NSW Strata Reforms 2026: The 3 New Rules Changing Capital Works, Maintenance Schedules and Info Certs
From 1 April 2026, NSW strata law introduces mandatory government standard forms for capital works plans, certified initial maintenance schedules from developers, and updated information certificate requirements. Here's what strata managers and owners corporations need to know now.
The NSW strata reform landscape is shifting again. From 1 April 2026, a suite of targeted amendments to the *Strata Schemes Management Act 2015* (NSW) and its associated regulations will reshape three core areas of strata administration: capital works fund planning, developer-supplied maintenance schedules, and information certificates. Whether you manage a single boutique block or a large mixed-use scheme, these changes will affect your workflows, your disclosure obligations and the documents you must produce or accept.
This article breaks down each of the three key changes, explains what they mean in practice, and flags the actions you should be taking before the commencement date.
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What Is Driving the NSW Strata Reforms in 2026?
The April 2026 changes stem from the NSW Government's ongoing review of the strata management framework — a process that has recognised persistent problems in the sector: inconsistent capital works planning, developer-supplied maintenance schedules that are inadequate or self-serving, and information certificates that don't always give prospective buyers or lenders a reliable financial picture.
The reforms are designed to bring greater standardisation, transparency and accountability to the documents that strata schemes and developers must produce. The practical effect is that several documents that were previously prepared in whatever format the scheme or developer chose will now need to follow government-prescribed forms or meet new minimum content requirements.
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Rule 1: Mandatory Government Standard Form for Capital Works Fund Plans
What is changing?
From 1 April 2026, owners corporations in NSW will be required to use a government-prescribed standard form when preparing or renewing their 10-year capital works fund plan (also called a sinking fund plan in some older contexts). Previously, there was no mandated format — schemes could present their plan as a spreadsheet, a consultant's PDF report, or any other layout they saw fit.
Why does this matter?
Standardisation serves a number of important purposes:
- Comparability: A prescribed format makes it easier for lot owners, committee members and prospective purchasers to read and compare plans across different schemes.
- Completeness: The standard form is expected to require disclosure of specific line items — including anticipated major works, fund balance projections, and levy adequacy assessments — that were sometimes omitted under free-form approaches.
- Accountability: Strata managers and committees will have a clear checklist of what must be included, reducing the risk of inadvertent non-disclosure.
What should you do now?
- Review your current capital works fund plan. Identify when it is next due for review or renewal. If it falls after 1 April 2026, the new standard form will apply.
- Engage your quantity surveyor or capital works planner early and confirm they are aware of the prescribed form requirements and can produce compliant reports.
- Update your AGM agenda templates to reference the standard form going forward.
- Check for the finalised prescribed form once it is published by NSW Fair Trading or the relevant regulatory body — the detail of exactly what the form must contain will be in the updated regulations.
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Rule 2: Certified Initial Maintenance Schedules From Developers
What is changing?
This is arguably the most significant of the three reforms. Under the new rules, developers of new strata schemes will be required to provide an initial maintenance schedule prepared or certified by a suitably qualified person before the owners corporation takes control of the building. Critically, the schedule must meet prescribed minimum content requirements — it cannot simply be a vague handover document.
The intent is to give incoming owners corporations — who often have little institutional knowledge of a brand-new building — a reliable, expert-prepared roadmap for maintaining common property assets from day one.
Why has this been a problem?
In practice, many new strata schemes have received maintenance schedules from developers that were:
- Too generic to be actionable (e.g., "service lifts annually" with no specification of which contractor type, what standards apply, or what the estimated cost is).
- Optimistic in their assumptions about asset lifespans, leaving incoming owners corporations under-levied and under-prepared.
- Unverified — prepared internally by the developer with no independent certification.
This has contributed to the well-documented phenomenon of levy shock in newer buildings, where owners corporations discover within a few years that levies are dramatically insufficient to fund required maintenance and capital works.
What will the certified schedule need to cover?
While the precise regulatory requirements will be set out in the updated regulations, reforms of this nature typically require the schedule to address:
- A complete asset register of common property items (lifts, pumps, fire safety systems, façade elements, roof, etc.)
- Recommended maintenance frequencies and standards for each asset
- Estimated costs for routine maintenance and periodic replacement over an initial period
- The qualifications of the person certifying the schedule
What should developers and strata managers do?
