---
title: "Strata & Community Titles"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/strata-and-community-titles"
type: "practice_area"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A47"
task_count: 26
last_reviewed: "2026-10-10"
---

# Strata & Community Titles

> Strata and community-title advice fails when the wrong Act is used. Identify the plan and the jurisdiction first. Then use software to extract levies, motions and a defect chronology for the lawyer to check.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/strata-and-community-titles  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-10

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

Also covers: Owners corporations, body corporate, by-laws, levies, strata schemes, community titles, building defects

This page covers scheme living: by-laws, levies, meetings and the paper around a building dispute. It does not replace a title search or an expert report on defects.

Common starting points, each confirmed as a public page on 22 September 2026, are the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 for New South Wales, the Owners Corporations Act 2006 for Victoria and the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 for Queensland. Name the Act only after you have opened the current compilation for that scheme.

## Key facts

- Tasks: 26
- Green: 8, Yellow: 13, Red: 5
- Levels: Green is AI drafts and the lawyer checks; Yellow is lawyer and AI draft together; Red is the lawyer writes and AI may only check, clarify or collect data.

## Principles

- **The plan picks the law**: Read the plan and the state or territory. A New South Wales by-law test does not decide a Queensland body corporate question.
- **Levies are figures, not a story**: Extract the ledger. Reconcile it to the notices. Do not infer a special levy from a gap in the papers.
- **Meetings are procedural**: Notice, quorum and the wording of a motion decide whether a resolution passed. A tidy draft notice is not a valid meeting.

## Checklist

- Identify the plan, the state or territory and the in-force Act before quoting a section.
- Read the by-law you are advising on in the registered instrument, not in a summary.
- Reconcile levy figures to the ledger and the notice that was actually sent.
- Check notice, quorum and motion wording against that jurisdiction’s meeting rules.
- Keep building-defect conclusions with the lawyer and the expert. A chronology is not a liability opinion.

## Restrictions

- Do not file, send or rely on generated text until the responsible lawyer has checked it against the instructions and the current source.
- Do not put suppressed, privileged, subpoenaed or safety-sensitive information into a public AI tool.

## Jurisdiction note

Start with the public guides for the state of the building: NSW Fair Trading on strata, Consumer Affairs Victoria on owners corporations, and the Queensland body corporate pages. Other states and territories have their own Acts. Confirm the current compilation.

## Basis

Planning guidance checked against the linked public sources on 22 September 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## What this work is

Ask where the building is and which plan it is on before you draft. The same words — by-law, levy, committee — do different work under different Acts. Software can index the papers. It should not choose the Act.

## Review checklist

- Identify the plan, the state or territory and the in-force Act before quoting a section.
- Read the by-law in the registered instrument.
- Reconcile levy figures to the ledger and the notice that was sent.
- Check notice periods, quorum and the motion against that jurisdiction’s meeting rules.
- Treat a defect chronology as a list of documents, not as a finding on liability or quantum.

## Jurisdiction-specific considerations

- New South Wales strata, Victorian owners corporations and Queensland body corporate regulation are different systems. Do not paste a precedent across the border.
- A by-law can be invalid even if it is registered. Validity is a legal conclusion for the lawyer under the local Act.
- Tribunal pathways (NCAT, VCAT, QCAT and their equivalents) have their own forms and, in some places, their own notes on generative AI.

