Strata and pests: who is responsible

The rule Fair Trading starts from

NSW Fair Trading’s repairs page puts the basic split in one line: the owners corporation is responsible for maintenance and repair of common property, and owners repair anything in their own property. Common property is generally any area used by all residents or anything of structural importance, such as driveways and gardens, roofs, pipes, cables and external walls.

The page then lists, for most cases, which repairs fall to whom. On the owners corporation’s side it lists the roof and gutters, boundary walls, the concrete slab, windows and window locks, balconies and balcony doors, and plumbing in boundary walls and under the floor. On the owner’s side it lists internal walls, plumbing inside internal walls and fixtures such as baths, toilets, sinks and showers, and broken appliances. Pest control is not a line on either list.

Different schemes classify different areas as common property, Fair Trading says, so the strata plan and by-laws are where a particular building’s answer is written. You can ask the owners corporation, the strata committee secretary, the strata manager or your real estate agent for a copy.

A selection from the memorandumThese rows are a selection from the NSW Government’s common property memorandum, chosen because they are places the other panels of this guide mention: drains, screens, roofs, kitchens, carpets and trees. A scheme without its own definition of common property can adopt the memorandum by special resolution; it is not automatically your building’s rule. Read the full memorandum.

Common areas, in the pesticide rules

The pesticide rules describe the shared parts of a building in their own words. When pesticides are applied in the common areas of a multiple occupancy residential complex in NSW, residents must be notified, and the EPA lists those common areas as foyers, hallways and stairwells, shared laundries, car parks, roof cavities, the space under the floor, the outside of buildings, and gardens, paths and fences.

The EPA names who usually organises a treatment there: the organiser is generally the strata or property manager or the real estate agent. Fair Trading’s safety page puts it as a duty of the owners corporation: residents must have at least five days’ notice before pesticides are used on inside or outside common areas (the EPA, which regulates the rule, says 5 working days). Panel 05 sets out the notice rules.

Raising a problem

1. First

   Tell the right person

   If you see common property that needs repairing, Fair Trading’s advice is to notify the building manager, strata manager or strata committee. Tenants contact their real estate agent or landlord.

2. If it is not fixed

   Put it to a meeting

   You can submit a motion so the repair is discussed at the next general meeting.

3. If it is still not fixed

   Mediation, then a complaint

   Fair Trading offers free strata mediation. If mediation is unsuccessful or the owners corporation declines to take part, Fair Trading offers the option of a formal complaint, which it assesses.

When the problem comes from next door

The bed bug code of practice that NSW Health links to deals with apartments directly. If bed bugs are found in one dwelling, the adjoining dwellings should also be inspected, but a pest manager should not contact the neighbours without the client’s consent: the code calls that unprofessional and a breach of client confidentiality. The code says the occupant should inform the body corporate or strata manager, and if the problem stays unresolved, it may be necessary to contact an environmental health officer at the local council. Panel 03 covers bed bugs.

Councils have their own powers on private land. The City of Sydney, for example, says pest concerns on private land are the landowner’s responsibility, that it can investigate when pests on private property put the community’s health and safety at risk, and that when necessary it can take action on the owner or occupier. Check your own council’s website for what it does.