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Strata Cleaners Plan of common property
One strata scheme from above: eight lots off a corridor in a block, and four townhouses on their own land, with everything that is not a lot shaded 12345678 stair lift bin room corridor entry the entry lobby shared garden T1T2T3T4 shared driveway street common property a lot LIT: THE ENTRY LOBBY N One strata scheme from above, drawn tall: the corridor runs down the sheet with four lots either side, and the townhouse row sits below a ruled line marked on its own land 12345678 binrooma stairb liftc corridord entrye on its own land shared gardenf T1T2T3T4 shared drivewayg street
  1. a b c f g the bin room, the stair, the lift, the shared garden and the shared driveway: who cleans the common property
  2. d the corridor: who hires the cleaner, and on what terms
  3. e the entry lobby: what to do when the common areas are not being cleaned
  4. 1 to 8 the lots, and the share of the cleaning each one pays: who pays for cleaning the common areas
  5. T1 to T4 the townhouses on their own land: balconies and courtyards
  6. walls the wall between a lot and the common property: where a lot ends and the common property begins
  7. LIT: THE ENTRY LOBBY
Question 6 of 6

What if the common areas are not being cleaned?

The first step is inside the scheme: New South Wales says concerns about common property repairs should be reported in writing to the strata committee or the strata managing agent, and Queensland’s dispute path starts with self resolution.

Covers Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania. General information about strata law in seven jurisdictions, not legal advice; your scheme’s own plan and by-laws decide.

The official pages

The pages behind this answer, jurisdiction by jurisdiction:

Start with the committee and the records

The first step is inside the scheme: New South Wales says concerns about common property repairs should be reported in writing to the strata committee or the strata managing agent.

NSW Fair Trading adds that owners should ask their strata manager or strata committee for common property repairs, and notify the building manager, strata manager or strata committee when they see common property that needs repairing.

Queensland says a body corporate must keep certain records and allow some people to see and copy them.

In the ACT, the owners corporation’s Act requires records to be made available for inspection within 14 days of a written request from an eligible person that comes with the fee the owners corporation fixes; where a dispute exists, documents covered by legal professional privilege in relation to it may be withheld.

One path per jurisdiction, first step to last

Queensland

  1. Self resolution: an owner must show they have tried to solve the problem themselves before applying for conciliation.
  2. Conciliation: in most cases this is the compulsory first step in dispute resolution, and a conciliator with knowledge of the BCCM Act helps those involved negotiate their own resolution.
  3. Adjudication: if the dispute is not resolved through self resolution and conciliation, an application for adjudication may be the next step.
  4. If an agreement is reached, it is not enforceable under the BCCM Act unless the Commissioner refers it to an adjudicator for a consent order.

New South Wales

  1. Talk about it first: NSW Fair Trading’s first step is to try to resolve a dispute by speaking to the other person or people first.
  2. Use the scheme’s own internal dispute resolution process, if there is one, for an issue between the owners corporation and a resident or owner.
  3. Mediation: the mediation service offered by NSW Fair Trading is free, and mediation is compulsory for most strata disputes before lodging an application with the Tribunal.
  4. The Tribunal is the last resort: going to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal comes after the earlier steps.

Victoria

  1. Internal process: an owners corporation must have an internal complaints process to help its members deal with complaints without resorting to legal action.
  2. A written complaint: a lot owner, tenant or manager can complain in writing using the approved form, and if the owners corporation decides to take no action it must give the complainant written reasons.
  3. DSCV: the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria can try to resolve the dispute if all parties agree to take part, and using it is not compulsory before VCAT.
  4. VCAT: the owners corporation must follow its internal complaints process before it applies to VCAT, and if the matter remains unresolved, a lot owner can apply to VCAT for a ruling.

Western Australia

  1. The State Administrative Tribunal hears strata disputes in Western Australia, except the recovery of unpaid levies, which goes through the courts.

South Australia

  1. There is no government agency to oversee the management of strata titles or to resolve disputes.
  2. In a community titles scheme, an application to a court to resolve a dispute usually goes to the Magistrates Court.
  3. In a strata scheme, if a dispute is not settled privately, an application can be made to the Magistrates Court, which hears it as a minor civil action.
  4. If substantial problems arise, the corporation, a unit holder, a creditor, or a person with a registered interest in a unit (a mortgagee, for instance) can ask the Magistrates Court or the Supreme Court to appoint an administrator.

The Australian Capital Territory

  1. Try to resolve the dispute before coming to ACAT, and if you reach an agreement, write down what it is, sign and date it, and keep a copy.
  2. ACAT helps parties resolve some kinds of unit title disputes, under two Acts: the Unit Titles (Management) Act 2011, and the older Unit Titles Act 2001.
  3. Not every person can bring every kind of unit title dispute to ACAT.
  4. If ACAT’s decision looks wrong, an appeal can be made within 28 days of it.

Tasmania

  1. Talk about it: Tasmania’s page says most disagreements settle by talking, and the Recorder of Titles can be asked to help resolve one.
  2. If the Recorder accepts the application for investigation, interested parties can be given notice and asked for submissions.
  3. Once an application is lodged, contact with the Recorder of Titles has to be in writing.
  4. The decision and the reasons for it are made in writing, and the notice goes to the parties named under section 135 of the Strata Titles Act 1998.

What to put in writing

For the complaint itself, New South Wales says to report the concern in writing to the strata committee or the strata managing agent.

New South Wales says to give the owners corporation a reasonable opportunity to address and rectify the issue.

For what to keep, New South Wales says to send an email you can keep for your records, including information and a photo of what needs repairing.

Victoria says the owners corporation must keep records of the complaint for seven years.

The records behind a complaint

A South Australian management committee must keep the minutes of its meetings, and the ACT’s Act requires a corporate register.

What the records show about the cleaning that was contracted for: New South Wales says a copy of the strata managing agent agreement must be available to the owners corporation at all times.

Where the rest of the question is answered

What was contracted for: Who hires the strata cleaner, and on what terms? Who pays for the work while it is not being done: Who pays for cleaning the common areas?