Who Pays For The Plumber In Strata?

Who pays for what can be a difficult question in strata and may require advice from your strata manager, strata lawyer or registered land surveyor.

Services within a building fall under the definition of common infrastructure. In Section 4 of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 "Common Infrastructure" includes the pipes, wires, cables or ducts that are not for the exclusive benefit of one lot. (Refer to legislation for full definition).

In the example below there are four lots. The part of the sewer service that is shown in orange is shared among the lot owners so forms part of the common infrastructure.

The significance of this comes when it is time to maintain or repair a service. If lot 1 had a blocked sewer pipe and it did not affect anyone else in the building, then they may be liable for the cost of rectification.

Notes of the face of a floor plan may change the interpretation of the default definition. For example a note that says "Any service line within one lot servicing another lot is common property". The date that the scheme was registered can also affect the definition.

Where there is doubt as to how owns what within a strata scheme you should seek the services of your Strata Manager who may refer to a strata lawyer or registered land surveyor.

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