Who is responsible for maintenance in a strata building?
Broadly, the body corporate looks after common property, and each owner looks after their own lot. The building manager usually runs the day-to-day work on the body corporate's behalf.
| Who | Usually responsible for |
|---|---|
| Body corporate (owners corporation) | Common property such as the roof, structure, lifts, lobbies, car park, gardens and shared services |
| Lot owner | Their own lot, such as internal fittings, appliances and anything inside the boundaries of the apartment |
| Building manager | Running maintenance day to day: logging requests, booking contractors and keeping records, as agreed with the body corporate |
| Strata manager | Administration: approving spend within delegated limits, paying invoices and supporting the committee |
Where the boundary sits between a lot and common property depends on your strata plan, by-laws and state legislation. This is general information, not legal advice. Check with your strata manager for your building.
What about the grey areas?
Leaks, windows, balconies and pipes cause the most confusion, because the cause and the damage can sit on different sides of the boundary.
A stain on an apartment ceiling might come from a pipe in the common wall, a leaking shower upstairs or the roof. Until the source is found, nobody can say who pays. That is exactly when a clear record helps: when the request came in, what was inspected, what the contractor found and who was told.
Logging the request first and deciding responsibility once the facts are known avoids jobs falling through the gap while everyone points at someone else.
How do you keep track of who is doing what?
Log every request in one system, record the decision on responsibility, and keep the history with the building.
- Log the requestWhoever reports it, the issue goes into one system with photos and a location.
- Investigate and decideInspections and contractor findings are recorded against the case.
- Assign the workBody corporate jobs go to a contractor through a work order. Owner issues are passed to the owner with a record that they were told.
- Approve and payQuotes and invoices are attached to the job they belong to.
- Report backThe committee sees what was done, by whom and at what cost.
Where does MYBOS fit in?
MYBOS is the system the building runs on, so every request and decision is on record.
Requests come in as cases, work orders go to contractors with quotes and invoices attached, and reports draw on the record rather than on memory. Committees can be given a view of reports and history without the day-to-day admin. Year-to-year planning is covered in our guide to maintenance plans for apartment buildings, and longer-term planning in planning the capital works fund.