The owners corporation
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The owners corporation
The owners from time to time of the lots in a strata plan constitute a body corporate known as the owners corporation (s 8(1) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW)).
Duty to maintain and repair
The owners corporation must properly maintain common property and any personal property vested in it, and keep these in a state of good and serviceable repair (s 106(1)). This extends to preserving the fabric and physical integrity of the common property, encompassing both ordinary wear and tear, and major structural defects
arising from poor construction or materials.
The obligation is absolute—reasonableness is not a defence—enforceable by mandatory injunction. The duty extends to ensuring lot owners have proper access to and enjoyment of common property. The owners corporation may add to common property to effect necessary repairs, even where this involves encroachment into a lot’s airspace, without requiring a special resolution (s 108).
Principal responsibility for management
Under s 9(1) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), the owners corporation holds the principal responsibility for management of the strata scheme.
Specifically, it has, for the benefit of all owners, the management and control of the use of the common property and the administration of the strata scheme (s 9(2)).
These responsibilities comprise the following core components (s 9(3)):
(a) maintaining and repairing the common property,
(b) managing the finances of the strata scheme,
(c) keeping accounts and records, and
(d) taking out insurance for the strata scheme.
The owners corporation must exercise its powers in good faith and for proper purposes. Any exercise of power for an improper purpose, even if within the letter of the Act, is voidable in equity under the doctrine of fraud on a power.
The owners corporation’s power to manage common property does not override the proprietary rights of lot owners, nor does it permit interference with their right to use and enjoy the common property as guaranteed by s 153(1)(b) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW).
Under s 108, the owners corporation (or a lot owner), with special resolution approval may add to, alter, or erect new structures on common property to improve or enhance it.
Under s 112, the owners corporation may, by special resolution, grant a licence to a lot owner to use common property in a particular manner or for specific purposes, subject to conditions.
Strata roll
The Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) requires the owners corporation to prepare and maintain a strata roll (s 177). The format of the roll is determined by the owners corporation (s 176).
- For each lot, the strata roll must include:
- the lot owner’s name and address,
- information provided under a strata interest notice or obtained from the Torrens Register, and
- information provided under any tenancy notice (s 178(1)).
For the scheme as a whole, the strata roll must record:
- the name of the original owner,
- total unit entitlement (both scheme-wide and per lot),
- insurances held by the owners corporation, and
- the current by-laws (s 178(2)).