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Strata Manager WA

A guide published by Dotto · Western Australia

Strata managers in Western Australia, and the keys they hold

In a WA strata scheme the owners, together, are the strata company, and the company owns the keys. A manager holds them only on loan: for the functions the company authorises, under a written contract, until the company asks for them back.

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Strata Manager is a guide to strata managers and the strata company in Western Australia, written and published by Dotto.

The first thing to know: Western Australia does not license strata managers. Instead, the reformed Strata Titles Act 1985, in force since 1 May 2020, and the Strata Titles (General) Regulations 2019 set requirements for a paid manager: criminal record checks and professional indemnity insurance now, educational qualifications from 1 November 2027, and a periodic return to Landgate about the schemes it manages.

Five tags on the ring

Each guide is one tag. Read them in order, or go straight to the one you need.

  1. 01What WA asks of a paid strata managerNo licence: three requirements, a return to Landgate, and the education rules arriving in 2027.
  2. 02What a strata company can lend a manager, and what it keepsThe authorisation, the contract, the powers that never leave the company, and money held in trust.
  3. 03Ending a management contract, and getting the keys backProper grounds, the two notices and their minimum days, and the 28 days to return every record and key.
  4. 04Levies, the reserve fund and the 10-year planThe two funds, the budget at the AGM, spending outside it, insurance, and unpaid levies.
  5. 05By-laws, and taking a strata dispute to SATTwo kinds of by-law, registering them, enforcing them, and what the Tribunal hears.
Hundreds of house keys hanging in rows on fine wires, in black and white
Keys hung in rows on fine wires. Photo by brenkee on Pixabay.

Who holds what in a WA scheme

The strata company

All the owners of lots in the scheme; buying a lot makes you a member. It is set up automatically when the scheme is registered, and it looks after the common property and the scheme’s finances, enforces the by-laws and insures the scheme where that is required.

The council

Owners elected to carry out the company’s duties and powers for the benefit of all; how many sit on it and how it decides are set by the scheme’s by-laws.

A strata manager

Someone the company may choose to engage, under a strata management contract, to take on specified duties and powers for a fee; no law requires a scheme to have one. A volunteer manager is an owner in the scheme who does the work free or for a small honorary fee.

Landgate

Administers the Strata Titles Act 1985 for the State Government, and registers by-laws and their changes.

The Tribunal

The State Administrative Tribunal hears and decides strata cases; Landgate describes it as the one place for strata disputes, apart from recovering unpaid levies, which goes to the courts.

What the 2020 reform changed for managers and owners

Landgate’s summary of the reform lists, among other changes:

  • statutory duties for strata managers, to set one clear standard across the industry;
  • a 10-year maintenance plan and a reserve fund for certain schemes, for the long-term upkeep of common property;
  • electronic options for scheme communications, voting and attending meetings;
  • the State Administrative Tribunal as the single, lower-cost place for strata disputes, debt recovery aside; and
  • compulsory information for buyers about the scheme and the lot, before they sign a contract.

Checking a rule at its source

Landgate publishes WA’s strata guidance, including its WA Strata Living Guide and pages for strata managers, strata companies and owners. Its Strata Enquiry Line is (08) 9273 7047. The law itself is the Strata Titles Act 1985 on the Western Australian Legislation website, and the Tribunal explains its strata work on its strata titles page.