- info@strataondemand.com.au
- (02) 8201 5313
- Supporting Self-Managed Strata Schemes Across Australia
- info@strataondemand.com.au
- (02) 8201 5313
- Supporting Self-Managed Strata Schemes Across Australia
More Victorian owners corporations are choosing to self-manage to reduce ongoing costs, regain control, and improve oversight of building decisions.
However, transitioning away from an owners corporation manager requires proper planning, clear processes, and an understanding of what the owners corporation will need to manage itself.
This guide outlines the essential steps for becoming a self-managed owners corporation in Victoria, including how Strata On Demand can help, Victorian meeting and financial requirements, insurance, maintenance, record-keeping, and the practical operating framework your owners corporation will need.
Self-managed owners corporations are not necessarily required to handle everything themselves.
For many smaller and straightforward Victorian owners corporations, self-management can provide a simpler, more flexible and cost-effective way to manage the property — particularly when professional support is available when needed.
Lower ongoing costs
Instead of paying an ongoing management fee for every aspect of administration, owners can manage routine matters themselves and pay for professional assistance only when required.
Greater control and faster decisions
Owners retain direct control over spending, contractors, maintenance and other owners corporation decisions without unnecessary third-party delays.
Clearer financial visibility
Owners can directly oversee budgets, owners corporation fees, expenditure, financial records and maintenance funding.
Flexibility to outsource only what you want
Self-managed does not mean doing everything yourself. Owners corporations can obtain professional assistance with meetings, financial administration, maintenance, insurance, documentation and specialist matters when required.
Strata On Demand provides flexible, task-based support to help self-managed owners corporations handle the work they do not want to manage internally.
Self-management is about removing unnecessary layers — not creating more work.
We provide support across the areas commonly required by self-managed owners corporations, including:
Pay-as-you-go support means your owners corporation can obtain assistance when it is needed without automatically committing to a full-service management arrangement.
If your owners corporation is considering moving away from an owners corporation manager or wants to take greater control of its administration, Strata On Demand can assist with the transition and ongoing tasks.
A self-managed owners corporation does not appoint a professional owners corporation manager to manage and administer its affairs.
Instead, the owners corporation manages its responsibilities itself, with owners and the committee where applicable overseeing the property and making decisions.
Professional assistance can still be obtained for individual tasks when required.
This usually includes oversight of:
Victorian owners corporations are classified into five tiers based on factors including the number of occupiable lots and the nature of the subdivision. The requirements applying to the owners corporation can therefore vary depending on its tier.
Most self-managed owners corporations do not need to perform every task internally.
Strata On Demand can provide support with individual services, allowing owners to remain in control while obtaining professional assistance when required.
Self-management can work particularly well when:
Smaller Victorian owners corporations can often find self-management particularly practical.
Victoria’s five-tier system ranges from Tier 1 owners corporations with more than 100 occupiable lots through to Tier 5 two-lot subdivisions or certain services-only owners corporations. Different legal and governance requirements apply to different tiers.
Self-management works best when owners understand their responsibilities and establish simple processes from the beginning.
Owners should properly consider the proposed transition before making the change.
Discuss:
The decision should be made through the appropriate owners corporation process and recorded in the minutes.
Strata On Demand can assist with meeting preparation, agenda drafting, meeting administration and minutes to properly document the decision.
If the owners corporation is currently professionally managed, review the existing appointment or management agreement before attempting to end the arrangement.
Check:
The transition should be planned carefully so the owners corporation does not experience unnecessary delays or gaps in administration.
Strata On Demand can assist with reviewing the administrative requirements of the transition and organising the handover process.
The owners corporation should obtain a complete set of its records.
This may include:
Victorian owners corporations are required to keep appropriate records, including financial, meeting and other records relating to the owners corporation.
Strata On Demand can assist with owners corporation records setup, record collation and identifying missing or incomplete documents.
A self-managed owners corporation needs appropriate financial arrangements and clear financial controls.
