The NSW Government’s next wave of strata reforms begins 27 October 2025. These changes sharpen accountability for building managers, standardise support for owners in financial hardship, expand NSW Fair Trading’s compliance toolkit, and give schemes clearer levers to fix underperforming management agreements. If you sit on a strata committee – or you manage one – now’s the time to tune your templates, policies, and contracts.
At a glance: the October 2025 reforms
From 27 October 2025, the law introduces the following pillars:
- Clarity on who is not a building manager. This helps schemes and service providers understand when someone falls outside the statutory role (and therefore outside the special duties and disclosure regime).
- New duties for building managers to act in the scheme’s best interests and to exercise due diligence on safety, repairs, and maintenance, plus enhanced disclosure obligations to the owners corporation about benefits, financial interests, and relationships with original owners/developers.
- Mandatory benefit declarations from candidates for building manager appointments, capturing benefits that may influence the fees charged under the agreement.
- New Tribunal ground to vary or end a building management or strata management agreement, specifically where the manager carries on a business that is against the law, adding to existing termination pathways.
- Standardised levy payment plans. Owners must use an approved form to request a plan (up to 12 months, with ability to agree a new plan after that period). Schemes cannot charge fees for starting or running a plan and must respond within 28 days, giving reasons if refusing.
- Financial Hardship Information Statement to accompany every levy notice (includes contact details for the National Debt Helpline). Update your levy templates now.
- Expanded NSW Fair Trading enforcement powers, including requiring documents and answers, recording interviews, entering premises, issuing compliance notices and penalty notices, seeking enforceable undertakings, applying to NCAT for orders, and, in serious cases, prosecuting.
Note: Many of these reforms also align with changes for community land schemes, reflecting a broader harmonisation across shared property frameworks in NSW.
What this means in practice (and how I advise committees to respond)
1) Building manager governance and disclosures
Expect a tighter compliance environment. You should:
- Map who is – and is not – your building manager. Some roles previously “on the edges” (e.g., concierge/caretaker arrangements) may now be clearly outside the statutory definition. This affects the duties and disclosure regime that applies.
- Update or append your building management agreement with: best‑interests and due‑diligence duties; disclosure of benefits/relationships (including with original owners/developers); and a mechanism to keep a conflicts register current.
- Brief candidates pre‑appointment: they must declare any benefits that could impact the fees they’ll charge under the agreement. Build this into your Request for Proposal (RFP) and tender forms.
2) Payment plans and levy recovery
The reforms take a “firm‑but‑fair” approach to overdue contributions:
- Use the new approved request form for payment plans and embed it in your website/owner portal. Plans run up to 12 months (then can roll to a new plan by agreement). No fees may be charged for considering, starting or maintaining a plan. Respond to requests within 28 days and give reasons if you refuse.
- When can you refuse? If granting a plan would leave the admin fund or capital works fund insufficient to meet obligations (e.g., push a fund into deficit; leave too little to meet repair/maintenance duties; or make it impossible to comply with an enforceable undertaking or compliance notice). Document your solvency assessment and reference the statutory factors.
- Debt recovery timing and content: the minimum notice period before taking recovery action increases from 21 to 30 days and there are updated conditions around repayment of levies, interest and recovery costs. Align your recovery workflow to the new timeline.
3) Financial hardship support
From 27 October, every levy notice must include the Financial Hardship Information Statement (with National Debt Helpline details). We will be including it immediately so we’re ready on day one.
4) Repairs, maintenance and Fair Trading enforcement
NSW Fair Trading is arming up. To reduce compliance risk:
- Run a repairs & maintenance triage now, prioritising safety and water ingress, and plan funding through your capital works program.
- Use the Strata building health check and minute your action plan; that recordkeeping will help if Fair Trading requests documents or issues a compliance notice.
5) Management agreements—new exit/variation lever
If a strata or building manager operates unlawfully, the owners corporation will have an additional NCAT pathway to change or end the agreement. Keep your committee’s delegations register and performance reviews current to support orderly transitions if needed.
“Do now” checklist (before 27 October 2025)
- Levy notices: Add the Financial Hardship Information Statement to your levy templates; prepare to send with every notice.
- Payment plans: Publish the approved request form, adopt a written policy (12‑month cap, 28‑day response, no fees), and update recovery timelines to the 30‑day minimum notice.
- Building manager compliance:
- Confirm whether any on‑site roles are not building managers under the new definition.
- Insert/confirm best‑interests, due‑diligence and disclosure duties in your agreement; establish a conflicts register.
- Add a candidate benefits declaration to your appointment process.
- Repairs & maintenance: Audit backlog items, prioritise risk, minute your plan, and set quarterly tracking so you’re ready if Fair Trading asks for records.
What’s next: looking ahead to 1 April 2026
A second tranche follows in 2026. Headline items include standard forms for 10‑year capital works fund plans and initial maintenance schedules (IMS), plus independent surveyor review/certification of IMS and initial levy estimates for multi‑storey schemes. Section 184 strata information certificates will also be updated to capture embedded (exclusive supply) networks. Start your budgeting and consultant scoping now so you’re not scrambling next March.
Context: reforms already in force (since 1 July 2025)
For completeness, remember the mid‑2025 changes that uplifted sustainability, minor renovations, accessibility infrastructure, assistance animals, protections against unfair contract terms, legal spend transparency and record inspection fees, plus stricter developer obligations and improvements to repairs and maintenance processes. These are live settings you should now be operating under.
Standard answers to common owner questions
Q: Can I get a payment plan for overdue levies?
A: Yes. From 27 October 2025 you can apply using the approved form for a plan of up to 12 months. We can’t charge any fees for considering or running your plan. We’ll reply within 28 days. If we refuse, we’ll explain why in writing.
Q: On what grounds can a payment plan be refused?
A: Only where granting it would leave our administrative or capital works fund insufficient (e.g., push a fund into deficit, prevent required repairs/maintenance, or prevent compliance with a Fair Trading notice/order/undertaking). We’ll document that assessment and share the reasons with you.
Q: Will this change how quickly recovery action starts?
A: Yes. The minimum notice period before taking recovery action becomes 30 days (previously 21 days). Our policy aligns with that and with the new plan process.
Q: What’s new for building managers?
A: Clearer duties: act in the scheme’s best interests, use due diligence on safety/repairs/maintenance, and disclose relevant benefits/relationships. New candidates must declare benefits that could affect their fees. Our contracts and registers are being updated accordingly.
Q: Can Fair Trading force us to do repairs?
A: Fair Trading now has broader powers: they can request records, enter premises, issue compliance notices or penalty notices, seek enforceable undertakings, apply to NCAT, and, if necessary, prosecute. We’re proactively tracking repairs to stay compliant.
Q: Will levies go up because of these changes?
A: Levies are set by owners in general meeting based on the scheme’s actual needs. The reforms don’t mandate increases, but they do push for timely maintenance and fair treatment of hardship, both of which we factor into budgets transparently.
Q: Can we change or end an underperforming management contract?
A: The reforms add a new NCAT ground where a manager operates against the law, alongside existing termination pathways. We’ll always follow due process and seek legal advice where appropriate.
Final word
The 27 October reforms are not just administrative tidying. They recalibrate incentives around maintenance, transparency, and fair treatment of owners, while giving regulators sharper teeth. Schemes that prepare now will avoid compliance friction, protect their financial position, and deliver better building outcomes for residents.
Yours in strata,
JM
This article provides general information only and is not legal advice. If you require advice on your scheme’s specific circumstances (e.g., payment plan refusals, agreement variations, or Fair Trading notices), seek tailored guidance.