What Does a Strata Manager Do?

People often get the two confused, but Strata Managers and Property Managers have very different roles. A Property Manager looks after individual properties on behalf of the lot owners. They collect rent, act as a liaison between owner and tenant, and conduct property checks to ensure it remains in good condition.

Meanwhile, a Strata Manager is responsible for a block of properties (typically an apartment block). This role involves ensuring legal and insurance compliance, property maintenance, and ensuring that all the administration of the Owners Corporation is kept accurate and up to date in the strata complex. They are also responsible for assisting residents within the building with any disputes or concerns they may have.

If we were to break the Strata Manager’s role into three key categories, their day-to-day property management work would look something like this.

Administration

A Strata Manager’s responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Dealing with all correspondence regarding the building itself – This includes correspondence from those within the building (tenant/owner queries, etc), as well as those from outside (requests for information from prospective buyers).
• The maintenance of common strata property – A Strata Manager will keep the pools clean, identify that the building’s lifts need repair or replacement, and arrange for the building to be repainted, amongst other things.
• Communicate with lot owners and tenants – Serving Notices of Owners Corporation Meetings, Circulars, and Levying Maintenance Contributions.
• Insurance – A strata manager lodges all insurance claims and then follows up on their progress.
• Archiving of all records – As well as keeping detailed records of owners’ names and contact details, logs on all work done on the property, and a history of key events that have happened.

Financial

Strata Managers are also responsible for many financial considerations within a property. These include (but aren’t limited to):

• Preparing budgets that will go to the Owner’s Corporation or Committee for approval. This would include factoring in major works that need to be done to the building.
• Monitoring invoices for payments.
• Ensuring that all amounts owing and owed to the Owner’s Corporation are paid on time – this includes owners corporation fees from each property’s owner.
• Ensuring that proper, adequate, and competitive insurances are taken on and kept in a renewed state.

Social

Strata managers are also often called upon to play a role in the lifestyle concerns of the residents. This can mean a wide number of tasks, but key ones include:

• Enforcing rules around the common property, and clearly communicates to all residents what those rules are.
• Mediating disputes between owners on behalf of the strata management.
• Enforcing certain laws that apply to owners within the properties themselves. For example, pet ownership is a common issue that Strata Managers need to tackle. This could either involve individuals owning pets without permission, or having pets infringe on the neighbour’s’ right to quiet enjoyment.
• Amend by-laws where necessary for the good of the Owner’s Corporation.
• Organises owners corporation information events, social occasions, and listens to feedback from residents on what they’d like to see happen to the property. For example, a good Strata Manager would be the one to look into the viability of a rooftop garden for the residents to enjoy.

The roles, duties and responsibilities of Strata Managers are becoming more and more complex over time, as well. With the scope of high-density residential buildings becoming ever more expanded, Strata Managers are now needing to take charge of new features, making their way into building projects that were previously uncommon.

From the relatively simple (e.g. new apartment buildings with gyms that are an added liability) to the complex (e.g. apartments with commercial zoning on the bottom few floors), the Strata Manager is finding his or her role expanding to account for more modern ways of living.