Strata Schemes Development Act 2015

The Act casts a wide net across the property ecosystem:

• Developers and original owners: They bear primary responsibility for registering the initial strata plan (s 10), preparing schedules of unit entitlement (Sch 2), and, in staged schemes, entering strata development contracts (s 76). Original owners are restricted during the "initial period" (defined by reference to the Management Act) from certain dealings unless authorised by order (ss 13(4), 17(3)).

• Lot owners: Every owner of a lot (defined in s 4(1) as the person recorded in the Register as entitled to fee simple or leasehold estate) holds an undivided share in common property proportional to unit entitlement (s 28). Owners must comply with boundary maintenance obligations (s 19), support notices in renewal processes (s 174), and contribute to shared expenses. Dissenting owners in renewal or termination receive statutory protections including compensation at not less than "compensation value" (s 170(3)–(4), Sch 6).

• Owners corporations: Constituted under the Management Act, they are the legal entity that owns and manages common property (s 4(1)). They must consent to subdivisions affecting common property (s 13(5)), may acquire additional common property by special resolution (s 25), execute dealings (s 33), and apply for court orders to vary or terminate schemes (ss 130, 135). They hold common property as agent for owners (s 28(1)).

• Lessors and lessees in leasehold schemes: The lessor holds the fee simple and may be deemed the owner in certain circumstances (s 43). Lessees obtain replacement leases on subdivision (s 12). Special rules govern further leases (s 44), refusal to grant further leases (s 45), and re-entry (s 46).

• Mortgagees, chargees, and covenant chargees: Their consent is required for registration of most plans (s 22). They receive notice of resumption or termination proceedings and may apply for vesting orders (s 47).

• Local councils and planning authorities: They issue strata certificates (ss 54–57), receive copies of building alteration plans showing encroachments (s 20), and grant planning approvals that must be in force before registration (s 52).

• Registered certifiers: Authorised under the Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018 to issue strata certificates in lieu of councils (Part 4, Division 3).

• Registrar-General: Performs extensive administrative functions — registering plans, creating folios, recording easements, restrictions, and positive covenants (ss 24, 31–32), and making recordings on termination or resumption (ss 145, 152).

• Courts: The Supreme Court and Land and Environment Court exercise jurisdiction over variation and termination orders (Part 9), approval of amendments to development contracts (s 86), resumption readjustments (s 115), and strata renewal applications (Part 10).

• Valuers and surveyors: Qualified valuers certify unit entitlements on a "market value basis" (Sch 2); registered land surveyors certify compliance with Sch 1.

• Tenants and occupiers: While not direct parties to creation, they are bound by by-laws (s 40) and may be affected by termination (ss 184(6), 185(7)).

Duties

• Owners must lodge a building alteration plan within one month of boundary-affecting works (s 19(2)), maximum penalty 5 penalty units.
• Developers must carry out "warranted development" in accordance with the strata development contract and Schedule 3 covenants (s 81, Sch 3).
• Owners corporations must obtain special or unanimous resolutions for major dealings with common property (ss 25, 33, 34, 35) and may not execute dealings disposing of common property unless common property rights by-laws are first repealed or amended (s 36(1)(a)).
• Persons signing support notices in a strata renewal process warrant they support the plan (s 174).
• Lessors in leasehold schemes must grant further leases in prescribed circumstances (s 44(4)).

Rights

• Lot owners enjoy indefeasible title to their lot and proportional interest in common property (ss 8, 28, cross-referencing Real Property Act 1900 s 42).
• Owners corporations may accept additional common property by special resolution (s 25) and execute easements, restrictions, and positive covenants by ordinary or special resolution (s 34).
• Developers retain the right to complete permitted development notwithstanding contrary resolutions of the owners corporation while the development contract is on foot (s 87).
• Dissenting owners in renewal proceedings are entitled to at least the "compensation value" of their lot (s 170(4)) and may file objections (s 180).
• Mortgagees and chargees may stay re-entry proceedings and obtain vesting orders (s 47).

Unit entitlements, once recorded, determine voting power, levies, and distribution on termination (s 4(1), Sch 2). Boundaries are statutorily fixed (s 6), protecting owners from unilateral encroachment claims.