## Tasks (26)

| Task | Level | How AI is used | What the lawyer must review |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Identify the governing statute and the by-law or scheme-rule power before advising](https://ailawframework.com/practice/strata-and-community-titles/identify-the-governing-statute-and-the-by-law-or-scheme-rule-power-befor.md) | Red | Extract the scheme or plan identifier, the jurisdiction shown on the papers, and the by-law or scheme-rule headings into a cover sheet for the lawyer. | Identify the governing statute yourself Decide the by-law or scheme-rule question Treat the cover sheet only as an index of the papers |
| [Reconcile a levy ledger to the notices](https://ailawframework.com/practice/strata-and-community-titles/reconcile-a-levy-ledger-to-the-notices.md) | Yellow | Extract levy notices, due dates and payments into a schedule matched to the ledger lines. | Check every figure against the notice or ledger page it came from Leave gaps as gaps |
| [Draft a meeting notice from an approved agenda](https://ailawframework.com/practice/strata-and-community-titles/draft-a-meeting-notice-from-an-approved-agenda.md) | Yellow | Draft a meeting notice from the lawyer’s approved agenda and the last notice used for this scheme. | Read every motion against the approved agenda Do not let the draft add a motion, a date or a voting right |
| [Build a building-defect chronology from the scheme’s papers](https://ailawframework.com/practice/strata-and-community-titles/build-a-building-defect-chronology-from-the-scheme-s-papers.md) | Yellow | Extract dates, authors and document titles into a chronology of complaints, reports and minutes about the defect. | Verify dates and authors against the documents Do not turn the chronology into a defects opinion |
| Draft a by-law or scheme rule from the approved motion | Yellow | Produce a first-draft by-law from the lawyer's approved motion and the last registered by-laws for this scheme. | Check the power to make the by-law and its registration Check the draft adds no restriction the motion did not pass |
| Compare a management or caretaker agreement to the scheme rules | Yellow | Compare the agreement to the scheme rules and the statute headings the lawyer has listed, and flag term, fee, termination and function creep. | Read the agreement against the current Act, not last year's precedent Check for functions that cannot be delegated |
| Draft a scheme-dispute tribunal application from the papers | Yellow | Produce a first-draft application and chronology from the minutes, by-laws and correspondence, using the tribunal form the lawyer has named. | Confirm standing: lot owner, committee or manager Confirm the orders the tribunal can actually make |
| Produce the scheme's information certificate for a lot | Green | Populate the approved certificate form from the strata roll, the levy ledger, the insurance schedule and the minutes, and list beside each field the document… | Check every figure against the primary record, confirm the form and fee are the current ones for the jurisdiction, and decide whether any unresolved levy,… |
| Prepare a breach notice for a by-law or scheme rule | Green | Complete the approved breach-notice form from the by-law as registered and the committee's dated incident records, quoting the by-law text verbatim and… | Check the by-law is the version currently registered and within power, confirm the owners corporation or committee resolved to give the notice, and check the… |
| Build the voting-entitlement and proxy register for a general meeting | Green | Tabulate the lots, unit entitlements, arrears status and lodged instruments from the roll, the ledger and the proxy forms, apply the cap the lawyer has set… | Check the proxy cap and the arrears rule against the current statute or module, open each flagged instrument, and decide the contested ones before the meeting… |
| Check the motions and the notice against the resolution each outcome needs | Yellow | Work through the motion set with the lawyer, classifying each motion against the resolution types and consent requirements the lawyer supplies, and listing… | Decide the resolution type for each motion, confirm exclusive-use and special-privilege motions carry the consents the statute requires, and settle the… |
| Prepare the scheme's insurance and valuation compliance report | Yellow | Assemble the schedule of required covers, current policies, sums insured and valuation dates from the renewal papers against the statutory list the lawyer… | Confirm which covers this scheme type must hold under the current statute or module, check the sums insured and the valuation interval and basis against the… |
| Assemble the response to a records inspection request | Yellow | Index the scheme's records against the statutory list of records that must be produced, classify each document against the withholding grounds the lawyer… | Decide each withholding, particularly legal advice and material about a dispute with the person inspecting, check the bundle against the statutory list, and… |
| Decide whether the item is common property or lot property | Red | Extract the plan notations, boundary annotations, by-law entries and repair history into a table beside the lawyer's issue list, index the photographs and… | The lawyer reads the registered plan and the boundary provisions, characterises the item and writes the advice. |
| Confirm the levy recovery preconditions and the earliest date proceedings may start | Red | Extract the levy resolutions, notice dates, service records and payment history into the lawyer's precondition table, compare each notice against the lawyer's… | The lawyer decides whether each levy was validly struck, whether each precondition is satisfied, and when proceedings may and must be started, and signs the… |
| Map each defect to its claim route and the last date to act | Red | Extract the completion, occupation or occupancy certificate, handover and first-notification dates from the scheme's papers into the lawyer's route and… | The lawyer settles the trigger date for each route, decides which routes are open for each defect, and advises on the last date to act. |
| Prepare the mandatory pre-filing step for a scheme dispute | Yellow | Work with the lawyer to complete the pre-filing form for the applicable body and assemble the dated record of the internal grievance, breach notice or… | Confirm which body and which precondition applies to this dispute, check the description of the dispute against the orders that will later be sought, and… |
| [Summarise strata committee minutes and correspondence for a tribunal application](https://ailawframework.com/practice/strata-and-community-titles/summarise-strata-committee-minutes-and-correspondence-for-a-tribunal-app.md) | Green | Extract decisions and dates into a cited chronology. | Check against minute book; check NCAT/VCAT/QCAT AI procedural direction for any affidavit use. |
| Summarise owners-corporation minutes and records | Green | Extract levies, defects and disputes. | Verify against records. |
| Draft a by-law from the committee's instructions | Yellow | Draft by-law text. | Lawyer checks the strata Act. |
| Prepare a defects claim chronology | Green | Build chronology from reports. | Verify. |
| Draft a tribunal application for a strata dispute | Red | Draft from facts. | Lawyer settles; check NCAT PD 7. |
| Answer owner FAQs with a supervised chatbot | Yellow | Draft responses from the by-laws. | Manager reviews. |
| Assess AI-generated submissions in a strata dispute | Yellow | Review. | Lawyer verifies. |
| Draft owner warning about AI use in tribunal applications | Green | Draft. | Approve. |
| Summarise strata committee rules | Green | Summarise. | Verify. |

## Jurisdiction notes

### New Zealand

Local name: Unit titles (Unit Titles Act 2010)

#### Governing Act

Unit Titles Act 2010. No NSW Strata Schemes Management Act, Victorian owners corporation or Queensland community-titles module.

#### Regulator

MBIE is the unit titles regulator and can monitor bodies corporate and their managers.

#### Rules and disclosure

Take body-corporate rules and pre-purchase disclosure from the Act and unit-titles.govt.nz.

Sources:

- [Unit Titles Act 2010](https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2010/22/en/latest/) (checked 2026-09-23)
- [Unit titles: Act and regulations](https://www.unittitles.govt.nz/buying-or-selling-a-unit-title/regulations/) (checked 2026-09-23)

### United States

Local name: Common-interest communities, condominiums and homeowners associations

#### State law

State law governs this work. Check the statutes, court rules and conduct rules of the state where the matter is. Do not import an Australian statute, form or court AI practice note.

#### Governing law

Condominium, cooperative and HOA codes are state (sometimes uniform-act) law. No national strata statute. Identify the Act and the recorded declaration first.

Sources:

- [ABA Formal Opinion 512, Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools (29 July 2024)](https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/professional_responsibility/ethics-opinions/aba-formal-opinion-512.pdf) (checked 2026-09-23)

## Sources

- [NSW Government: strata](https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/strata) (checked 2026-09-22)
- [Consumer Affairs Victoria: owners corporations](https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/owners-corporations) (checked 2026-09-22)
- [Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic)](https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/owners-corporations-act-2006) (checked 2026-09-22)
- [Queensland Government: body corporate](https://www.qld.gov.au/housing/body-corporate) (checked 2026-09-22)
- [Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld)](https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1997-028) (checked 2026-09-22)

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*