The Central Coast has a substantial stock of strata-title residential and commercial developments, apartment complexes, townhouse estates, and mixed-use buildings from Gosford to Woy Woy and Terrigal. In these schemes, driveways, car parks, paths, and common outdoor areas are common property owned jointly by all lot owners and managed by the owners corporation (body corporate). Resurfacing common area concrete is a maintenance responsibility of the owners corporation, but the process of initiating, approving, and funding the work is more involved than a simple homeowner decision.
Quick Answer (BLUF)
In a strata scheme, the owners corporation is responsible for maintaining common property, including concrete driveways, car parks, paths, and common area floors. Resurfacing common area concrete is authorised by a committee resolution (for routine maintenance) or a general meeting resolution (for significant expenditure). Funding comes from the administrative or capital works fund. Routine maintenance should be planned in the 10-year capital works plan that strata schemes are required to maintain under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.
Who Is Responsible for Common Property Concrete?
The Owners Corporation’s Obligation
Under Section 106 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), the owners corporation must properly maintain and keep in a state of good repair the common property of a strata scheme. Concrete driveways, car parks, entrance paths, and common area floors are almost always common property.
Failure to maintain common property can:
- Create liability for injuries from deteriorated surfaces (trip hazards, slip hazards)
- Reduce property values across all lots in the scheme
- Create legal claims against the owners corporation for breach of statutory duty
What Is Common Property?
Common property is defined by the boundaries in the strata plan. For most residential strata schemes, common property includes:
- Driveways and access roads within the property
- Car park floors and access ramps
- Footpaths, entrance areas, and common courtyards
- Building entry lobbies and common area floors
Individual lot patios (where they’re defined as lot property in the strata plan) are the individual owner’s responsibility.
The Approval Process
Routine Maintenance vs Capital Works
The owners corporation operates two key funds:
- Administrative fund: For routine maintenance and operating costs
- Capital works fund: For significant repair and replacement of common property (10-year plan items)
Resurfacing usually falls under capital works if it’s a significant investment (say, over $5,000) or administrative fund if it’s minor maintenance (resealing a path, crack filling). The committee can generally approve routine maintenance expenditure within its spending delegation without a full general meeting. Significant expenditure typically requires a resolution at a general meeting.
Getting It to a Vote
If you’re a lot owner who wants to propose concrete resurfacing for common areas:
- Submit a written request to the strata committee describing the issue, the proposed work, and an approximate cost
- Obtain quotes, committees typically require 2-3 quotes before approving significant expenditure
- Raise it at a general meeting if the committee doesn’t act or if the cost exceeds committee spending delegation
- Resolution required: An ordinary resolution (over 50% of votes) for maintenance works. Extraordinary circumstances may require a special resolution (75% of votes) for major capital works.
Managing Agent’s Role
Most Central Coast strata schemes use a managing agent. The managing agent can facilitate the quoting process, manage contractor engagement, and ensure work is done to appropriate standards. They’ll typically have preferred contractors, but owners corporations are not obligated to use these, independent quotes are appropriate, particularly for significant works.
Funding the Works
Capital Works Fund
Properly maintained strata schemes have a capital works fund with funds accumulated over years based on a 10-year capital works plan. Concrete resurfacing of a major car park, driveway, or access road should be on the capital works plan, and if it’s not, this is a gap in the scheme’s planning that the committee needs to address.
Special Levies
If the capital works fund has insufficient funds for a significant resurfacing project, the owners corporation may need to strike a special levy, an additional contribution from all lot owners proportional to their unit entitlements. Special levies require a resolution at a general meeting.
Defect Claims (New Developments)
For newer strata developments (under 10 years old), concrete defects on common property may be subject to the builder’s statutory warranty under the Home Building Act 1989. Before funding a significant resurfacing project from the capital works fund, check whether the defects are a builder warranty claim. NSW Fair Trading and the NCAT (NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal) handle strata defect disputes.
Practical Considerations for Strata Concrete Works
Access and Disruption
A concrete resurfacing job on a strata driveway or car park requires staging to maintain access during works. All lot owners and tenants need advance notice, typically 7-14 days, and a clear plan for car parking alternatives during the work period.
Common Area Floor Systems
For underground car parks or covered car park areas: commercial-grade epoxy or polyurethane systems are the appropriate specification, not residential-grade products. Commercial systems handle the higher traffic loads and are designed for vehicle durability. Our concrete grinding and sealing service and epoxy garage floor service can be specified for commercial/strata scale.
Documentation
All work done on common property should be documented in the strata scheme’s records. This includes quotes, the resolution authorising the work, the contractor’s details, warranty documents, and completion inspection records. This documentation protects the owners corporation if defects are discovered later.
FAQs
I’m a lot owner and the driveway is a hazard, what can I do if the committee won’t act?
Document the hazard in writing to the strata committee and managing agent. If there’s a genuine safety risk (significant trip hazard, slip hazard), note this explicitly, the owners corporation has liability exposure for injuries on unsafe common property. If the committee still doesn’t act, you can raise it at a general meeting, or in serious cases, apply to NCAT for an order requiring the owners corporation to carry out the maintenance.
Can an individual owner resurface their own car space?
This depends on whether the car space is lot property (owner’s responsibility to maintain) or common property (owners corporation’s responsibility). Check the strata plan. Either way, making changes to what is common property (even if it’s your car space) typically requires owners corporation approval.
What’s a realistic budget for resealing a strata car park?
For a typical 20-space underground car park (approximately 500 m² total floor area): $15,000 to $35,000 for a commercial-grade epoxy floor system. For a surface-level car park resealing without epoxy: $5,000 to $12,000 depending on preparation required. These are significant capital works items that benefit from proper specification and competitive tendering.
How often should strata common area concrete be resealed?
A 10-year capital works plan should include inspection and resealing every 4-6 years for outdoor exposed areas, and every 7-10 years for covered car parks (which don’t have UV exposure). Annual inspection to identify emerging defects (cracks, pooling, surface delamination) allows early intervention before issues become costly.