What Happens When a Strata Committee Gets an Electrical Defect Report

What happens when a strata committee gets an electrical defect report? Someone on site who is not an electrician, a building manager, cleaner or strata contractor doing rounds, notices something that looks wrong, a buzzing switchboard, a safety switch that keeps tripping, visible heat damage or corrosion, and passes it up to the strata manager. From there it follows a fairly predictable path: a licensed inspection to confirm what is actually happening, a written report and quote, owners corporation approval for the spend, then scheduled rectification. Knowing this sequence in advance stops a genuine safety issue sitting in committee limbo for months while residents are exposed to the risk.

1. It almost always starts with someone who is not an electrician

Strata buildings rarely have an electrician walking the common areas looking for faults. What actually happens is a building manager doing a routine round, a cleaner working near a meter room, or a strata contractor on site for an unrelated job notices something off, a smell, a buzzing sound from a switchboard, a safety switch that has tripped more than once, or visible corrosion on an old fuse box. None of these people are qualified to say what is actually wrong, and they should not try to. Their job is simply to flag it to the strata manager, who logs it and arranges a licensed inspection.

2. The inspection and written report

Once a defect is reported, a Level 2 electrician or accredited contractor attends site to confirm what is genuinely happening. This is a different exercise to a routine electrical safety inspection, since it starts from a specific complaint rather than a general checklist, though the same fundamentals apply, checking the main switch, breakers or fuses, safety switches, earthing and any visible heat or corrosion damage. The result is a written report describing what was found, how urgent it is, and whether the fault sits on common property or inside an individual lot. A scoped quote for the rectification work is attached, so the committee has a real number rather than an open ended estimate.

3. Getting the owners corporation to approve the spend

A safety inspection itself can usually be authorised quickly, by the strata manager or committee chair under delegated authority, because establishing the facts is not itself a significant cost. The rectification work is a different matter. Once the quote reaches a material cost, it generally needs to go to the owners corporation for approval, either at a scheduled general meeting or, where the building's by laws allow it, a special resolution circulated between meetings for anything urgent. This is the step that most often stalls a genuine defect, not the electrical work itself, so a clear written report with a firm quote in hand makes that vote far easier to get through quickly.

4. Common property versus an individual lot's own wiring

Whether the owners corporation or the individual owner pays comes down to where the fault actually sits. The main switchboard, risers, common area lighting circuits and shared metering equipment are common property, and work on them is funded through the strata scheme. A fault inside an individual lot's own switchboard or wiring, even if it was what triggered the original report, is the lot owner's responsibility. Confusing the two is one of the most common sources of dispute at committee level, and a clear written report should say plainly which category the fault falls into rather than leaving it for the committee to guess.

5. Scheduling the work around occupied units

Common property electrical work in an occupied strata building has to work around residents, lifts, shared laundries and any commercial tenancies at ground level, which is why scheduling is usually a bigger practical hurdle than the electrical work itself. A good contractor gives the strata manager clear notice of any planned power interruption, works with the building manager on access to plant rooms and risers, and sequences the job to minimise how many units lose supply at once, rather than shutting down the whole building's common services for a single fault.

6. When it cannot wait for a committee meeting

None of the above applies when the fault is a genuine safety hazard, exposed conductors, a switchboard showing signs of burning, or anything posing an immediate risk of shock or fire. That work proceeds as an emergency make safe regardless of where the committee is up to in its meeting cycle, with the formal approval and paperwork for any follow on rectification running alongside the immediate fix rather than in front of it. A defect notice from the network operator follows the same logic, our guide to defect notice rectification covers the clearance timeframe involved.

Why it's Level 2 ASP work

Where a strata defect touches the building's Level 2 ASP territory, the point of attachment, consumer mains, metering or the connection to the network, a standard electrician's licence is not enough, and the inspection needs to be done by an accredited provider from the outset rather than referred out partway through once the scope becomes clear. Starting with the right licence avoids a second site visit and a second report.

How High Demand Electrical helps

High Demand Electrical is one of Sydney's most trusted Level 2 ASPs for strata common property work, not a call centre passing the job on to whoever is free. We attend, confirm what is actually wrong against AS/NZS 3000 and the relevant service rules, and give the strata manager a written report with a firm quote the committee can actually vote on. Where the fault is common property, we scope it as such plainly, and where it is not, we say so, so the right owner gets the right bill. Servicing strata buildings across Sydney's west, south west and Sutherland Shire, we coordinate access around occupied units rather than shutting a building down to fix one switchboard.

If your strata committee has an electrical defect report sitting on the agenda, book a strata safety inspection with High Demand Electrical or call 0402 559 777. Every job starts with a proper site assessment, so the committee has a firm written quote before any vote is needed.