Developers with projects due to settle or reach the first AGM after 1 April 2026 should:
- Engage a qualified building consultant, engineer or facilities manager to prepare the certified schedule well ahead of handover.
- Confirm with their legal team that the schedule meets the minimum content requirements once the final regulations are published.
Strata managers taking on new schemes should:
- Build a checklist item into their onboarding process to verify the certified maintenance schedule has been received and reviewed.
- Flag any deficiencies in the schedule to the owners corporation committee at the first AGM.
- Use the schedule as the basis for initial levy-setting, cross-referencing it against the capital works fund plan.
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Rule 3: Updated Information Certificate Requirements
What is changing?
Information certificates (sometimes called strata certificates or s184 certificates under the *Strata Schemes Management Act 2015*) are the documents issued by an owners corporation to a prospective purchaser or their legal representative, disclosing key financial and administrative information about the scheme. From 1 April 2026, the prescribed content for these certificates is being updated to reflect the new obligations around capital works plans and maintenance schedules.
In practical terms, this is likely to mean that:
- The certificate must confirm whether the scheme's capital works fund plan is in the government standard form (or disclose if it is not yet compliant).
- For newer schemes, it may need to confirm whether a certified initial maintenance schedule was provided by the developer and is held by the owners corporation.
- Additional financial disclosures may be required to give buyers a clearer picture of the scheme's levy adequacy.
Why does this matter for conveyancing and sales?
Buyers and their solicitors use information certificates to assess the financial health of a scheme before exchange. If the new certificate requirements surface that a capital works plan is non-compliant or that a maintenance schedule was never properly certified, that becomes a material disclosure issue — and potentially a negotiation point in a sale.
For strata managers, this means:
- You need to be across the compliance status of every scheme you manage before certificates are requested.
- Your certificate-issuing process will need to be updated to capture and disclose the new required information.
- Non-compliant or incomplete disclosure on a certificate can expose the owners corporation (and potentially the manager) to liability.
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Getting Ready Before 1 April 2026
The lead time here is shorter than it might appear. Between finalisation of the regulations (which typically happens in the months before commencement), staff training, template updates and engagement with consultants and developers, the preparation window is tight. Here are the priority actions:
- Monitor NSW Fair Trading and the NSW legislation website for the finalised prescribed forms and updated regulation text — these are the authoritative source and the detail matters.
- Audit your current schemes against the three reform areas: Are capital works plans due for renewal? Are there new schemes on your books where developer maintenance schedule obligations apply? Are your information certificate templates ready for update?
- Communicate with committees at upcoming AGMs or via circulars so they understand what is changing and why.
- Review your contractor and consultant relationships — particularly the quantity surveyors, engineers and building consultants you rely on for capital works plans and maintenance schedules.
Tools like Orveya can support strata managers in tracking maintenance schedules and capital works obligations across a portfolio, making compliance reviews more manageable as reform deadlines approach.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When do the NSW strata reforms affecting capital works and maintenance schedules take effect?
The key changes — including mandatory standard forms for capital works fund plans, certified initial maintenance schedules from developers, and updated information certificate requirements — are scheduled to commence on 1 April 2026 under amendments to the *Strata Schemes Management Act 2015* (NSW) and related regulations.
Does the capital works fund plan standard form apply to existing schemes, or only new ones?
The standard form requirement applies to all NSW owners corporations when they next prepare or renew their capital works fund plan after 1 April 2026. Existing plans that predate the commencement are not automatically invalid, but any update or renewal after that date must use the prescribed form.
What qualifications must the person certifying an initial maintenance schedule hold?
The regulations will specify the exact requirements, but the intent is that the certifier be a suitably qualified professional — such as a licensed builder, engineer or building consultant — with relevant expertise in the building type and its assets. Developers should not rely on uncertified internal documents to meet this obligation.
Will the updated information certificate requirements affect current sales that are already underway?
The new certificate requirements apply from 1 April 2026. Sales that exchange before that date and rely on certificates issued under the current rules should not be affected. However, any certificate issued on or after 1 April 2026 will need to meet the updated prescribed content, regardless of when the property was listed.
Where can strata managers find the finalised prescribed forms?
Prescribed forms and updated regulations will be published on the NSW legislation website (legislation.nsw.gov.au) and through NSW Fair Trading. Strata managers should also monitor industry bodies such as the Strata Community Association (SCA NSW) for guidance and training as the commencement date approaches.