Many strata owner's are often confused as to what they actually own. The definition can be complex, but a "rule-of-thumb" is that if you own an apartment, you own everything inside the walls of you apartment, floors and ceilings but this excludes walls marked as structural.

In some apartments, what that means is that you do not own much at all. Many owner's actually only own the actual kitchen and bathroom fittings and almost everything else is owned by the owners corporation. This can create complex problems, for example even though you "own" a strata apartment, you cannot do many things that you might like to do:

• if your ceiling is made of dusty old 'vermiculite', you cannot simply plaster it without permission from the owners corporation because you do not "own" the ceiling; similarly
• if you want to put in a new kitchen (and move the plumbing etc), you cannot simply move the plumbing without permission from the owners corporation because you do not "own" the plumbing.

But if you do own it, and examples are just about everything inside the kitchen and bathroom, then you must repair and maintain it.  An owner is responsible for their own repairs. Alex Ilkin states that:

The lot owner is responsible for the maintenance and repair of one's own lot.

Strata schemes and community schemes management and the law, Alex Ilkin, 1998

This sounds simple, some examples are provided elsewhere on this site where a degree of interpretation is required. But for the most part if you own it then you are responsible to maintain it.

What are owners responsible to maintain?

If you own an apartment you are responsible to repair and maintain those objects that you own inside your apartment. Essentially that covers the following type of repairs:

• repairing and replacing floor coverings such as carpet;
• internal painting;
• repairing cracks or holes etc in internal (non-structural) walls;
• repairing internal doors, skirting boards and other carpentry items;
• repairs to fixtures and fittings in the kitchen such as kitchen benchtops, basin, taps, tiles, exhaust fans (usually);
• repairs to fixtures and fittings in the bathroom such as the bath, basin, toilet bowl and toilet seat, tiles, exhaust fans (usually); and
• repairs to light fittings and light switches etc.

Additionally, if you have a garden apartment and if the garden is on your title, then you are responsible for repair and mantenance of your garden areas. This includes the following types of repairs:

• hedge, tree and garden maintenance;
• clearing drains and any drainage repairs required to ensure that water does not damage other parts of the building; and
• garden planter boxes (typically if there is no-one below you).

What approvals are required?

In the world of strata renovations, this is about as easy as it gets. You can normally do these type of repair works without requiring any form of formal permission whatsoever, but just to be safe, Strata Renovations recommends that a simple request and/or motion be presented to the executive committee for approval. Approval should not be withheld for these types of repairs. Disputes are rare and the possibility of getting into trouble is pretty small, particularly if permission has been sought and granted.

However, please note that "repair" does not include an "improvement", "renovation" or an "extension". If you are replacing and repairing "like for like" then this is simply a repair, however for example a "reconfiguration" or changing the plan is not a repair. A more formal approval will then be required.

Some things to look out for

Some examples follow:

• Waterproofing membranes: Say for example you are repairing the bathroom toilet, but in the process of repairing the cistern you need to retile at the same time. Bathrooms are a cause of many of the problems in strata buildings, principally because problems in a bathroom often impact the apartment downstairs. For this reason kitchens and particularly bathroom areas should always have waterproof membranes behind the wall tiles (especially showers) and under floor tiles. The actual waterproofing membrane is usually affixed to the wall. The membrane itself is almost always considered to be owned by the owners corporation as part of the common property. For this reason kitchen and bathroom repairs that involve replacing tiles must be managed carefully. If you damage the membrane you must have it repaired, and many owners corporations will require that all repairs conducted by owners in kitchens and bathrooms require that a certificate be provided. It is almost impossible to remove tiles without damaging the membrane so therefore any bathroom repair requires permission.
• Door locks and fire doors: In NSW all strata buildings must comply with fire regulations that govern what is called multi-occupancy buildings. Some of the relevant building regulations that apply to strata buildings require that door locks be fitted that have a fire rating. This is typically interpreted as requiring that all front door locks and doors are common property. If you want to replace the lock on your front door, you must do this in such a way that you do not compromise the fire safety of the building. Many large buildings also have bylaws that apply.
• Carpet and underlay: Installation or removal of carpet is the cause of many problems in strata apartments. The NSW Office of Fair Trading receive a large number of complaints on this topic each year. Essentially, it is the responsibility of owners to ensure that their use of their apartment does not impact other owners, in particular, the owner who lives downstairs. If your apartment did not have a heavy duty underlay installed, then Strata Renovations believes that it is your responsibility to install one when you replace your carpet. Some buildings manage this process. It is usually held that you cannot replace carpet with timber floor boards unless expensive sound-proofing is installed at the same time.
• Windows: Windows can be interpreted as either common property or the property of a lot. The default position is that windows are the property of a lot, but many schemes allow owners to carry out their own repair and maintenance works and upgrade their balcony or other windows, particularly if the windows cannot easily be seen from the street. This can be complex, and approval should always be obtained. This may count as an improvement, and in some schemes a bylaw is required. Other schemes have a general bylaw that covers all owners.
• Drainage in garden areas: If a gargen area is on the title of an apartment, then it is the responsibility of an owner to clean their own drains and to prevent water entering their apartment or other properties.
• Kitchen renovation:
• Bathroom renovation:

Examples

Strata Renovations has prepared the following motions as examples that can be followed for owners that want to carry out repair works to their apartment.

Simple motion for repairs

Example motion 1 here

etc....