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Repairs & Maintenance guides.
Clear, useful reading for owners corporations and the people who run them.
28 guidesRSS
Repairs & Maintenance
Recurring Blocked Drains in Strata: When to Stop Clearing and Start Relining
Recurring blocked drains in strata? How committees can tell lot pipe from common property, read a CCTV report and decide when relining beats clearing.
12 November 2026 · 9 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Why Balcony Glass Doors Explode, and Who Pays When Yours Does
Toughened glass can shatter with nobody touching it, sometimes years after it was installed. This guide explains nickel sulphide and the other causes, why the heat-soak rule usually skips balcony doors, and how NSW strata law, insurance and builder warranties split the bill.
4 November 2026 · 12 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Opal Tower: The Full Story From Christmas Eve Cracks to Defect-Free, and What Committees Can Learn
On Christmas Eve 2018, cracks in Opal Tower at Sydney Olympic Park emptied a 392-apartment building. On 10 October 2026 the owners declared it defect-free. Here is the complete history: the failure, the investigation, the repairs, the class action, the 500 extra defects, the settlement, the law reforms, and the lessons for every strata committee facing serious defects.
20 October 2026 · 17 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Efflorescence Explained: What the White Powder on Your Building Means and When to Worry
Efflorescence is the white, salty deposit that appears on brickwork, concrete, render and tile grout. It is rarely harmful on its own, but it only forms where water is moving through the building. Here is what it is, where it comes from, how to tell it apart from look-alikes, how to remove it properly, and when an owners corporation should treat it as a defect.
19 October 2026 · 14 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Roof Leaks in Strata Buildings: What Owners Corporations Need to Know Before Storm Season
A roof leak in a strata building rarely stays one owner's problem. A Sydney roofer explains who is responsible, the five faults behind most strata roof leaks, what the committee should do when one is reported, and the storm season routine that stops most of them.
12 October 2026 · 7 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
How to Keep an Agreed Defect Repair From Stalling
Builder agreement is the beginning of a defect project. NSW's 2025 data shows how often work remains unstarted, unfinished or uncertified, and what committees need to control next.
27 August 2026 · 13 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Why a Clean First Year Proves Very Little About a New Apartment Building
NSW's 2025 defects research found that reported problems rise sharply as apartment buildings age. A quiet first year is the time to build evidence, not assume the building is clear.
27 August 2026 · 12 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Repainting a strata building: what the scaffold finds, who approves it, and who pays
A repaint is when someone gets close enough to every square metre of the facade to price what they find. This article uses verified tribunal cases, quoted project figures, and the rules in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland on who approves the work, who pays, and why a building within a kilometre of surf sits on a shorter coating cycle.
30 July 2026 · 19 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Condensation, Mould and the $3,000 Deep Clean: Is It the Building, or the Way It's Being Lived In?
Mould appears through the apartment, condensation runs down the closed balcony doors, and someone quotes $3,000 for a deep clean. Before anyone pays, one question needs answering: is the moisture coming from the building, or from how the apartment is being lived in? The answer decides who is responsible, and whether the clean will last a month or a decade.
29 July 2026 · 16 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Fire Inspections: Why NSW Strata AFSS Reports Don’t Always Match
Conflicting fire inspection reports are common in NSW strata buildings. This explains why AFSS results change, what AS 1851 means, and how committees can keep better records.
24 June 2026 · 13 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Stormwater Pits and Roof Drainage: The Silent Capital Risk Lurking Below
A blocked driveway grate, a leaf-choked roof outlet, or a dead sump pump can turn a routine storm into a $30,000 to $200,000 basement-flood claim in an apartment building. The drainage system in a mid-rise strata scheme is out of sight, under-budgeted, and rarely tested. This is the pre-winter program, the capital items missing from most 10-year plans, and the maintenance evidence that turns a contested insurance claim into a paid one.
24 May 2026 · 12 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Garage Doors and Boom Gates: The Small-Component Failure That Quietly Costs Strata Buildings the Most After Flexi Hoses
After flexi hoses, the second-largest small-component cost line in Australian apartment buildings is the garage door, boom gate and access-gate system at the entry. Each component costs under $10,000 to replace, but the consequences of failure (vehicle strikes, after-hours lockouts, snapped boom arms, dead readers) routinely produce five-figure annual spend. This is the failure-mode breakdown, the cost bands, and the six-component maintenance program that gets the cost down.
22 May 2026 · 11 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Common-Area Lighting Retrofits: The LED and Sensor Payback Most Strata Buildings Underestimate
Common-area lights in a mid-rise apartment building burn through 80,000 to 150,000 kWh a year, and most of that load is a basement carpark lit at full output around the clock. A scoped LED and sensor retrofit typically pays back in 18 months to 3 years, halves the electricity line on the budget, and cuts the recurring lamp-replacement labour bill. This is what gets retrofitted, the worked payback math, the rebates on offer, and the specification traps that decide whether the job lasts five years or fifteen.
