The starting point: the floors are named
The NSW strata page begins with the property, not the work: you need permission to do a kitchen or bathroom renovation, and you also need permission to change the walls, floors or ceilings.
Not every change is caught. You do not need permission to make cosmetic changes that do not affect the structure of your property or require waterproofing.
The page's first instruction is to read the scheme's own rules: check your scheme's by-laws before you start renovating, so you know what approvals are needed and how to get them.
There is a price for skipping the process. If you do not follow the correct process, you risk having to pay money to put the property back to how it was before you renovated it.
Safety sits above the approval as well: any strata building work must be done safely and meet building standards, which protects the builders and the residents, and helps reduce the risk of defects to the property in the future.
Cosmetic, minor, major: the three doors
NSW sorts renovations into three kinds, and the kind decides who may say yes. Cosmetic work does not need approval.
Cosmetic work is defined as changes that do not affect the structure or the outside of the apartment and do not require waterproofing.
Minor renovations do need approval. The page's examples begin with kitchen renovations such as installing or removing cupboards, changes to internal walls, and changes to recessed light fittings.
By their definition they cannot change the outside or the structure of the apartment, and cannot require waterproofing.
The floor job is on the list of minor renovations by name: minor renovations also include installing or replacing wood, tile or other hard flooring, including removing carpets. Laying carpet is on the page's list of cosmetic work.
Only the owners corporation can approve major renovations.
The process for a minor renovation
To do minor renovations, you will need to contact the owners corporation, strata committee or strata managing agent and request permission.
The page lists what you will need to show them: plans of the work, including dates and times of when the work will be done; the qualifications and details of the tradespeople who will do the work; and, if you're installing flooring, an acoustic certificate to show sound insulation.
Where the request goes next is a vote, on NSW's page: they will ask you to submit your changes to a vote at a strata meeting.
The vote has a bar: more than 50% of the votes cast at the meeting have to be in favour of the work.
The committee can decide some applications, within limits. If allowed under a by-law, a strata committee may consider minor renovation applications.
A refusal has to be written and timely, on the same page: if a strata committee refuses to approve a minor renovation, it must give written reasons for the refusal within three months of receiving the request.
Time runs the other way too on that page: if the strata committee does not refuse the application within three months, the application is taken to be approved by the strata committee.
An approved renovation is kept on the record: owners corporations are required to keep a record of any minor renovation approved for a period of 10 years.
Major renovations, and the 14 days' notice
Major renovations need a special resolution vote at an annual general meeting or other general meeting of the owners corporation.
The measure of that vote is strict, on the same page: no more than 25% of the value of the votes cast may be against the work.
In a two-lot scheme the bar is higher: both lot owners must agree for the special resolution to pass.
The resolution has to settle the future. The special resolution must state who has responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the common property, the owners corporation or the lot owner.
Structural work carries its own notice, says NSW Fair Trading: if your work will change the structure of your property, for example removing a wall, you must also give the owners corporation 14 days' written notice.
The notice should say what is changing: it should describe how your renovations will change the property structure.
The same change on a separate title
A floor change in a flat and the same change in a freestanding house do not meet the same gate, and the pages this guide reads show it as a difference in who must be satisfied.
| The step | In a strata apartment (NSW) | On a separate title, on these pages |
|---|---|---|
| Who must agree | NSW Fair Trading: the owners corporation, through a vote at a strata meeting, with more than 50% of the votes cast in favour for a minor renovation, or a special resolution for a major one. | Your Home: building approval where the work needs it, such as changes to services that involve cutting through floors or waterproofing. |
| What is being checked | The kind of work. Cosmetic work does not affect the structure or the outside of the property and does not require waterproofing; hard flooring, including removing carpets, is named a minor renovation, and installing flooring asks for an acoustic certificate. | Your Home: building approval assesses compliance with the National Construction Code and requirements for safety, structure, fire performance, waterproofing and energy performance. |
| The neighbour's side | Hard flooring on an upper floor should be acoustically insulated, Your Home says, usually a requirement in strata. | Where the work affects common property in a strata-titled townhouse or villa, the owners corporation's approval is also needed for it. |
| What is kept | A record of any minor renovation approved, kept by the owners corporation for 10 years. | Building approval where the work needs it; Your Home's advice is to check with your local council. |
If the apartment is rented
A tenant's route runs through the landlord first. If you are a tenant, you should write to your landlord to ask for permission before you make any changes.
The landlord is not free to refuse everything: the landlord cannot unreasonably reject requests for cosmetic or minor renovations.
The strata step still happens, just not by the tenant: if the landlord agrees to the renovation, they must follow the strata approval process on the tenant's behalf.
Two other floors on this plan meet their own rules: who may lay a floor, state by state, and what may be underneath an old vinyl floor.