This article discusses whether an owners corporation can neglect building maintenance in Victoria without a plan and explains the legal duty to repair and maintain common property.
Question: Does a body corporate have responsibilities for long term maintenance even without a maintenance plan?
I bought my unit in 2024 and noticed the building was run down. The same owners corporation manager has managed the scheme for decades. The scheme has only dealt with issues as they arise, with no regular maintenance checks or planned maintenance.
I have arranged inspections, and they identified major works, including roof replacement, a redesigned and new drainage system, re-rendering of the building, fence replacement, and ongoing major plumbing issues, along with other defects. The building is a tier 3 building from around the 1960s.
I understand that this tier of building has no mandatory requirement for a maintenance plan, but is the owners corporation responsible for long term maintenance, or does the responsibility sit with the owners for not requesting a maintenance plan?
Answer: Does your owners corporation bear responsibility, or are the owners at fault for not implementing a maintenance plan? The answer is one and the same.
There is a fundamental requirement for an owners corporation to repair and maintain common property. Section 4 of the Owners Corporation Act 2006 sets this out. This has been in place since the Act was introduced, regardless of the size or tier of your owners corporation.
Maintenance Plans were also available, but not mandatory for many smaller owners corporations, even under the previous structure with prescribed or non-prescribed buildings. Unfortunately, this is to the detriment of many neglected older and/or smaller buildings like yours, which have received only reactive maintenance over the years. In my view, legislation should be introduced requiring all owners corporations to have and implement a plan to avoid situations such as this.
Does your owners corporation bear responsibility, or are the owners at fault for not implementing a maintenance plan? The answer is one and the same. The owners corporation comprises all owners, so it doesn’t matter how you frame it. The real question is, how will you move forward and address the historic maintenance issues?
Irrespective of the fact that a tier 3 owners corporation doesn’t need to have a maintenance plan, my advice would be to pay an appropriate consultant to prepare one and implement it as soon as you can. Of course, as you have indicated, you are aware of several large ticket items that are due, so the consultant should include them in your plan for immediate or future work.
Once you implement the plan, there will be a significant increase in your levy contributions, but it provides you with a clear path to remediating long overdue work and will add value (in time) back into your building for the future. Whilst a last resort, your owners corporation should consider utilising a strata loan to fund immediate and expensive works. Sometimes, when a lot of costly work needs immediate attention, a strata loan can help you get it done without having to raise tens of thousands from owners at once, when some may not have these funds set aside. The alternative is to raise funds over time, which could prolong the serious work, leading to further deterioration and higher costs. Consider a balance between the additional cost of a strata loan and leaving the work until you can pay for it through your maintenance plan. The risk here is that it will likely be more expensive by the time you get there.
These challenges can be difficult to manage. The task is daunting, so it’s important to plan your approach to achieve the desired and most cost-effective outcome.
Joel Chamberlain
Horizon Strata Management Group
E: joel.chamberlain@horizonstrata.com.au
P: 03 9687 7788
This post appears in the March 2026 edition of The VIC Strata Magazine.
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Read next:
- NAT: 5 Costly Mistakes Owners Make When Maintaining Their Buildings
- NAT: What proactive maintenance measures can prolong building life and reduce costs in strata?
- VIC: Q&A Who’s Responsible? A Guide to Common Property
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