If you manage or sit on the committee of a strata building in New South Wales, the rules changed on 1 April 2026. Not in a vague, theoretical way. In a "your owners corporation can now be fined for ignoring building defects" way.

The new strata reforms introduce mandatory standardised 10-year capital works fund plans, expanded enforcement powers for NSW Fair Trading, and on-the-spot penalties for non-compliance. For buildings with known defects — concrete spalling, waterproofing failures, facade deterioration — these changes turn what was previously a "we'll get to it eventually" maintenance item into a compliance obligation with teeth.

Here's what's actually changed, what it means for your building, and what you should do about it.

The Headline Changes That Affect Remedial Works

Three reforms matter most for buildings with existing defects or deferred maintenance.

1. Mandatory 10-Year Capital Works Fund Plans — New Standard Form

Every owners corporation in NSW must now use a prescribed standard form for their 10-year capital works fund plan. If your building is reviewing or replacing an existing plan, it must be prepared using the new format available through the NSW Strata Hub portal.

This isn't just a formatting change. The new template forces owners corporations to itemise specific capital works — including remedial repairs — with estimated costs and timelines. That means "we know the balconies are leaking but we'll deal with it next year" no longer passes as a plan. You need a line item, a dollar figure, and a timeline.

Buildings that have been deferring concrete repairs, waterproofing remediation, or facade works will now need to account for these in a standardised, auditable document. If the plan doesn't reflect the building's actual condition, it's not compliant.

2. Enhanced Enforcement Powers — Real Penalties

Before April 2026, NSW Fair Trading's approach to non-compliant strata schemes was mostly advisory. Warnings, recommendations, gentle nudges. That's changed.

Fair Trading can now issue compliance notices requiring specific actions — like commissioning a building assessment or commencing repairs. If the owners corporation doesn't comply, they can issue penalty infringement notices: on-the-spot fines of up to $5,500 for the corporation.

It gets worse. If an owners corporation ignores a formal compliance notice or fails to honour an enforceable undertaking, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) can appoint a compulsory strata managing agent. That means the committee loses control of decision-making entirely. An external manager is imposed, at the owners corporation's expense, to ensure the work gets done.

For buildings sitting on known structural defects or failed waterproofing, this is no longer a risk you manage at your own pace. There's now a regulator with the authority to force the issue.

3. New Disclosure Requirements for Strata Certificates

Section 184 certificates — the disclosure documents issued when lots are sold — now require more detailed information about the building's condition. This includes details about capital works plans, outstanding maintenance, and any known defects.

For sellers, this means defects you've been ignoring show up in the paperwork. For buyers, it means better visibility into what they're purchasing. For owners corporations, it means there's a paper trail. If you know about a defect and haven't addressed it, that gap between knowledge and action is now documented.

Why Deferred Maintenance Just Became Expensive

The pattern we see across hundreds of Sydney strata buildings is predictable. A defect is identified — concrete spalling on the soffit, waterproofing failure on the podium, cracking in the facade render. The committee discusses it. They get one quote, sometimes two. The cost feels high. They defer, agreeing to "revisit next year."

Every year of deferral costs more. Concrete spalling doesn't pause while the committee deliberates. Carbonation advances. Chloride ingress deepens. The reinforcement corrodes further. A $150,000 repair scope in 2024 becomes $280,000 in 2027 because the damage area has expanded and the structural integrity has degraded.

Under the old regime, there was no external pressure to act. The committee could defer indefinitely, absorbing the compounding cost in silence. Under the new regime, there are three external triggers that can force action:

• Fair Trading compliance notices can mandate that repairs commence within a specified timeframe
• The standardised capital works plan must now reflect actual building condition — a plan that ignores known defects is non-compliant
• Enhanced disclosure requirements mean deferred defects become visible to buyers, depressing sale prices and creating pressure from lot owners to act

The financial logic of deferral has flipped. Acting now is almost always cheaper than being compelled to act later — with fines, a compulsory manager's fees, and a repair scope that's grown by 40–60% in the meantime.

What Your Building Should Do Now

If your strata building has known defects or deferred maintenance, the new laws create a clear sequence of steps.

Step 1: Get a Current Building Condition Assessment

You can't populate a compliant 10-year capital works plan without knowing what's actually wrong with the building. A building condition assessment by a qualified remedial consultant or structural engineer maps every defect, categorises severity, and provides a scope of works with estimated costs.

This isn't a visual walkthrough with a clipboard. A proper assessment includes concrete testing (carbonation depth, chloride content), waterproofing integrity checks, facade condition mapping, and structural analysis where warranted. The output is a detailed report that feeds directly into your capital works plan.

If your last assessment is more than three years old, it's likely out of date. Building deterioration is non-linear — conditions change faster as defects mature.

