---
title: "Special Levies and Capital Works Funds: Reading a Strata Report Before You Buy"
url: "https://agentfind.com.au/special-levies-capital-works-funds-strata/"
markdown_url: "https://agentfind.com.au/special-levies-capital-works-funds-strata.md"
type: "post"
date_published: "2026-09-16T03:48:06+00:00"
date_modified: "2026-09-16T10:31:55+00:00"
language: "en-US"
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# Special Levies and Capital Works Funds: Reading a Strata Report Before You Buy

## Summary

A section 184 certificate now has to disclose compliance orders, Fair Trading enforcement action and exclusive supply agreements. What to look for in a strata report, how special levies arise, and what NSW's staged strata reforms changed.

## Content

*By the AgentFind Editorial Team — Australian Property Professional Directory, Sydney*

 ![Apartment building facade against a blue sky, typical of an Australian strata scheme](https://agentfind.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/photo-1770810416806-cca71456d937-1024x683.jpg)The building’s financial position is a document, not a vibe. Order it before you bid.

**A special levy is what happens when a building needs $400,000 of work and has $60,000 in the bank. It is raised on top of your ordinary levies, it is payable whether or not you agree with it, and it follows the lot rather than the owner who was there when the problem started. The single cheapest protection available to a strata buyer is reading the scheme’s own records before exchange — and in New South Wales, the certificate that carries them has recently been expanded to disclose considerably more.**

## Key Takeaways

**Under the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, a section 184 certificate sets out a lot’s levy position and the scheme’s financial and other affairs. From 1 April 2026 these certificates must also disclose exclusive supply network agreements, compliance orders, NSW Fair Trading enforcement action and meeting records — material a buyer previously had to dig for.**

- **Two funds, two purposes.** The administrative fund covers day-to-day running costs; the capital works fund (once called the sinking fund) is for major periodic work like roofs, lifts, painting and waterproofing.
- **A thin capital works fund is the warning sign, not a high levy.** Low levies in an ageing building usually mean the cost has been deferred, not avoided.
- **NSW owners can now request a payment plan of up to 12 months for overdue levies**, and the owners corporation must respond in writing within 28 days and cannot charge a fee for the request.
- **Verify everything against the current legislation for your state.** Strata law differs materially between jurisdictions and NSW’s reforms commenced in stages across 2025 and 2026.

## The Two Funds, and Why One of Them Predicts Your Risk

**The administrative fund pays for recurring expenses — insurance, cleaning, gardening, minor repairs, the strata manager’s fee. The capital works fund saves for the large, infrequent items that every building eventually needs. When the capital works fund is inadequate for the work that is due, the shortfall is raised as a special levy.**

This is why a low quarterly levy in a thirty-year-old block is not good news. Lifts, roof membranes, façade repairs, common-area rewiring and repainting all have predictable lifespans. A scheme that has been holding levies down to keep owners happy is a scheme that will send a five-figure invoice to whoever owns the lot when the roof finally goes.

NSW schemes are required to maintain a ten-year capital works plan, and since the 2025 reforms an owners corporation preparing that plan must also consider the developer’s initial maintenance schedule for the building. Ask for the plan, not just the balance — the balance tells you what is saved, the plan tells you what is coming.

**Insider Insight:** Compare the capital works fund balance against the next three items due in the ten-year plan, not against the total plan. If the fund holds $70,000 and the plan has lift refurbishment and façade painting inside four years, you are looking at a special levy regardless of what the agent says about the building being “well run”. Divide the likely shortfall by your unit entitlement to get your personal exposure.

## What a Section 184 Certificate Now Has to Tell You

**A section 184 certificate is issued by the owners corporation on request and states the levies payable on a lot, any arrears, and the scheme’s financial and other affairs. From 1 April 2026 the disclosure list was widened to include exclusive supply network agreements, compliance orders, NSW Fair Trading enforcement actions and meeting records.**

That addition matters more than it sounds. An exclusive supply network agreement — for embedded electricity, hot water, internet or similar — can lock a building into a supplier at above-market rates for years, and the cost lands on owners. Under the 2025 changes, exclusive supply agreements and other utility agreements now expire at the first annual general meeting or three years from commencement, whichever applies, which limits the damage on newer schemes but not on older arrangements.

Compliance orders and regulator enforcement action are the other genuinely new signal. A scheme that has been the subject of Fair Trading action is telling you something about its governance that no levy figure will.

## Checking a Scheme in the Right Order

**Order the certificate and inspect the books. Then read the last two years of minutes, the ten-year capital works plan, the insurance valuation and the by-laws. Most buyers read the levy figure and stop, which is how people end up owning a share of an unfunded façade.**

 What to obtain What you are looking for Section 184 certificate (NSW; equivalents apply in other states) Levies payable, arrears on the lot, and the newly required disclosures Capital works fund balance Whether it is plausible against the age and size of the building Ten-year capital works plan The next three major items and their estimated cost Two years of committee and general meeting minutes Discussion of defects, litigation, special levies or insurance problems Insurance policy and valuation Whether the building is insured to a current replacement value By-laws Pets, renovations, parking, short-term letting restrictions Any building defect or remediation records Open claims, cladding status, works in progress

A licensed conveyancer or solicitor should review these, not just receive them. The documents are not difficult to read, but knowing that a $90,000 capital works fund is thin for a forty-lot building with a 1990s roof is a judgement that comes from having seen a hundred of them.

