disputes come down to which side of that line the problem sits on, and a surprising number of them — leaks especially — land on the common-property side, which means they're the corporation's to fix, not yours.

Where your responsibility stops

Your lot is the part you own exclusively — broadly the space inside your apartment, the internal fixtures and finishes, and anything the strata plan puts inside your boundary. So the paint, the kitchen cupboards, your appliances, internal non-structural walls and the like are yours to maintain and repair. Where your lot stops, the common property begins: typically the structural walls, the floor and ceiling slabs, the roof, the external walls, the foundations, and the shared pipes and wiring that serve more than one lot. If you're not sure where the line runs, the strata plan is the document that sets it — our strata title guide explains how lot boundaries are drawn.

The owners corporation's duty to repair

This is the part many buyers don't realise. Under section 106 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), the owners corporation has a duty to properly maintain the common property and keep it in a state of good and serviceable repair. It's not optional and it's not discretionary — the corporation can't decide a repair is too costly and simply defer it indefinitely. If it fails to maintain the common property and an owner suffers a loss as a result, that owner can seek to recover reasonable damages, though only within a limited period after they become aware of the problem. In practice, that duty is your protection: when the fault is common property, the money and the responsibility are the corporation's.

Leaks and water ingress: the classic dispute

Water is where responsibility gets argued most. If water is coming through the roof, the external wall, a balcony membrane or a common pipe, the source is usually common property — so repairing it (and often the resulting damage to affected lots) is the owners corporation's job. If the leak starts inside your lot — a perished flexible hose under your own sink, say — that's yours. The trap is assuming that because the water is in your apartment, the fix is on you. Frequently it isn't. Where the source sits decides who pays, so the first step in any leak is finding out where it starts, not who noticed it.

When a by-law shifts the line

Schemes can move the standard boundary with a common property rights by-law. If a previous owner installed timber floors, a new bathroom or air-conditioning that touches common property, the by-law that approved it often makes that owner — and every owner after them — responsible for maintaining the altered part. That responsibility runs with the lot, so it becomes yours at settlement whether you did the work or not. Our strata by-laws guide covers how these by-laws are made and why they matter to a buyer.

Who actually pays

Common-property repairs are funded collectively, not billed to whoever lives nearest the problem. Routine upkeep comes out of the administrative fund; larger, less frequent works — replacing a roof, repairing concrete spalling, resealing a garden podium — come out of the capital works fund. When neither fund can cover a big job, the corporation raises a special levy across all owners by unit entitlement — which is why a scheme with a long list of deferred repairs and a thin fund is a scheme where a special levy may be coming. Our strata levies guide explains how that lands on a new owner.

How disputes get resolved

If you and the owners corporation disagree about who's responsible, the path usually runs through NSW Fair Trading mediation and then the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), which can order the corporation to carry out repairs it has neglected. It's a real remedy, but it takes time and effort — which is exactly why the checks you do before you buy matter more than the ones you're forced into afterwards.

What to check before you sign

1. The repair history in the records. A strata records inspection shows recurring problems, unresolved leaks and jobs the committee keeps deferring.
2. The fund balances against the work due. Healthy funds with no major repairs looming is reassuring; a thin fund and an ageing building is a warning.
3. Any common property rights by-laws attached to the lot you're buying — they may make you responsible for maintaining something you didn't install.
4. Open building defects in a newer scheme, which are a separate regime — see our building defects guide.
5. Signs of deferred maintenance on inspection — water stains, cracking, tired common areas — and whether the minutes mention them.

Common questions

Water is leaking into my apartment from above — is it my problem?

Not necessarily. If the water is passing through common property — a shared pipe, a waterproofing membrane, an external or structural wall — the repair is usually the owners corporation's responsibility, even though the damage shows up inside your lot. The key is where the leak originates, so the first move is to establish the source before anyone starts paying for repairs.

Can the owners corporation refuse to fix common property because it's too expensive?

No. The duty to maintain common property under section 106 isn't waived by cost. A corporation can plan and stage works sensibly, but it can't simply decline to repair common property indefinitely, and an owner affected by that failure has avenues to compel the repair.

I want to renovate — am I taking on repair responsibility?

Often, yes. If your renovation touches or alters common property, the approval usually comes with a common property rights by-law that makes you responsible for maintaining the altered part. Read the terms before you start, because that responsibility passes to whoever buys your lot next.

Where does this fit in a full pre-purchase check?

Repair responsibility is one strand of a wider strata review. Pull it together with the levies, the funds and the records, and with everything else in the contract, using our NSW contract review checklist.