NSW building manager duties: what changed on 27 October 2025
- Section 70A of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) makes it an offence for a building manager, without reasonable excuse, to fail to act in the owners corporation's best interests or to breach a prescribed duty.
- The prescribed duties cover prompt action on repair, maintenance and safety issues, and written disclosure of benefits, connections and financial interests.
- Candidates must disclose expected benefits, such as referral fees, while the owners corporation is considering the agreement.
- NCAT can now end or vary a building manager agreement if the manager's business is being carried on contrary to law.
- Good records are the practical way to show the duties were met.
Who counts as a building manager in NSW?
A building manager is a person appointed under a building manager agreement to help the owners corporation manage, control and use the common property. The 2025 reforms made the line clearer. A person is not a building manager if they are only engaged to do repair or maintenance work on common property, their terms are limited to that work, and they are not appointed under a building manager agreement. Electricians, gardeners, cleaners and plumbers are examples (NSW Government – Guide to strata law changes).
The amended section 66(2) also says a person is not a building manager if they act only on a voluntary or casual basis or as a member of the strata committee (Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 No 14, Sch 1[18]).
What are the new building manager duties?
| Duty | What it means in practice | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Act in the owners corporation's best interests | Put the owners corporation first, unless doing so would be against the Act, the regulations or another law. | s 70A(1)(a), (2) |
| Act promptly and with due diligence on issues | Bring to the owners corporation's attention any repair, maintenance or safety issue with common property you are aware of, or ought to be aware of (for example, a lift outage, or that lift servicing is overdue). | Prescribed duty under s 70A(3) |
| Propose how to fix the problem | Recommend a way to address it, for example getting a plumber to repair a persistent leak. | Prescribed duty under s 70A(3) |
| Disclose benefits and connections when suggesting a contract | Give written notice naming who will provide any benefit and its value (or how it is calculated), and the nature of any relationship with the proposed supplier. | Prescribed duty under s 70A(3) |
| Disclose relationships and financial interests | Promptly give written notice if you are connected with a supplier to the scheme, connected with the original owner (developer or builder), or have a direct or indirect financial interest in the scheme. | Prescribed duty under s 70A(3) |
| Candidate disclosure | Before appointment, give written notice of any benefit you may receive that affects your fees, such as a referral fee or commission, when the owners corporation is considering the agreement. | NSW Fair Trading guidance |
Descriptions of the duties follow NSW Fair Trading's guide (NSW Government). The offence and the power to prescribe extra duties are in section 70A as inserted by the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NSW), Sch 1[20]. The maximum penalty is 100 penalty units for an individual and 200 penalty units otherwise.
Can owners end a building manager agreement for breaching these duties?
Yes, through the Tribunal. Section 72 already let NCAT terminate or vary strata managing agent and building manager agreements on several grounds. The reforms add a new ground in section 72(3)(g): that the strata managing agent or building manager is carrying on a business supplying services to the owners corporation, owners or occupiers contrary to law (Act No 14 of 2025, Sch 1[21]). Fair Trading gives breaching a duty under the strata laws as an example (NSW Government).
Separately, unfair terms in standard form building management contracts entered into, renewed or varied from 1 July 2025 are banned.
How can a building manager evidence these duties?
The law does not prescribe a particular system. But "promptly", "ought to be aware" and "written notice" are all questions of fact, and if a dispute reaches Fair Trading or NCAT, records will decide them. This checklist turns each duty into evidence you can produce.
Record-keeping checklist
- Timestamp first awareness. Log each issue when it is reported or found, with the date and time, location, reporter and photos or video.
- Keep a status history. Record every change (new, assessed, quoted, approved, in progress, completed) with the date and the person who made it. Never overwrite earlier entries.
- Record when the owners corporation was told. Keep the email, report or notice that brought the issue to the committee or strata manager, and the date it went out.
- Record your proposal. Note the recommended fix, the contractor and any quotes, so the "propose how to address it" step is visible.
- Flag safety issues. Mark items that affect safety or access with a priority, and record any interim measures such as barriers or signs.
- Track scheduled maintenance. Keep service dates for lifts, fire systems and other plant, so overdue items are visible before someone asks why you "ought to have been aware".
- File every disclosure. Keep dated copies of written notices about benefits, connections and financial interests, linked to the contract they relate to.
- Export regularly. Produce periodic CSV or PDF reports for the committee, and keep copies. NSW owners corporations must generally keep records for 7 years (NSW Government – Record keeping).
How Watchdog Strata helps
Watchdog Strata was built for on-site building managers. Every maintenance and defect ticket keeps photos, video, priority, internal notes and a timestamped status timeline, and the change history can be filtered and exported to CSV, Excel or PDF. Notices give a dated record of what owners were told. It is a record-keeping tool; it does not decide what your legal duties require in a particular case.
General information only, not legal advice. Check the current legislation or ask a strata lawyer for your scheme.
Questions people ask
When did the new NSW building manager duties start?
They started on 27 October 2025, as part of the staged NSW strata reforms made by the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NSW).
Is a cleaner or plumber a building manager?
No. A person engaged only to do repair or maintenance work on common property, on terms limited to that work and not under a building manager agreement, is not a building manager.
What is the penalty for breaching a building manager duty?
Section 70A(1) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) sets a maximum penalty of 100 penalty units for an individual and 200 penalty units otherwise, where the breach is without reasonable excuse.
Do building managers have to disclose referral fees?
Yes. Candidates must give written notice of any expected benefit that affects their fees, such as a referral fee or commission, and appointed managers must give written notice of benefits and connections when suggesting a contract.
Sources
- NSW Government – Guide to strata law changes for strata committees and owners
- Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 No 14 (NSW) – Sch 1 [18]–[21]
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW)
- Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 (NSW)
- NSW Government – Record keeping requirements
- NSW Government – Who’s who in strata
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