The Act contains relatively few direct offence provisions. The primary one is the obligation to lodge a building alteration plan within one month (s 19(2)) — 5 penalty units. Most enforcement is civil:

• Registrar-General powers: Refusal to register non-compliant plans (ss 10(4), 22, 80(3)), requirement to produce original documents in electronic lodgment cases (s 196).
• Court orders: Supreme Court may make variation orders (s 131), termination orders (s 136), extension or conclusion orders for development schemes (s 92), and vesting orders on re-entry (s 47). Land and Environment Court hears appeals against refusal of strata certificates (s 66) and strata renewal applications (Part 10).
• Owners corporation remedies: Special resolutions authorising proceedings, statutory rights to recover contributions (cross-referencing Management Act), and rights to enter for maintenance of services (Sch 5).
• Resumption: Strict compliance with Part 7; non-compliant resumptions may be challenged by application for variation or termination orders (s 120).

Breach of implied covenants in a strata development contract (Sch 3) gives rise to contractual damages and specific performance. Support notices in renewal processes are irrevocable after notice under s 176(2) (s 175(2)). Conflicts of interest in renewal committees or strata committees must be disclosed (s 165, s 187A); failure does not automatically invalidate decisions but may affect costs orders (s 188(3)).

The Act is expressly supplemental to the Real Property Act 1900 (s 8): it is to be read as if forming part of that Act, but prevails in inconsistency. It interacts heavily with:

• Strata Schemes Management Act 2015: Defines "owners corporation", "initial period", "common property rights by-law", "utility lot", "special resolution", and "unanimous resolution". Management duties, by-laws, and sinking funds sit in the companion Act (ss 3, 4, 23, 40).
• Conveyancing Act 1919: Applies to leases (s 41), positive covenants (s 4(1)), s 88B instruments (s 38), and restrictions on use (s 63). Section 195F–196AA apply to registration formalities (s 38(2)).
• Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979: Planning approval must be in force before strata certificate (s 52). Fire safety and amenity considerations are mandatory (s 57(2)).
• Local Government Act 1993 and water supply legislation: Rates and service charges are levied on individual lots (ss 192–194); councils issue strata certificates and receive encroachment plans (s 20).
• Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991: Applies to resumption compensation, modified by Part 7.
• Community Land Development Act 2021 and Community Land Management Act 2021: Part-strata parcels within community schemes require strata management statements and community amendments (ss 25(3), 33(4), 35(4), 99, 109–110).
• Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018: Governs registered certifiers issuing strata certificates (Part 4, Division 3).
• Interpretation Act 1987: Applies to undefined terms (note to s 4(1)).

The Act does not apply to community title land except in limited part-strata cases (s 111(b)). Easements for support and shelter are implied on registration of part-strata plans (s 106) notwithstanding Conveyancing Act 1919 s 88.

The Act was substantially amended by the Strata Schemes Amendment (Building Sustainability) Act 2021 and the Property Legislation Amendment Act 2021. Key changes include:

• Updated references to the Community Land Development Act 2021 (formerly 1989) and Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018 (ss 4, 25, 33, 35, 99, 109, 110).
• Repeal of obsolete s 21 and amendment of ss 26, 30, 80 (2021 No 10).
• Insertion of s 187A and amendment of s 188 to strengthen conflict-of-interest disclosures in the strata renewal process (2023 No 45).
• Refinements to valuation methods in Sch 2 (2023 amendments prescribing "market value basis" and "valuation day").

These changes reflect the policy shift toward sustainability, modernisation of certifier regimes, and tighter governance of collective sales to prevent abuse. The 2015 consolidation itself replaced the 1973 and 1986 Acts to remove duplication, align with the Management Act, and introduce the strata renewal regime in response to ageing strata stock and urban renewal pressures.

The leading authorities remain those decided under the predecessor Acts but continue to apply. In The Owners – Strata Plan No 50276 v Thoo [2013] NSWSC 1199 (pre-2015 but still cited), the Supreme Court considered the interaction between development contracts and owners corporation powers. Seiwa Pty Ltd v The Owners Strata Plan 35042 [2006] NSWSC 1157 remains authoritative on the statutory duty to maintain common property.

