Strata Building Management

State elective: Western Australia

Goal: apply the core lessons in Western Australia: the 2020 strata reforms, how by-laws are made and enforced, the 10-year plan, and the WA regulators.

The framework

The law:

• Strata Titles Act 1985, heavily reformed from 1 May 2020, with the Strata Titles (General) Regulations 2019. The Community Titles Act 2018 covers community schemes (layered schemes, such as several buildings sharing facilities).
• Owners together form the strata company, run day to day by the council of owners.
• Information: Landgate. Tribunal: the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT), the “one-stop shop” for strata disputes, except unpaid levies, which go to the courts.
• Landgate has been running a five-year review of the reformed laws, so check for later changes.

Building managers and strata managers

The 2020 reforms regulated strata managers (professional indemnity insurance, required qualifications, written contracts, annual returns to Landgate) but not building managers or caretakers. You work under your contract with the strata company. If your contract hands you strata management functions (levies, meetings, records), the strata manager rules may apply to you.

Money and the 10-year plan

The law: strata companies with 10 or more lots, or a replacement value of $5 million or more, must have a reserve fund and a 10-year plan for maintenance, repair, renewal and replacement of common property and personal property, revised at least every five years. The annual budget must take the plan into account. Smaller schemes can choose to have one.

By-laws and enforcement

• Every scheme has governance by-laws (Schedule 1 of the Act) and conduct by-laws (Schedule 2), unless it has registered its own.
• New or changed by-laws are only valid once registered with Landgate, within three months of the resolution. An unregistered by-law can’t be enforced. Ask the strata manager for the registered set before acting on anything.
• By-laws bind owners, occupiers and tenants.
• When a breach continues, the strata company or an owner can apply to SAT, which can order a person to stop or fix the breach and impose a penalty (up to $2,000), payable to the strata company. The strata company can’t fine people itself.

WHS and building regulation

• WA adopted the model WHS laws with the Work Health and Safety Act 2020, in force from 31 March 2022. The strata body corporate exemption applies as in Lesson 12. Regulator: WorkSafe WA.
• Building and trade licences (builders, plumbers, gas fitters, electricians, painters) are run by the state’s Building and Energy regulator, with online registers.
• Fire safety: WA had no annual fire safety statement at the time of writing, though one has been under review. Maintain systems to AS 1851, keep records, and follow DFES and local government guidance.

WA checklist

• Registered by-laws obtained from Landgate (not just a copy in the office)
• 10-year plan current (if 10 or more lots), and when its next five-yearly revision is due
• Strata manager’s contract and duties known, so you aren’t doubling up
• Fire systems maintained to AS 1851, with records
• SAT process understood for by-law breaches

On the job

Get the registered by-laws for your scheme from the strata manager or Landgate, and compare them with what residents have been told. Then find the 10-year plan and note what’s due in the next two years.

Sources

• Landgate, WA strata law and reform and 2020 strata reform
• Landgate, Living in a scheme: by-laws and other responsibilities
• Landgate, Managing finances and insurance fact sheet
• LookUpStrata, WA: purpose of reserve funds and the 10-year plan
• Wormald, Differing fire safety compliance requirements across Australia

General education, not legal advice. Strata law is different in every state and territory and it changes often (NSW and Victoria both changed theirs in 2025 and 2026), so check the current Act and your own agreement, and get advice before acting on anything here.