Question: What can one owner do if the other owner refuse to pay for common property structural repairs in a duplex?
I live in a self managed duplex in NSW. I bought my villa three months ago and, at the owner of the other villa’s insistence, we moved the duplex from a professional manager to self-managed.
Recently, I discovered subsidence or dropping in the strip footing along the rear wall, which I believe is common property. The movement has caused doors in my villa to jam and large cracks to appear above doorways. Several repair companies have said we need to carry out repairs to prevent further damage.
Although the issue appears on my side of the building, I believe it is a common property structural problem, and the cost should be shared. The owner of the other villa recently sold and refuses to pay their share of the repairs.
Can a villa owner refuse to contribute to common property repairs? How do I progress the repairs and recover their share of the cost?
Answer: Make a qualified request for a general meeting, or if you are the secretary, convene a general meeting.
The answer to whether you or the owners corporation should pay the costs of repair would depend on various factors, including:
- Strata Plan: whether the rear wall is lot or common property. This can be determined by inspecting the strata plan. If a thick black line on the strata plan indicates the wall, the wall is common property.
- By-law: Whether works have been done to the rear wall by previous owners, noting that if works have been done to a common property wall, the owners corporation could have transferred the repair and maintenance responsibilities to the lot owner.
Assuming that the wall is common property, the owners corporation is responsible for its repair and maintenance.
I suggest that you make a qualified request for a general meeting, or if you are the secretary, convene a general meeting. You should request or include a motion for the owners corporation to rectify the common property.
If the adjoining property has been exchanged but not settled, the vendor may have to notify the incoming purchaser of the motion. If the property has settled, the new owner will have to attend the meeting and vote on the motion to rectify the common property.
If the owners corporation does not resolve to rectify the defects, you should consider mediation with the other villa owner through Fair Trading and/or Tribunal proceedings.
It may be worthwhile to appoint a strata manager to assist with the management of the strata scheme.
This post appears in the May 2026 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Angus Lau
Bannermans Lawyers
E: enquiries@bannermans.com.au
P: 02 9929 0226
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