Who must comply with Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW)?

Strata schemes must comply with budget, AGM, sinking fund + management requirements.

The Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) sets the governance duties of every owners corporation. Each scheme must set an annual budget, approved by owners at a meeting, that determines levies; keep an administrative fund for day-to-day costs and insurance and a capital works fund (formerly the sinking fund) guided by a 10-year capital works fund plan, in the standard form and reviewed at least every five years; and keep financial records, the strata roll, minutes and correspondence for seven years, electronically for records created from 11 June 2024. Schemes must also complete annual reporting in the NSW Strata Hub within 3 months of each annual general meeting, covering contacts, emergency contacts, lot usage, insured replacement value and the capital works fund balance. From 1 October 2026 two-lot schemes no longer report annually.

Applies only if you act as a strata managing agent. Whether it applies turns on a fact that no industry, structure or size settles on its own.

How the regulator frames it: Owners corporations of NSW strata schemes, acting through their strata committees (secretary, treasurer, chairperson) or a licensed strata managing agent to whom functions are delegated. Two-lot schemes can resolve unanimously not to keep a capital works fund and, from 1 October 2026, are exempt from annual reporting.

What triggers it: Registration of a strata plan in NSW and each annual general meeting cycle; changes to scheme contacts or the formation of a strata renewal committee.

Jurisdiction: New South Wales law only. A business with no operations in NSW is outside it, whatever the rest of the test says.

Outcome across the 35 industries Rules Mate maps (1 of 35: only if a further fact applies; 34 of 35: no).

Structure does not change the answer in real estate agents: for every structure the answer is "only if a further fact applies".

Size does not change the answer in real estate agents: at every size band the answer is "only if a further fact applies".

Each line is one run of the Rules Mate applicability engine for a single business profile, with the reason the engine gives:

• Pty Ltd company in accountants & bookkeepers with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: does not apply. Requires a trigger outside this questionnaire.
• Pty Ltd company in real estate agents with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: check whether it applies. applies only if you act as a strata managing agent.

The engine shows this obligation as "check whether this applies" when a business has industry: Real estate agents. It then applies only if you act as a strata managing agent. That fact is not something Rules Mate can infer from industry, structure or size.

When due

Budget and levies set each year; Strata Hub annual report within 3 months of the AGM (fee $3 per lot); contact or strata renewal committee changes updated within 28 days; 10-year plan reviewed at least every five years with changes approved at the AGM; records retained for seven years.

Frequency

Annual

Evidence to keep

Approved annual budget and levy notices; administrative and capital works fund statements; current 10-year capital works fund plan in the standard form; AGM and committee minutes; up-to-date strata roll; insurance policy and replacement valuation; Strata Hub reporting confirmation; electronic financial records, receipts, invoices and bank statements kept for seven years; strata manager's records of the functions it exercised.

Status

Current

Priority

Medium

Maximum penalty: Penalties for owners corporations and strata managing agents are set in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) and related licensing law and were not restated here. Disputes about records, levies or by-laws go to NSW Fair Trading mediation and then the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Rules Mate has not yet classified the audit or assurance level for this obligation. Any audit, review or certification requirement is set by the regulator source listed below.

Rules Mate tracks 1 published obligation tagged "strata", 0 of them rated critical. For a professional services Pty Ltd company with 6–19 employees operating in every state, 0 of those apply outright. This obligation is rated medium priority, and is a annual obligation.

Regulated by NSW Fair Trading.

NSW Fair Trading: Consumer protection, licensing (building, conveyancing, motor dealers), and tenancy regulator in NSW.

• NSW Fair Trading

Free tools that help with this obligation:

• Compliance calendar builder