This article about changes to maintenance plans and what you need to know has been provided by Shane White, Strata Title Consult.
All strata schemes require maintenance at some stage or another. No matter if your strata scheme is a single level 2 to 9 Lot scheme or a multi level high rise building.
The requirement for maintenance can be found in Part 8 of the new Strata Titles Act.
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Administrative Fund and Reserve Fund
The strata company Must have an Administration Fund sec. 100 (1).
The requirement for the Reserve Fund sec. 100 (2) carries a specific qualification:
“The strata company must, if it is a designated strata company and may, in any other case –
- establish a reserve fund”
What are the key points of this section?
- The words May and Must have both been used:
- The word “May” being the prerogative (is an option)
- The word “Must” being the imperative (is not optional)
The is another specified phrase – “Designated Strata Company”
The definition of this phrase appears at the end in sec.100(7):
“Designated strata company” means –
- a strata company for a scheme with 10 or more Lots: or
- a strata company included in this definition by the regulations”.
To recap: If you are a 2 to 9 Lot strata scheme, you don’t have to have a maintenance plan although it would be a good idea to have one. With the following exception:
Your strata scheme may be included as a “designated strata company if:
- STGR Reg 78(1) Designated Strata Company – extended meaning
- a strata company for a strata scheme that has a scheme building replacement cost of more than $5,000 000;
- a strata company for a survey-strata scheme if the replacement cost of the improvements on the common property is more than $5,000 000.
The 10 year Plan
STGR Reg 76 sets out the “Requirement to have a 10 year plan”.
The 10 year plan and the details required are extensively specified in Reg 76(2) which lists the “covered items” and the “condition report”.
The items specified in the “condition report” are:
- (e) a list of items of common property, and personal property of the strata company, that the strata company anticipates will require maintenance, repair, renewal or replacement (other than of a routine nature) in the period covered by the plan (the covered items).
A complete reading of this regulation would be required to fully comprehend the extensiveness of this report.
The 10 year plan must be revised at least once in each 5 years and the revised plan is extended to cover the following 10 years.
It is up to the strata company to adequately budget and set aside the required funds as it thinks are necessary to achieve maintain the building in accordance with the 10 year plan.
This post appears in Strata News #308.
Have a question about the Maintenance Plans or the 10 year plan or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.
Shane White
Strata Title Consult
E: [email protected]
Disclaimer: this article should not be relied on as legal advice.
Read next:
- WA: Reforms to WA Strata Legislation – As a Lot Owner, Should I Care?
- WA: Maintenance Planning and Insurance: The Strata Titles Amendment Act 2018 (STAA 2018)
1 May 2020 Update:
The amended Strata Titles Act 1985 took effect in Western Australia on 1 May 2020. It includes grace periods for some new requirements to ensure those affected have adequate time to meet them. This information has been taken from Landgate: Timelines for Change.
Improving strata management and by-laws: Introduction of 10-year maintenance plan and reserve fund.
| What’s new? | Timeline for change | Who needs to know? |
| Strata schemes with 10 lots or more are required to have a 10-year maintenance plan and reserve fund. This is also required from schemes with a $5 million replacement cost for building/s or improvements on the common property. | By 1 May 2021 or after. The 10-year plan must be submitted at the first annual general meeting that is one full year after commencement. |
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Visit Strata Law Reform, Maintenance and Common Property OR Strata Information WA pages.
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Hi, thank-you so much for taking questions here.
In 2005 our single tier, old s3AB strata plan, established a $3000 per annum Reserve Fund, for the purposes that you set up Reserve Funds for, to provide for future large maintenance or replacement expenses for common property. We contributed into it for about 3 years and the Reserve Fund accumulated approx $10,000.
Then a new Strata Manager was appointed. After a couple of years he recommended we cease raising levies for the Reserve Fund as we had enough in the Reserve Fund and there was not much common property he said. I now know this was a mistake, we should have just reduced the amount raised but the SM was new and we stupidly trusted him].
After having my focus elsewhere for many years, I have discovered that the approx $10K acculated Reserve Fund disappeared off any Financial Record presented by SM at AGMs since 20013.
