Major Works: A $1M+ Remedial Case Study for a NSW Strata Scheme
Written by Murray Cameron on 16.09.2026.
Summary: This NSW strata case study shows how SRES delivered $1M+ in remedial works, protected financially vulnerable owners with structured payment plans, and locked in long-term levy certainty.
A strata scheme facing over $1 million in major remedial works has two hard problems, not one.
The first is engineering and money: the building needs the work, and the Owners Corporation has to raise the funds to pay for it. The second is human: behind every unit entitlement is an owner, and not every owner can absorb a five- or six-figure special levy on the payment terms the OC would prefer.
When Strata Real Estate Services (SRES) managed the Scheme through this exact situation, the works were delivered, the levy was raised and collected, and no owner was pushed into financial distress or debt recovery proceedings to get there. Here’s how.
The Situation
Scheme’s remedial works requirement
An engineering assessment identified major remedial works to Scheme’s common property — Including but not limited to the building envelope, waterproofing, structural remediation — with a total project cost in excess of $1 million. Deferring the work was not a realistic option: under section 106 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), an Owners Corporation has a statutory duty to properly maintain and keep the common property in a state of good and serviceable repair, and that duty now carries a six-year limitation period for claims against the OC following the 2025 reforms, up from two years.
The strata committee’s dilemma wasn’t whether to proceed — it was how to fund works of this scale without a one-size-fits-all levy putting some owners into arrears, or worse, forcing a distressed sale.
Why This Was Hard — And How SRES Approached It
Reason 1: A special levy of this size has to be raised correctly, or it’s open to challenge.
Under section 81 of the Act, once the administrative and capital works funds can’t meet an expense, the Owners Corporation must levy a special contribution by resolution at a general meeting. That levy — its amount, the number of instalments and when they fall due — has to be put to owners with a clear explanation of the purpose and necessity of the works, and passed by ordinary resolution (a simple majority of those present and voting). SRES prepared the meeting papers, the engineer’s report and the cost breakdown so owners were voting on a fully substantiated figure, not an estimate. Under section 83, the levy notice then had to allow at least 30 days before the contribution fell due — or as little as 14 days if any component qualified as emergency repairs.
Reason 2: Getting the money in without hardship meant using the Act’s payment plan framework properly, not informally.
A blanket “pay in four quarterly instalments” approach ignores that owners’ circumstances differ. Since the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 reforms commenced on 27 October 2025, every levy notice for Scheme’s special levy was required to be accompanied by a Financial Hardship Information Statement, and the Owners Corporation cannot adopt a blanket resolution refusing payment plans outright — refusal has to be reasonable and assessed case by case under section 85(5B). SRES worked individually with owners who raised difficulty meeting the levy on the standard schedule, and put in place formal written payment plans that met the requirements of clause 18 of the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 — the owner’s details, the interest calculation, the payment schedule, the manner of payment, and a named committee or SRES contact for the plan — capped at 12 months in line with the current rules, with no fee charged for arranging it. Once a plan was in place and an owner kept to it, the Owners Corporation could not pursue debt recovery over that owner while they remained compliant, under sections 85(7) and 86(6).
Reason 3: A one-off levy solves this project — it doesn’t stop the next one arriving the same way.
Reactive special levies are usually a sign the scheme’s forward planning has fallen behind. Under section 80 of the Act, every Owners Corporation must prepare and maintain a 10-year capital works fund plan, reviewed at least every five years, setting out anticipated major works, their timing and their estimated cost. Following completion of the remedial project, SRES prepared a fully updated 10-year Capital Works Fund forecast for Scheme — informed by the same engineering findings used for the remedial works — so that future major expenditure is funded through planned annual contributions to the capital works fund rather than another unplanned special levy.
The Result
- Over $1 million in major remedial works delivered, funded through a properly raised and substantiated special levy.
- A number of owners were supported through individually negotiated, fully compliant payment plans, with no debt recovery proceedings required against any owner who adhered to their plan.
- A revised 10-year Capital Works Fund plan now in place, giving every owner clear, forecast visibility over future levy requirements instead of relying on reactive special levies.
- A committee that met its section 106 maintenance obligations without a single distressed sale or NCAT dispute over the levy or its payment terms.
The Bigger Picture
Most strata schemes get one half of this right and not the other. Some raise the levy correctly but leave owners to sort out hardship informally — or not at all — which is exactly the pattern the 2025 reforms were designed to correct. Others manage hardship generously but never fix the underlying planning gap, so the next major item arrives as another surprise levy.
Your scheme’s circumstances may look very different to Scheme’s, but the same principles — a properly substantiated levy, individually assessed payment plans within the Act’s framework, and a current 10-year capital works plan — apply to any major works project.
I would be happy to discuss your scheme’s upcoming works, or your current capital works planning, at any time.
Murray Cameron Managing Director Strata Real Estate Services
Your Strata, Our Expertise.
Contact Strata Real Estate Services to discuss your scheme’s major works or capital works planning, or to arrange a confidential review of your current arrangements.
Sources: Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) ss 80, 81, 83, 85, 86, 106; Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 (NSW) cll 17J, 18; NSW Fair Trading – Strata and property complaints; NSW Government – Strata repairs and maintenance