Strata plumbing in NSW: what's yours and what's the owners corporation's

The most common strata argument in Sydney isn't about parking — it's about water. A pipe leaks, two plumbers give two opinions, and the owner and the strata manager each insist it's the other's bill. The rules are actually clearer than the arguments suggest.

The general boundary

In NSW, pipes servicing only your lot and located within your lot are generally yours; pipes in common property, or servicing more than one lot, generally belong to the owners corporation. Practical shorthand: the branch line to your kitchen sink is likely yours, the riser it tees off is likely strata's. The complication is that 'within your lot' has a precise meaning — boundaries usually run at the surface of structural walls and floors, so a pipe chased inside a boundary wall is often common property even though it only feeds your unit.

Where disputes actually land

• +Shower leaks: the membrane is usually common property (it's part of the floor structure); the tap behind the wall usually isn't.
• +Balcony drainage: almost always common property, even when only one lot uses the balcony.
• +Hot water units on balconies or in cupboards: usually the lot owner's, even if strata insures the building.
• +Blocked sewers: depends where the blockage sits — which is why a camera and locator matter more than opinions.

How to shortcut the argument

Get the fault located precisely before anyone debates liability. A CCTV survey or leak detection report that states 'the failure is at X, which sits in Y' converts a stalemate into an invoice with a clear addressee. Our strata maintenance team produces exactly these reports for managers and owners across Sydney — and when we're on a building's program, most of these disputes never start.