When asked about this repeatedly in 2019 and 2020 the SM reply was inadequate, simply saying that owners decided to cease contributions to the Rfund; that he would look into it (but never did)
I kept pressing the matter and got nowhere. I have brought it up at last 2 AGMs and got nowhere. I have written to Council requesting they formally require to be provided with historical bank account statements for accounts where are funds are held etc. Two weeks later I have not had 1 reply.
SM gave those present at recent AGM a Report saying that RFund was never separately identified. I told those present I have proof otherwise (Notice of AGM showing two separate levy schedules to be approved at setup of RFund: one for Admin Fund, one for Reserve Fund. No-one was interested. SM chaired AGM and didnt allow discussion. No owners asked to see my records. Report also advises that SM has regularly been spending RFund on paying insurance premium (which I think is bunkum and is there so he can now take funds out of Admin Fund and call them Reserve Fund to make it look like the RFund is no longer missing….but now the Admin Fund is very, very short and we cannot pay for anything.
What do I do? Take Council to SAT for not doing their jobs?
One Strata Consultant advised me that I have 2 options: 1. Sell up my beloved house and avoid the stress; or 2. engage expensive strata lawyer and take matter to SAT. I thought Strata Reforms were brought in to help lot owners assert their rights and at low cost. Neither of the above options seem to be in accordance with that.
Strata Reforms brought in and lots of obligations now and requirements for people to get things right. BUT there is NO government enquiry line to assist us to get things right. (eg. for tax law compliance, ATO provides numerous advice lines to help people get things right). This seems all wrong to me in relation to Strata.
Hi AL
Thank you for your question. We are unable to provide advice for specific questions on this forum. I suggest you contact a strata lawyer or strata consultant to assist with this matter. I see you have spoken to a strata consultant.
Ask for an audit to be done. The information that you are not able to get, the auditors will be able to get. This should be approved by the Owners Corporation.
My only concern is that you are going back quite a number of years.
I cannot find aby Section 100 in the Amended Act
Hi Chris
The following response has been provided by Shane White, Strata Title Consult:
The new Amendments to the Strata Titles Act have been proclaimed on the 1st of May and section 100 can easily be found in a copy of the Act which can be downloaded from the State Law Publisher website:
https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/law_a796.html
You have a choice of PDF, WORD, or HTML
Hi,
I have a serviced apartment.
Are the Body Corporate responsible for the Doors and Locks?
Who is responsible for the repairs of a boundry fence in a over 55 complex strata property? As my fence is part of the boundary fence which it borders on to a footpath and road no neighbours, the fence needs to be repaired.
Hi Ante
We’ve received this response from Shane White:
A lot will depend on whether the Land around your building is common property, part of your Lot or has an exclusive use by-law or other by-laws are in existence that set out the maintenance responsibilities.
I cannot give a precise answer as I don’t have a copy of your strata plan in front of me.
Quite simply put:
1. If your strata plan is an old one, the Land around your building is most probably common property. Then the strata company is responsible for the repairs.
2. If the land around your building is part of your Lot then you will be responsible for the whole of the repairs as the fence is on the border with the footpath (known as the Road Reserve).
3. By-laws – You may have exclusive use of the common property courtyard area and there could be a requirement within that by-law that stipulates who is responsible for the fence maintenance.
Your strata plan is bound to fall into one of the above 3 explanations. It is best that you have someone look at the strata plan to ascertain this.
Good morning Shane.
I wonder if you can help concerning maintenance/definition of common property Strata of 15 single story villas here in WA
The roofs are common property, maintained and insured by strata insurance.
Who is responsible for the maintenance of the gutters, down-pipes and soak-wells? Each villa has two down-pipes underground pipes and soak-wells on neighbours property as the boundary is the wall dividing the villas..
Referring to an article…. Even though they may be within the boundaries of a strata lot the down pipes and attached drainage pipes are structural cubic space as they service the roof and gutters which are common property.
I would greatly appreciate your help so that I can take the matter further.
Kind regards
Andre Pachniuk
We are under the old strata scheme, there are only two of us and we each look after our own buildings, and maintain our own lawns and that’s the way we have always done it for the 35 years that I have been here.
Under this new scheme can we still continue to do this.
I am the front one and there is a house behind me
Hi Charmaine
The requirement for a 10-year maintenance and renewal plan applies to a “designated strata company” and the definition of that is one having 10 or more lots.
So breathe deeply – it doesn’t apply to you.
Cheers.