Overview
Owners corporations (formerly body corporates) are the operating platform for strata and multi-title developments. For developers, asset owners and sophisticated occupiers, the owners corporation is not a peripheral administrative body. It is the vehicle through which common property is managed, services are maintained, risks are insured, rules are enforced, and costs are raised and recovered.
Acting effectively in this space requires more than familiarity with statutory concepts and practical applications. It requires in-depth consideration of the technicalities of maintaining separate identities and interests across a development, particularly where the built form is mixed-use, staged, or includes complex service infrastructure, access arrangements, plant, and shared interfaces.
An owners corporation’s statutory functions include managing and administering common property and repairing and maintaining common property and services.
This page outlines the areas where the Best Hooper Lawyers Property Team commonly assists with respect to Owners Corporations.
Establishment of owners corporations and advice on functions
Owners corporations are typically created through the plan of subdivision process. Plans lodged with Land Use Victoria under the Subdivision Act 1988 (Vic) can create owners corporations and define common property and related interests. Establishment issues often arise where:
- the development involves multiple stages and the intended governance and cost allocation must work as stages are delivered;
- the asset is mixed-use and the parties require separation of risk and cost between different uses;
- services infrastructure is shared across lots in a way that is not adequately captured by ‘common property’ labels alone; and
- the plan creates easements or restrictions that directly affect common property management and enforcement.
Advising on functions is not limited to quoting statutory headings. It involves practical guidance on how the owners corporation should administer maintenance responsibilities, procurement and works approvals, cost recovery, and decision-making pathways consistent with the Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic) and the plan.
Creation and refinement of owners corporation rules
Rules are the behavioural and operational code for the building. In developer and commercial contexts, rules are often the difference between a stable operating environment and recurring conflict.
The Owners Corporations Regulations 2018 (Vic) provide model rules. If an owners corporation does not make a rule covering an item in the model rules, the model rule applies. That baseline is rarely sufficient for complex or mixed-use assets.
It is also important to ensure that rules are not ineffective due to being inconsistent with the legislation and “beyond power”. It also requires a different approach to drafting and interpretation given the nature of owners corporations being intended to be self-managing.
We assist with:
- drafting project-specific rules aligned to intended use, risk profile and building management realities;
- ensuring rules are enforceable and administratively workable, including for building management and access control;
- managing the interface between owners corporation rules and lease obligations for retail and commercial tenancies; and
- updating rules over time as operational realities evolve, including after defects rectification, refurbishment, or tenant mix change
In mixed-use assets, rules commonly need to deal with loading dock protocols, waste management, after-hours operations, plant and equipment access, signage controls, acoustic expectations, security requirements, and fit out approval frameworks.
Resolutions
Resolutions are where governance translates into action. The technicalities matter, particularly where the owners corporation is approving significant expenditure, entering into longer-term contracts, delegating functions to a manager, or responding to urgent risk.
We assist with:
- drafting resolutions for committee and general meeting decisions, including the framing of scope and delegation;
- advising on voting requirements, minutes, and evidence trails that stand up when a decision is later challenged;
- preparing resolution suites for major projects, including rectification works, capital upgrades, and service replacements; and
- aligning resolutions with procurement documents so that the owners corporation’s contractual position is coherent.
The objective is to minimise “process risk” that can derail necessary works or create leverage for dissenting owners.
Owners corporation leases and licences
Owners corporations frequently grant rights in respect of common property, including leases or licences for car parking, storage areas, rooftop plant, garden spaces, communications equipment, signage, and access arrangements. These are commercial agreements and need to be treated as such.
We assist with:
- structuring leases and licences so they are consistent with the plan and do not compromise core common property functions;
- setting clear maintenance and reinstatement obligations for the grantee;
- allocating risk through indemnities and insurance requirements appropriate to the activity; and
- ensuring the approval pathway within the owners corporation is correctly documented, so the grant is durable and enforceable.
In retail and mixed-use projects, these instruments often sit alongside building management arrangements and services access protocols, which must be aligned to tenant obligations and operational controls.
Interpretation of plans of subdivision, including easements and encumbrances on common property
Many owners corporation disputes are, in substance, plan interpretation disputes. The plan defines lot boundaries, common property, and frequently the easements and restrictions that govern how services, access and other rights operate.
A plan of subdivision may create easements, owners corporations and restrictions, and may remove or vary existing easements and restrictions in certain circumstances. The Subdivision Act 1988 (Vic) also addresses access rights in respect of easements, including access over common property and lots for purposes connected with easement use.
