A water stain appears on a top floor ceiling in an eight-lot block in the Inner West. The owner wants it fixed this week. The committee wants to know why the scheme should pay for a problem inside someone else’s unit. The strata manager is already chasing quotes. Everyone is circling the same two questions: whose job is this, and whose money pays for it?
Here is how strata roof maintenance in NSW actually works, and what committees, owners and managers should have settled well before the next big storm.
Managing a Strata Roof?
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The roof is common property in most schemes
Section 106 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 places a duty on the owners corporation to properly maintain and repair common property. In the large majority of NSW schemes, the roof sits squarely inside that definition. That means tiles and sheeting, sarking, ridge capping, flashings, box gutters, eaves gutters, downpipes and the waterproof membrane on any flat or low slope section.
Lot owners look after what sits inside their own lot. Where a leak from common property damages a ceiling below, the roof repair belongs to the owners corporation, and the resulting damage often does as well, depending on what caused it.
The duty is not optional, and it does not pause because the scheme is short of funds. A committee that defers roof works year after year to keep levies down is carrying real risk, because a lot owner can pursue the owners corporation for losses caused by a failure to maintain.
Where the line gets blurry
A handful of situations come up again and again on Sydney buildings:
- Owner-installed items such as skylights, whirlybirds, aerials and air conditioning units fitted under an exclusive use by-law. The by-law usually pushes maintenance of that item back to the owner.
- Townhouse and villa schemes, where the strata plan can draw lot boundaries very differently to a standard apartment block.
- Damage caused by an owner's own works, for example an unapproved penetration cut for a rangehood flue.
- Pergolas, awnings and carport roofs sitting over exclusive use areas.
The strata plan, the registered by-laws and any common property memorandum the scheme has adopted decide these cases. Read them before anyone commits to paying for anything.
Who pays for what
Routine inspections, gutter clearing and minor repairs are normally funded from the administrative fund, the same pool covering day to day running costs.
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Larger works such as a re-roof, a full membrane replacement or a repointing program come from the capital works fund. That fund is built through levies and guided by the scheme’s ten year capital works plan, which is why the roof’s remaining service life deserves a realistic figure in that plan rather than a placeholder.
When the capital works fund cannot cover the job, the owners corporation raises a special levy. Owners contribute according to unit entitlements, not according to who has the wet ceiling.
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Insurance sits alongside these funds rather than replacing them. Sudden damage from hail or a fallen branch is generally an insurable event. Rusted sheeting, perished pointing and blocked gutters are wear and tear, and insurers treat those as maintenance. Schemes with a documented maintenance history have a far easier time when a claim does go in.
Approvals before work starts
- Repairs and maintenance to common property can usually be approved by the strata committee within its delegated spending limits.
- Work valued at $30,000 or more requires at least two independent quotes, outside of emergencies.
- Changing the roof system, say from concrete tile to Colorbond, alters common property and needs a special resolution at a general meeting.
- Emergency works to stop water entering the building can proceed immediately, with the paperwork catching up afterwards.
Temporary protection such as a tarp is worth arranging early during prolonged rain, provided it is installed under a safe work method statement by a contractor insured for roof access.
What a well-run maintenance program looks like
Schemes with the smallest roofing bills treat the roof as a scheduled asset instead of an emergency. That means an inspection every one to two years and after major storms, gutters cleared ahead of the storm season, and a photo report the committee can attach to the minutes. Putting roof maintenance on a set cycle also gives the strata manager a defensible record of what was checked, when, and by whom.
💡 Need help?
We offer professional roof maintenance sydney to help you achieve your goals.
Working alongside some of the largest strata companies and insurance repair builders in Australia has made one pattern clear to our team: buildings on a maintenance cycle spend less across ten years than buildings that only call a roofer once a ceiling gets wet. A report that photographs each defect and prices it by priority also lets a committee stage works across two or three budget cycles rather than facing a single large levy.
Ask for a scope that names the actual defects. A quote reading “repair roof leak” protects nobody. Naming the cracked flashing, the rusted valley or the failed box gutter joint gives the committee something to approve with confidence and gives the contractor a clear boundary for the work.
Get the roof sorted before the next storm
If your scheme needs a condition report, a maintenance schedule or a second opinion on a roofing quote, get in touch with Tomkat Roofing or call 1300 866 528. We inspect, photograph and price the work in plain terms, so your committee can make a decision it can stand behind.
Book a Strata Roof Inspection
Our Sydney team will give your committee a clear condition report and a maintenance plan you can budget for.