If your owners corporation hasn't reviewed its 10-year capital works fund plan recently, April 2026 changes everything. From 1 April, any new or reviewed plan in NSW must use the mandatory standard form — and for buildings with deferred maintenance, that means confronting the true cost of remedial works.

As a Class 2 registered building practitioner that delivers remedial and capital works projects across Sydney's strata buildings, we see the same pattern repeatedly: capital works plans that underestimate remedial costs by 40–60%, or omit them entirely. This guide explains what your plan should include if your building has structural, waterproofing, or facade issues — and how to avoid a special levy shock.

What Changed on 1 April 2026

The Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NSW) introduced a new standard form for 10-year capital works fund plans. If your owners corporation is preparing a new plan or reviewing an existing one, you must now use this form.

The reform also introduces three changes that directly affect remedial works planning:

Extended limitation period. The limitation period for building defect claims has been extended to six years. This means defects discovered today may still be actionable — and should be included in your plan with appropriate cost allowances.

Sustainability infrastructure. Capital works plans must now include costs for sustainability infrastructure such as solar panels, energy-efficient systems, and sustainable building materials. For buildings also requiring remedial work, this means competing budget priorities that need careful sequencing.

Compulsory management risk. Failure to maintain a compliant plan can trigger the compulsory appointment of a strata managing agent. The regulatory environment has shifted — doing nothing is no longer a viable strategy.

The Remedial Works Gap in Most Capital Works Plans

Most 10-year plans are prepared by quantity surveyors or strata managers who focus on predictable lifecycle items: painting, carpet replacement, lift maintenance, roof recoating. These are important, but they miss the building's structural and waterproofing condition.

Here's what we typically find missing:

Concrete cancer and spalling repair. Carbonation and chloride ingress don't appear on a standard lifecycle schedule. By the time spalling is visible on balcony soffits, carpark ceilings, or podium slabs, the repair scope is often $150,000–$500,000+ depending on the extent. Your plan should include an allowance based on a condition assessment, not a guess.

Waterproofing membrane replacement. Sheet and liquid-applied membranes on balconies, rooftops, planter boxes, and podiums have a finite life — typically 15–25 years depending on the system and exposure. When membranes fail, water ingress causes secondary damage to concrete, steel, ceilings, and internal finishes. A capital works plan should include membrane replacement as a staged program, not a single catastrophic line item. If your building is experiencing leaks, roof and waterproofing repairs should be scoped and costed now.

Facade remediation. Cracking render, failed sealant joints, corroded fixings, and delaminating tiles are progressive defects — they worsen every year they're deferred. Facade remediation on a mid-rise apartment building typically costs $300,000–$1.2 million depending on the facade system, access requirements, and extent of deterioration. If your plan doesn't include a facade condition assessment, it's incomplete.

Structural repair. Post-tensioned slab repairs, column strengthening, beam repairs, and foundation issues are the highest-cost remedial items — and the most commonly omitted from capital works plans because they require engineering investigation to quantify.

How to Get Your Remedial Cost Estimates Right

A capital works plan is only as good as the data feeding into it. For remedial items, that means starting with an independent investigation — not a desktop estimate.

Here's the process we recommend to strata committees:

1. Commission a building investigation

Engage a qualified building consultant or structural engineer to assess the condition of concrete, waterproofing, facades, and structural elements. This produces a defect register with severity ratings and indicative repair methodologies. A strata building investigation typically costs $8,000–$25,000 depending on the building size — a fraction of what you'll spend if defects are scoped incorrectly.

2. Get a remedial scope of works

The investigation should lead to a detailed scope of works prepared by someone who understands remedial construction — not just defect identification. This scope defines what needs to be repaired, in what sequence, using what methodology.

3. Obtain a quantity surveyor cost estimate based on the scope

With a proper scope in hand, a QS can produce a realistic cost estimate. Without the scope, QS estimates for remedial items are typically based on rates databases that don't reflect the complexity of occupied strata building work (access constraints, staging, noise restrictions, resident management).

4. Stage the works over the plan period

Not everything needs to happen in year one. A good capital works plan sequences remedial works by urgency — safety-critical items first, then waterproofing to prevent ongoing damage, then facade and cosmetic remediation. This spreads the financial impact and avoids emergency special levies.

What Strata Committees Get Wrong

After delivering remedial projects on strata buildings across Sydney, these are the most common planning mistakes we see:

Deferring the investigation. Committees avoid commissioning a building investigation because they're afraid of what it will find. The irony is that deferral almost always increases the final cost — water ingress left untreated for two years can double the repair scope.

Using painting budgets for structural work. A line item for "building maintenance" or "external painting" doesn't cover concrete cancer repair, membrane replacement, or structural remediation. These are separate, specialist scopes that require strata remedial building services — not a painting contractor.

Ignoring the Design and Building Practitioners Act. Since the DBP Act 2020, remedial work on Class 2 buildings (residential apartments) must be carried out by registered practitioners. Your capital works plan should budget for a registered Class 2 builder, not the cheapest quote from an unregistered operator. Non-compliant work creates liability for the owners corporation.

Not including project management costs. Remedial works on occupied strata buildings require resident communication, staging logistics, defect warranty management, and compliance documentation. Project management and superintendent costs are typically 8–12% of the construction value and should be included in the plan.

The April 2026 Deadline: What to Do Now

If your strata scheme's 10-year capital works plan is due for review, here's a practical timeline:

This month: Request a condition summary from your strata manager. Ask specifically whether the plan includes remedial cost allowances based on a building investigation, or just lifecycle estimates.

Next committee meeting: If the plan has no investigation-backed remedial costs, move a motion to commission an independent building investigation. This is the single most valuable step a committee can take.

Within 60 days: Use the investigation findings to update the capital works plan with realistic remedial cost allowances. The NSW Government's Capital Works Fund Planner on Strata Hub can help you comply with the new standard form.

Ongoing: Review the plan annually at each AGM — not just every five years. Construction costs are escalating, and remedial scopes can change as investigations reveal the full extent of defects.

Get Your Building Assessed Before You Finalise Your Plan

A 10-year capital works plan without investigation-backed remedial cost data is a plan built on assumptions. And assumptions lead to special levies.

Atomic Projects is a Class 2 registered building practitioner specialising in remedial and capital works for strata buildings across Sydney. We deliver defect rectification, waterproofing, facade remediation, and structural repair — the items that most capital works plans underestimate.

If your owners corporation is updating its capital works plan ahead of the April 2026 standard form requirement, we offer a free site assessment to help you understand the true remedial scope and cost for your building.

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