We assist by:
- advising on the legal and practical operation of the plan, including common property boundaries and service corridors;
- clarifying responsibility for maintenance of services and shared assets, where the plan is not explicit;
- interpreting easements that burden or benefit common property, including essential services and rights of way;
- strategic advice on working with a registered plan of subdivision to achieve intended outcomes; and
- managing the downstream consequences for leasing, access protocols, fitout approvals and building works.
For developers and commercial owners, clear plan interpretation supports predictable building operations and reduces the risk of disputes that can obstruct asset performance and capex delivery.
Disputes with, or between, members
Owners corporation disputes can arise from levy contributions, rule breaches, access, works approvals, noise and nuisance, building management decisions, and cost allocation. In mixed-use buildings, disputes are often intensified by competing operating requirements between uses.
We assist with:
- early-stage dispute triage to separate issues of principle from operational friction;
- strategy to preserve evidence and maintain compliance with the owners corporation’s procedural requirements;
- drafting dispute correspondence and settlement terms that are enforceable and operationally workable; and
- applications and proceedings where necessary, including where a dispute escalates beyond internal resolution.
The Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic) has strict requirements that must be complied with for a dispute and prior to escalating to litigation.
A disciplined approach reduces cost leakage and limits collateral disruption to tenant operations and building performance.
Applications for amendments to plans of subdivision affected by an owners corporation
Amending a plan of subdivision can be necessary where the plan does not reflect the built reality, where services need to be rationalised, or where development staging has created anomalies in access, common property configuration, or easement footprints.
Because the plan is foundational, amendments have flow-on consequences for:
- titles and lot boundaries;
- service responsibility and access rights;
- owners corporation cost allocation and budgeting;
- leasing and tenant fitout permissions; and
- financing and asset sale due diligence.
- We assist in structuring the amendment pathway so that the change is technically correct, administratively deliverable, and aligned with stakeholder approvals.
Nuisance and trespass claims
Nuisance and trespass issues in strata environments often involve:
- water ingress and migration across lot boundaries;
- noise, vibration, odour or emissions, particularly in mixed-use assets;
- encroachment of fixtures, plant, signage or cabling onto common property or another lot; and
- access and obstruction issues that interfere with lawful use.
We advise owners corporations, lot owners and operators on practical risk management and, where necessary, formal enforcement and dispute resolution pathways. The focus is on resolution that restores building functionality and avoids ongoing operational compromise.
Legal action against members and debt recovery
A high-functioning owners corporation requires consistent enforcement. Levy arrears and repeated rule breaches can materially affect cashflow, maintenance capacity and building outcomes.
We assist with:
- formal demand and recovery pathways for unpaid fees and charges;
- enforcement action for recurring breaches where commercial resolution has failed; and
- structuring settlement arrangements that preserve future compliance and reduce repeat disputes.
In sophisticated assets, consistency is often as important as the legal right itself, particularly where the owners corporation’s budget and contractor obligations depend on predictable levy recovery.
Claims against building practitioners, including surveyors
Owners corporation disputes frequently intersect with building defects and professional responsibility. Where defects affect common property or shared services, the owners corporation may need to assess:
- potential claims against building practitioners, including for defects and breach of builder warranties;
- limitation periods and evidence requirements;
- rectification strategy and interim risk controls; and
- the interaction between rectification works, insurance, and ongoing maintenance obligations.
This work is technical and evidence-driven. It often requires structured engagement with experts and careful alignment between legal strategy and the building’s remediation plan.
Responding to notices and orders under the Building Act 1993 (Vic)
Owners corporations are often drawn into the building regulatory regime, particularly for common property and shared services. The Building Act 1993 (Vic) contains specific provisions that deal with how notices and orders apply in an owners corporation context, including circumstances where an owner of a lot is affected by an owners corporation and the interaction between the lot owner’s responsibilities and the owners corporation’s role.
We assist with:
- assessing the validity and scope of notices and orders;
- advising on responsibility allocation between lot owners and the owners corporation;
- coordinating compliance responses, including works procurement and access protocols; and
- engaging with regulators and managing documentation required to demonstrate compliance.
For commercial and mixed-use assets, a disciplined response can materially reduce escalation risk and avoid compounding liability through delay.
Best Hooper Lawyers’ experience
Best Hooper Lawyers’ Property Team and Disputes Team advise on owners corporation establishment, governance and dispute management across Victorian commercial, retail, industrial and mixed-use developments. Our approach is grounded in how these buildings operate in practice, including the technical reality of shared services, plan interpretation, enforceable rules, and the need for decision-making frameworks that withstand pressure when disputes, defects or regulatory notices arise.
General information only
This page is general information only and is not legal advice. It is not intended to be relied on as a substitute for obtaining advice specific to your circumstances, project or transaction. Laws, policies and regulator practices can change, and the application of the law depends on the particular facts.
