QLD: How can owners stop unapproved renovations in a strata scheme?

Published April 13, 2026 By Michael Kleinschmidt Leave a Comment Last Updated April 13, 2026

Question: How do we seek urgent orders to stop a resident from renovations during a busy holiday period?

We have bought into a complex of 5 at a popular beachside resort. An owner has started renovating his unit internally without Body Corporate permission. We are going into the school holiday season and have our unit rented back to back for the next 4 weeks. He has now sort permission and submitted a 10-week schedule to complete the renovation before Christmas.

Two owners are happy for him to go ahead, two owners (who holiday rent) want it suspended until after the school holidays. What can we do? Is an EGM the answer? Jackhammering is due to commence Monday!

Answer: Urgent problems demand urgent solutions.

Urgent problems demand urgent solutions. The Commissioner’s Office provides a dispute resolution service that includes adjudication. In appropriate circumstances, adjudicators can make interim orders, known in other jurisdictions as injunctions. Interim orders preserve the status quo until the primary dispute can be determined. An owner commencing renovations without approval, when approval is required, might be such a primary dispute. An interim order in that case would restrain the commencement of the works until the primary dispute is determined. As with any dispute, we do recommend that you obtain considered legal advice.

This post appears in the October 2021 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.

Michael Kleinschmidt
Bugden Allen
E: michael.kleinschmidt@bagl.com.au
P: 07 5406 1280

About Michael Kleinschmidt

Michael Kleinschmidt has specialized in strata law for over 20 years. During this time, he has served all of the peak stakeholder groups: Australian College of Strata Lawyers – Fellow and Council Member, Australian Resident Accommodation Managers Association (Qld) - Legal Panel Member, Strata Community Australia (Qld) - inaugural Legislative Committee Chairperson and past Professional Standards Committee member, Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management (Queensland) Stakeholders’ Group – ACSL representative, Attorney General’s Community Titles Legislation Working Group - ACSL representative. Across his years of practice, Michael has acted for almost all of the different stakeholder groups (occupiers, owners, bodies corporate, management rights’ operators, banks, body corporate managers, property developers and utilities providers) in almost every conceivable strata matter type ranging from structuring duplexes to 400-lot island resorts, litigating leaking roofs before departmental adjudicators through to appealing novel points of strata law to the Queensland Court of Appeal.

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