The owners corporation may need to manage:
Annual fees cover matters such as administration, maintenance, insurance and other ongoing costs and are generally based on each lot’s lot liability. The owners corporation must prepare an annual budget before determining its annual fees.
The owners corporation should establish clear procedures for:
Strata On Demand can assist with budget preparation, fee administration, arrears administration and establishing practical financial processes.
Insurance should be reviewed as part of the transition to self-management.
The owners corporation should ensure that:
Insurance requirements can vary depending on the type and circumstances of the owners corporation.
Strata On Demand can coordinate insurance quotations, renewals, documentation and claim administration where required.
A self-managed owners corporation needs clear but simple processes for:
These processes do not need to be complicated.
The objective is to make sure important decisions, documents, payments and deadlines are properly recorded and easy to find.
Strata On Demand can assist with meeting administration, minutes, correspondence, work orders, quotation coordination and document organisation whenever the owners corporation requires support.
Self-management does not remove the owners corporation’s legal responsibilities.
Depending on the owners corporation’s circumstances and tier, responsibilities may include:
Victorian owners corporations are subject to a five-tier system, with different requirements applying to different tiers.
Tier 1 and Tier 2 owners corporations must have a maintenance plan and maintenance fund. Tier 3, Tier 4 and Tier 5 owners corporations are not required to have a maintenance plan, although they may choose to establish one.
Strata On Demand can assist with compliance administration, document preparation, meeting requirements and coordinating specialist services where required.
Self-management does not mean owners need to do everything themselves.
Many owners corporations choose to manage routine matters internally while outsourcing more time-consuming or specialist tasks.
These may include:
Strata On Demand supports this flexible model by handling the tasks the owners corporation does not want to manage internally.
You remain in control of the owners corporation while obtaining professional support when required.
Once the owners corporation has:
…it can operate confidently as a self-managed owners corporation.
Strata On Demand remains available to provide support with individual tasks as they arise, without requiring the owners corporation to hand over complete control of its affairs.
Common issues include:
Strata On Demand can help self-managed owners corporations establish practical systems and obtain professional support when required.
One of the biggest misconceptions about self-managed owners corporations is that owners must personally handle every administrative and technical task.
They don’t.
A self-managed owners corporation can decide which responsibilities it wants to manage internally and which tasks it wants to outsource.
For example:
Manage internally:
Outsource when required:
This hybrid approach allows owners to retain control without creating unnecessary administrative work.
Strata On Demand can help with the tasks you do not want to handle yourself.
Victoria regulates owners corporation managers.
An owners corporation manager is a person or company appointed to carry out functions involved in managing and administering an owners corporation, including functions such as maintenance, collecting fees, insurance and financial records.
Consumer Affairs Victoria states that anyone carrying on business as an owners corporation manager for a fee or reward in Victoria must be registered with the Business Licensing Authority.
This is an important distinction for owners considering self-management.
The purpose of self-management is for the owners corporation to retain control of its own affairs while obtaining appropriate professional assistance for individual tasks where required.
Where a service constitutes regulated owners corporation management, the applicable Victorian registration requirements must be followed.
Strata On Demand can assist with task-based services and administration for self-managed owners corporations, subject to the applicable Victorian requirements.
Self-management is not about taking on unnecessary work.
It is about control, transparency and flexibility — with professional support available when you need it.
Instead of paying for full-service management when you only need help with certain tasks, a self-managed owners corporation can manage routine responsibilities internally and obtain professional assistance for the work that requires additional time or expertise.
Strata On Demand makes self-managed owners corporation administration practical, flexible and easier to manage.
We provide support across the areas commonly required by self-managed owners corporations, including:
Pay-as-you-go support means you can obtain professional assistance when you need it without automatically committing to a full-service management arrangement.
If your owners corporation is planning to self-manage, moving away from an owners corporation manager, or simply wants help with particular owners corporation tasks, Strata On Demand can support you at any stage.
You remain in control. We provide support when you need it.