21 May 2026 · 10 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Garbage Chutes in Apartment Buildings: Jams, Fires, Smells and the Notices That Actually Work
A garbage chute is the most-used piece of mechanical infrastructure in a residential building, and the least understood. Here is what causes the jams and fires that take chutes out of service, the cleaning and inspection program that prevents most of it, and copy-ready notices for red and yellow bin chutes that residents will actually read.
18 May 2026 · 10 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Wet Wipes Are Costing Your Building Thousands a Year (And the Insurance Bill Is the Smaller Half)
A flushed wet wipe is the most expensive habit in modern apartment plumbing. Sewer-ejector pumps, macerators and stack lines all fail because of them. Here is what a single blockage actually costs, why "flushable" claims are misleading, and the building-wide response that works.
16 May 2026 · 9 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
What an Apartment Building Actually Costs to Run: Plumbing, Pumps, Lifts, Gates and the Rest
Most levy debates happen without anyone in the room being able to list, in dollars, what the building actually spends on the boring stuff. This is the working catalogue: plumbing, booster pumps, lifts, gates, fire systems, switchboards, intercoms, common-area HVAC. Typical cost bands, what drives them, and the contracts behind them.
13 May 2026 · 11 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Bathroom Waterproofing in Strata: Leaks, Falling Tiles and the State-by-State Rules for 2026
Waterproofing is the single biggest defect in Australian apartment buildings: 42 per cent of serious defects in NSW Class 2 stock and the largest line in most strata insurers' claims books. This is the practical state-by-state guide to what happens when your shower leaks, tiles fall off, or you want to renovate a wet area.
12 May 2026 · 14 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Flexi Hoses: The $27,500 Apartment Claim Almost Everyone Could Prevent
An $8 piece of plumbing causes around one in five Australian water damage claims. Insurers are increasingly declining claims for hoses that show wear and tear. This is the lot vs common property responsibility, the maintenance program a committee should run, and why the cost ends up on the building's premium regardless of who burst the hose.
12 May 2026 · 11 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Queensland's 1 January 2027 Smoke Alarm Deadline: What Bodies Corporate and Lot Owners Need to Do
From 1 January 2027, every Queensland home (including every apartment) must have interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms compliant with AS 3786-2014. Most public guidance has been written for houses. This is the apartment-specific guide: what's a lot responsibility, what's body corporate responsibility, and how to use s158 of the BCCM Act to procure collectively.
10 May 2026 · 11 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Accessibility in Strata: Ramps, Lifts, Disability Modifications and Ageing Residents
Accessibility is becoming an ordinary strata governance issue as residents age in place and disability modifications move from rare requests to a regular committee workflow. This is the legal framework, the cost ranges, the state-by-state approval pathways, and the process a committee should follow before saying yes or no.
5 May 2026 · 14 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Heat, Ventilation and Summer Readiness in Australian Strata Buildings
Split-system approvals, condensate disputes, plant rooms running too hot, lifts that fail in heatwaves, and the welfare protocols every committee should have ready before December. A practical guide to summer in an Australian apartment building.
5 May 2026 · 13 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Water Leaks From Above: Who Pays and How to Force a Repair
Water leaks are now the single largest category of NCAT strata cases, with applications growing 45% in five years. This is how to identify who's actually responsible, what 'strict liability' means for your owners corporation, and what to do when the OC won't act.
29 April 2026 · 14 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
E-Bikes, E-Scooters and Lithium-Ion Batteries: The New Fire Risk for Strata Buildings
From 1 February 2026, NSW enforces strict product-safety requirements on e-mobility devices and batteries. This is what strata committees, owners and tenants need to know about the fire risk reshaping apartment living.
8 April 2026 · 9 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Mould in Your Apartment: Your Legal Rights When the Owners Corporation Won't Act
Mould is one of the most common and most damaging strata problems in Australia. Recent NCAT and VCAT decisions have ordered owners corporations to pay for repairs, alternative accommodation, and consequential losses. This is what your rights actually are.
1 April 2026 · 9 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
NSW Fire Safety Rules Changed in 2026: What Strata Committees Must Check Now
From 13 February 2026, NSW apartment buildings must maintain essential fire safety systems under AS 1851 unless a performance solution applies. This is the practical committee checklist before the Annual Fire Safety Statement becomes a problem.
11 March 2026 · 8 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Building Defects After Settlement: Your Legal Rights as a New Apartment Owner
Discovered defects in your new apartment? From waterproofing failures to structural cracks, this is what the law says about your rights, who's liable, and the critical time limits you need to know.
5 February 2026 · 6 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Who Is Responsible for Repairs in a Strata Building? Common Lot vs. Common Property Explained
When something breaks in your apartment, who pays? The answer depends on whether it's common property or part of your lot, and the boundary isn't always where you think it is.
3 February 2026 · 5 min read
Repairs & Maintenance
Combustible Cladding in Australian Apartments: Where Things Stand in 2026
Years after the cladding crisis began, thousands of Australian buildings still have combustible cladding. This is the current state of rectification programs, insurance implications, and what owners need to know.
1 February 2026 · 5 min read