This article discusses whether a NSW deed poll can permit major renovations to begin before the required by-law is registered with the Land Registry Services.
Question: Can a deed poll allow an owner to start major renovations before the renovation by-law is registered with the NSW Land Registry Services?
At our recent AGM, all owners except us voted to approve a major renovation above our lot, allowing work to commence before the renovation by-law is registered. The strata manager said this was permitted because the building’s lawyer had prepared a deed poll authorising early commencement, though we later learned they had signed it after the meeting.
Our understanding, based on section 141 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, our building’s by-laws, and the renovation motion itself, is that work cannot start until the by-law is registered with LRS. Can a deed poll override these legal requirements and allow renovations to begin earlier?
Answer: A deed poll may document intent or promise compliance later, but it does not create the legal authority for the work.
No — a deed poll cannot override the statutory requirement in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) (the Act) for making and registering a major renovation by-law before work commences.
Under section 108 of the Act, an owners corporation may only approve changes to common property (such as structural work or waterproofing) by special resolution and by making a by-law that specifically authorises those works.
That by-law does not take legal effect until it has been registered on the common property title in accordance with section 141(4) of the Act, which provides that:
“A change to a by-law has no effect until the owners corporation has lodged a notification with the Registrar-General and the change is recorded on the folio for the common property.”
Until that registration occurs, there is no lawful authority for the works to proceed.
A “deed poll” is simply a form of written undertaking — usually signed by one party only — and is not recognised under the Act as a substitute for a registered by-law.
Even if prepared by the owners corporation’s solicitor, it cannot confer rights over common property or alter the statutory requirement that the by-law be in force before work begins.
If the renovation proceeds before registration, the owners corporation risks:
- Breaching its own by-laws (if they require registration first);
- Authorising work contrary to section 108 of the Act; and
- Potential liability if damage occurs to common property or adjoining lots before the legal protections of the by-law (e.g. indemnities, repair obligations, access rights) take effect.
In short, a deed poll may document intent or promise compliance later, but it does not create the legal authority for the work.
For everyone’s protection — including the lot owner doing the renovations — the by-law must be registered first.
Tim Sara
Strata Choice
E: tsara@stratachoice.com.au
P: 1300 322 213
This post appears in the December 2025 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
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Read next:
- NSW: Q&A Can owners start renovations before a by-law is registered?
- NSW: Former Owners Cannot Sue Owners Corporations in NCAT
- NSW: Absolute prohibitions in by-laws – are they are no no?
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