Strata plumbing jobs in Shellharbour, Shell Cove, Warilla and Wollongong make up a big slice of our work. A blocked toilet in a unit, a hot water unit dripping into the unit below, a slow leak in a common-area riser — every one of these starts with the same question: is this an owners corporation cost or a lot owner cost?
The simple rule
Under NSW strata law (Strata Schemes Management Act 2015), anything inside the boundary of your lot is generally your responsibility. Anything that services more than one lot, or sits inside a common-property wall, slab or ceiling, is the owners corporation's responsibility.
In plumbing terms that translates roughly as:
Lot owner pays for
- Your taps, toilets, vanity, kitchen sink, dishwasher and washing machine connections
- Your hot water unit if it only services your unit
- Pipework inside your unit from the isolation valve onward
- Blockages in your own internal drain stack before it leaves the lot
- Damage caused by your own appliance (e.g. burst flexi hose under your sink)
Owners corporation pays for
- Main water risers, common sewer stacks, common stormwater
- The water meter and the line up to your in-lot isolation valve
- Common-area hot water plant (in older blocks with central HWS)
- Roof drains, common-area gutters, common downpipes
- Backflow prevention devices on the building's main supply
The grey areas
The complications usually involve flexi hoses, internal pipe bursts and shared sewer blockages. As a working rule: if the leak originated from a fitting or appliance inside your lot, it's yours — even if the damage flooded a neighbour. That's what your strata insurance is for. If the leak originated from a common-area pipe and damaged your lot, the owners corporation deals with it.
What to do right now if there's a leak
Stop the water — isolate at the in-lot valve or, for big leaks, the building meter. Photograph everything. Notify the strata manager in writing the same day. Call a licensed plumber familiar with strata work — we'll attend, isolate, document with photos, and provide an itemised report you can hand straight to the strata manager.
Investigation jobs
If we can't tell whose pipe is leaking without opening up a wall or running a CCTV camera, we'll quote that investigation as a separate item. The cost of investigation usually falls to whoever is found to own the leak — strata managers in Wollongong and Shellharbour are used to splitting these calls.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is responsible for a blocked toilet in a strata unit?
- If the blockage is in the toilet pan or in the branch line still inside your lot, it's your cost. If the blockage is in the main building sewer stack and affects other units too, it's an owners corporation cost.
- My hot water unit burst and flooded the unit below — am I liable?
- Most likely yes for your own bathroom and floor. The damage to the unit below is usually claimed through the building's strata insurance — but the excess and any uplift to your premium can come back to you depending on the by-laws.
- Does the owners corporation have to use a specific plumber?
- No. Strata committees can choose their plumber, but you can engage your own licensed plumber for in-lot work. We're happy to attend, document the cause, and liaise directly with your strata manager.
- Are flexi hoses really that risky?
- Yes — they're the single biggest cause of unit floods we attend. Replace any flexi hose over 8 years old, and consider braided stainless with a higher pressure rating. We do this as a 20-minute job during any other plumbing call.
- Can you provide a strata-friendly report?
- Always. Every strata callout gets a written report with cause, location, photos and recommended remediation — formatted so the strata manager can use it directly for insurance or owners-corporation approval.