Recent renewal litigation has tested the "just and equitable" threshold in s 182(1)(f). Courts have emphasised good faith requirements (s 182(4B)) and have been prepared to make ancillary orders under s 186 even where strict compliance with notice provisions was absent, provided no substantial injustice resulted (s 182(4A)).

Controversies include:

• The high 75% support threshold in renewal processes, criticised as enabling "strata terrorism" by hold-out owners.
• Conflicts of interest in strata committees steering renewal proposals toward friendly developers (addressed by 2023 amendments).
• Uncertainty around "market value basis" valuations where heritage or view impediments exist.
• Interaction with residential tenancy laws on termination of leases (ss 184(6), 185(7)).

No High Court decisions directly on the 2015 Act exist as at the date of this analysis, but the Land and Environment Court’s appellate jurisdiction under s 66 has produced a steady stream of certifier and planning compliance cases.

Most practitioners miss the following:

• Electronic lodgment trap (s 197): An administration sheet bearing all wet-ink signatures must still be prepared even for electronically lodged plans; failure to produce it on Registrar-General demand can invalidate registration.
• Initial period restrictions: Many solicitors overlook that the original owner cannot vote on certain resolutions until the initial period expires or an order under Management Act s 27 is obtained (ss 13(4), 17(3), 36(3)).
• Unit entitlement revision on conclusion of development scheme (s 90): The two-year window to lodge a revised schedule is strict; after that, owners must apply to the court.
• Encroachment certificates (s 62): Certifiers must refuse strata certificates for plans showing encroachment onto public places unless planning approval expressly permits it; councils have discretion but must record the encroachment.
• Leasehold conversion (s 48): The unanimous resolution requirement and strict 6-week/3-month timelines are unforgiving; failure to acquire all reversions within time allows the lessor to acquire leases instead.
• Sch 5 easement maintenance (cl 7): Costs are borne in proportions stated in the instrument or equally; many strata management statements omit this, triggering equal contribution by default.
• Renewal conflict disclosures (s 187A): Failure to disclose at the s 157 meeting does not invalidate the committee but can lead to personal costs orders against the owner under s 188(3) if the court finds lack of good faith.
• Common infrastructure carve-out (s 4(1)): Pipes, wires, and vertical structural members are common property unless expressly included in a lot on the plan in the prescribed manner — a frequent source of insurance disputes.

Developers

1. Engage a registered land surveyor and qualified valuer at concept stage.
2. Obtain planning approval and water authority certificate of compliance before applying for strata certificate.
3. For staged schemes, draft the strata development contract with clear warranted vs authorised development, concept plan (s 77), and predicted conclusion time (≤10 years — s 76(3)).
4. Disclose all relevant interests (s 154A) before any renewal-related resolution.

Owners corporations and strata committees

1. Maintain a current strata roll and by-laws register (cross-referencing Management Act).
2. Use the exact special/unanimous resolution wording in the Management Act when authorising dealings (ss 25, 33–35).
3. For renewal proposals, establish the strata renewal committee only after a general meeting resolution (s 160) and ensure conflict disclosures are minuted (s 165).
4. When a support notice threshold is reached, immediately give the s 176(2) notice and record it on the common property folio.

Owners and mortgagees

1. Never sign a support notice without independent legal and valuation advice.
2. Respond to s 176(2) notice promptly; withdrawal is impossible thereafter (s 175(2)).
3. In leasehold schemes, ensure any further lease complies with s 44(6) simultaneous expiry requirement.

Practitioners

• Always check the folio for notations under s 176(3) (renewal plan) or s 91 (conclusion of development scheme).
• Use the approved forms for all notices, support notices, and applications.
• When preparing administration sheets, ensure every mandatory certificate is included (ss 10(3), 13(6), 14(3)).
• For electronic lodgment, retain the wet-ink administration sheet indefinitely (s 196).

Compliance is best achieved by treating the Act as a checklist statute: every plan, certificate, resolution, and notice must strictly match the language and timing prescribed. Early engagement of specialist surveyors, valuers, and strata lawyers avoids the common pitfalls that lead to refused registrations or costly court applications under ss 86, 115, or 181.