Strata

For strata managing agents

You are the one
watching the clock.

Since 1 July 2025, where a by-law delegates minor renovation approval to the strata committee, the committee must give written reasons for refusal within three months — or the work is deemed approved. Somebody has to monitor that deadline on every application across the portfolio. That somebody is you.

We are not a replacement for your process. We are where you send the ones that worry you.

You already receive the application, check it for completeness, and put it to the committee. Nothing about that changes. What we add is the question your process was never designed to answer: what will these works actually do to the building?

Most applications do not need us. The ones that do are recognisable — a bathroom being enlarged, a toilet moving, a wall coming out, floor coverings changing, a service being relocated. Send those, and get a written assessment back inside five business days.

It costs the scheme nothing. The assessment contribution is borne by the applicant as a condition of having the application considered — the same route by which a scheme already recovers by-law drafting and registration costs. There is no budget conversation for you to lose, and no disbursement for you to reconcile: the applicant pays us directly on submission.

What changed, and why it lands on your desk

1 July 2025
Silence became approval Where approval is delegated to the strata committee, a minor renovation not refused in writing within three months is deemed approved. A committee that cannot read a set of plans no longer has the option of deferring — deferring is now consent. NSW Government — Strata renovation rules
1 July 2025
Committee members owe a statutory duty Members must exercise their functions with honesty, fairness, due care and diligence, and act for the owners corporation as a whole. NCAT can remove a member for failing to exercise due care. NSW Government — Guide to strata law changes for committees and owners
1 July 2025
Ten-year records Approval records must be kept for ten years. Every decision is a document that can be read back, by a lawyer, long after the committee that made it has turned over. NSW Government — Guide to strata law changes for committees and owners
1 October 2026
Mandatory committee training New and returning committee members must complete NSW Fair Trading training within three months of appointment or automatically cease to hold office. Expect a great many committees to arrive at their next meeting newly aware of what they are personally responsible for. NSW Government — Strata committee training
Every item above links to the relevant NSW Government source so you can check it yourself. The governing legislation is the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) and its regulations. This is general information about the current legislative framework, not legal advice — matters concerning a particular scheme’s by-laws or a particular application should be referred to the scheme’s solicitor.

How it works with you

Turnaround, in writing

Forty-eight hours for a triage, five business days for a full assessment. We will never be the reason a scheme runs out of time.

White-label available

Your paper, your client relationship, our assessment behind it. If you would rather the committee saw only your brand, that is entirely workable.

We do not manage strata

We are architects. We hold no strata managing agent licence and have no interest in one. Your relationship with the scheme is not at risk.

No conflict, ever

We will not accept a design engagement from any applicant whose application we have assessed. It is a term of every engagement.

Nothing to migrate

Keep your existing renovation form and process. When something concerns you, send the applicant our submission link. That is the whole integration.

Scheme-wide set-up

For schemes with real volume we build a Renovation Protocol — application form, submission requirements, decision matrix and a compliant ten-year register.

Jonathan Spicer
Director · Architect
Registered
Architect
New South Wales 8851 · Australian Capital Territory 2959 · Victoria VIC00291
DBP Act
Registered Design Practitioner (Architectural) and Registered Principal Design PractitionerDesign and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW)
Contact
+61 2 8365 2489 · +61 404 139 557
Arrange a fifteen-minute call

Spicer Architecture — Nominated Architect Jonathan Spicer. Registered Architect: NSW 8851 · ACT 2959 · Victoria VIC00291.
Registered Design Practitioner (Architectural) and Registered Principal Design Practitioner under the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW).

Office +61 2 8365 2489 · Mobile +61 404 139 557

Information on this page about the strata legislative framework is general information only and is not legal advice. Jonathan Spicer is trained in expert witness practice in construction and architecture, and provides assessments, recommendations and reporting within that field. He is also a Juris Doctor candidate, with completion expected in 2027, and is not an Australian legal practitioner. Spicer Architecture does not provide legal services — where a matter requires them, we identify it and refer it on. Questions about a particular scheme, by-law or application should be directed to a qualified legal practitioner.