Step 2: Update Your 10-Year Capital Works Fund Plan

Use the assessment to populate the new mandatory standard form. Each identified defect becomes a capital works line item with an estimated cost, a priority rating, and a proposed timeline.

The plan should reflect staging — not everything needs to happen in year one. A well-structured plan sequences urgent safety items first (structural defects, fire safety, water ingress affecting habitable areas), then addresses progressive deterioration (facade render, cosmetic concrete, balustrade coatings) over a realistic 3–5 year horizon.

The critical point: the plan must be defensible. If Fair Trading reviews it and finds known defects excluded or timelines that are clearly unrealistic, the plan isn't compliant.

Step 3: Get a Remedial Scope of Works and Competitive Quotes

For any capital works item valued at $30,000 or more, owners corporations must obtain at least two independent quotes. For remedial building works, this means engaging a qualified remedial builder who can price against a defined scope — not a generic "repair the concrete" request, but a detailed specification that includes access methodology, repair materials, warranty terms, and compliance standards.

The quality of the scope drives the quality of the quotes. A vague scope produces vague pricing with vague outcomes. A detailed scope — prepared by an engineer or experienced remedial consultant — produces accurate pricing and clear accountability.

Step 4: Present to the Owners Corporation with Urgency and Data

Committee members often struggle to get large remedial projects across the line at general meetings. Lot owners see the special levy figure and push back. Under the new laws, the committee has a stronger position: compliance is no longer optional, and the penalties for inaction are quantified.

Present the assessment findings, the capital works plan, and the quotes as a package. Frame the decision not as "should we repair?" but "when do we repair — now at $X, or in three years at $X plus 40–60% plus potential fines and a compulsory manager?"

Data wins votes. Show the deterioration curve. Show the penalty structure. Show what the building will look like in three years without intervention. The new laws give committees the leverage they've always needed to move reluctant owners from deferral to action.

The Buildings Most Affected

Not every strata building is equally exposed. The buildings facing the most immediate compliance pressure are those with a combination of:

• Age: Buildings constructed between 1970 and 2000 are entering the lifecycle stage where concrete deterioration, waterproofing failure, and facade defects accelerate. Many were built before current NCC standards.
• Coastal proximity: Salt-laden air accelerates reinforcement corrosion. Buildings within 1km of the Sydney coastline typically show concrete spalling 10–15 years earlier than inland equivalents.
• Known but unaddressed defects: If the committee has minutes acknowledging defects — even informally — that's now a documented compliance gap under the enhanced disclosure regime.
• Outdated or absent capital works plans: Buildings without a current 10-year plan, or with a plan that hasn't been reviewed in 5+ years, are non-compliant immediately.

If your building fits two or more of these criteria, the April 2026 reforms aren't a future concern. They're a current obligation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we have to switch to the new capital works plan format immediately?

Not necessarily. If your current 10-year plan is still within its term and you're not reviewing or replacing it, you can continue using it. But the moment you review, replace, or prepare a new plan, the new prescribed standard form applies. Given the new enforcement environment, most strata managers are recommending an early switch to demonstrate compliance.

What are the actual fines for non-compliance?

Owners corporations can face on-the-spot fines of up to $5,500 for failing to comply with a compliance notice. For developers of new schemes, penalties can reach $11,000 plus $220 per day for ongoing non-compliance. The more severe consequence is the compulsory appointment of a strata managing agent by NCAT, which removes the committee's decision-making authority entirely.

Our building has defects but we can't afford to fix them all at once. What do we do?

Staging is expected and appropriate. A compliant capital works plan doesn't require everything to happen in year one. It requires that known defects are documented, costed, prioritised, and scheduled within a realistic timeframe. Urgent safety items come first. Progressive deterioration is managed over 3–5 years. The key is having a credible, funded plan — not an immediate fix for everything.

How do we know if our building's defects are serious enough to trigger compliance action?

Any defect that affects structural integrity, waterproofing, fire safety, or habitable conditions is likely to attract enforcement attention. Concrete spalling that exposes reinforcement, waterproofing failures causing water ingress to occupied areas, and facade deterioration posing fall hazard are the most common triggers. A qualified building condition assessment is the only way to know for certain.

Can we use our existing building manager to assess the condition?

A building manager can identify visible defects, but a compliance-grade assessment requires a qualified structural engineer or remedial building consultant. They have the tools (concrete testing equipment, moisture meters, facade access methods) and the expertise to determine root cause, severity, and appropriate repair methodology. The assessment report they produce is the document that underpins your capital works plan.

---

Atomic Projects is a Class 2 registered remedial builder specialising in concrete repair, waterproofing, facade remediation, and structural works for strata and commercial buildings across Sydney. If your building needs a condition assessment or you're updating your capital works plan under the new 2026 requirements, book a free assessment.