## If a Special Levy Is Already Coming

**A resolved but unpaid special levy attaches to the lot, so it becomes yours on settlement unless your contract adjusts for it. If the minutes show a special levy has been discussed but not yet resolved, that is a negotiating point rather than a reason to walk.**

Where a levy is already raised, ask your conveyancer to seek an adjustment at settlement or a price reduction. Where it is foreseeable but not yet resolved, price it into your offer. And if you are an existing owner facing one, note that NSW owners can now request a payment plan of up to twelve months on overdue levies; the owners corporation must respond in writing within 28 days, cannot charge a fee for the request, and repayments are applied to the oldest levies first, then interest, then recovery costs. Since 27 October 2025 NSW levy notices must also carry a Financial Hardship Information Statement including National Debt Helpline details.

FEATURED CASE STUDY

## The $60 Levy That Became a $28,000 Invoice

**A buyer purchased a two-bedroom unit in a thirty-four-lot Sydney block built in the early 1990s, attracted partly by quarterly levies of about $780 — noticeably lower than comparable buildings nearby.** The agent described the scheme as conservatively managed. The buyer ordered the certificate but did not obtain the ten-year plan or the minutes.

The capital works fund held roughly $95,000. The ten-year plan, had it been read, showed lift modernisation and façade remediation due within three years at an estimated $1.1 million combined.

Fourteen months after settlement the owners corporation resolved a special levy to cover the shortfall. Against a unit entitlement of about 2.5%, the buyer’s share came to roughly $28,000, payable across two instalments.

The low levies were the symptom. A scheme holding contributions down while a seven-figure obligation approached was not conservatively managed — it was underfunded, and the documents said so. *This is an illustrative scenario built from typical figures, not a specific client file.*

[Search Strata Managers](https://agentfind.com.au/listings/?_listing_type=strata-manager)

## Frequently Asked Questions

 ➕ What is a special levy in strata?

A levy raised in addition to ordinary contributions when the owners corporation needs funds it does not have — typically for major repairs the capital works fund cannot cover. It is payable whether or not you voted for it, and an unpaid resolved levy attaches to the lot rather than the owner who was there when it was raised. ➕ What is a section 184 certificate?

Under the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, a certificate issued by the owners corporation setting out the levies payable on a lot, any arrears, and the scheme’s financial and other affairs. From 1 April 2026 it must also disclose exclusive supply network agreements, compliance orders, NSW Fair Trading enforcement actions and meeting records. Other states have their own equivalents. ➕ Are low strata levies a good sign?

Often the opposite, particularly in an older building. Major works have predictable lifespans, so unusually low levies frequently mean the capital works fund is being underfunded and the cost deferred to a future special levy. Compare the fund balance against the next items due in the ten-year plan. ➕ Can I get a payment plan for overdue strata levies?

In NSW, yes. Owners can request a payment plan of up to 12 months, the owners corporation must respond in writing within 28 days, no fee can be charged for the request, and repayments are applied to the oldest levies first, then interest, then recovery costs. Check the position in your own state. ➕ Who pays a special levy if the property sells?

A resolved but unpaid special levy generally attaches to the lot, so it becomes the new owner’s liability on settlement unless the contract adjusts for it. Have your conveyancer check for resolved and foreseeable levies and seek an adjustment or price reduction. ➕ What is the difference between the administrative fund and the capital works fund?

The administrative fund covers recurring day-to-day costs such as insurance, cleaning and minor repairs. The capital works fund — previously called the sinking fund — saves for major periodic work such as roofs, lifts, painting and waterproofing. ➕ What is an exclusive supply network agreement?

An agreement locking a building into a single supplier for a utility such as embedded electricity, hot water or internet, often at above-market rates. Under the NSW 2025 reforms these and other utility agreements expire at the first annual general meeting or three years from commencement, and from 1 April 2026 they must be disclosed on a section 184 certificate. ➕ Do I need a conveyancer to review a strata report?

Strongly advisable. The documents are readable but interpreting whether a fund balance is adequate for a building’s age, size and upcoming works is a judgement built on experience. A licensed conveyancer or solicitor should review the certificate, the ten-year plan, the minutes, the insurance and the by-laws together.

## Check the Reviews Before You Pick Up the Phone

Strata management quality varies enormously, and it shows up in how well a building is funded. Every professional listed on AgentFind shows their verified Google rating and review count on their profile, pulled from their own Google Business Profile rather than written for them.

Verified ratings across the AgentFind directory

4.6/ 5

Average Google rating
across rated listings

54,000+

Google reviews behind
the listed professionals

262

Listings rated
4.5 stars or higher

433

Property professionals
listed nationally

Ratings and review counts are sourced from each firm’s public Google Business Profile and refreshed periodically; 341 of 433 listings currently carry a Google rating. AgentFind does not write, edit or solicit these reviews.

**Been hit with a special levy?** Tell us in the comments what the building was, what the levy covered, and whether the documents warned you. Buyers reading strata reports this week will learn more from that than from any checklist.

**About AgentFind**
AgentFind is an Australian directory of property professionals — selling agents, buyer’s agents, mortgage brokers, conveyancers and strata managers — searchable by location and speciality. Listings are not exclusive by area, so more than one professional can appear in the same suburb and you see the full field rather than a single paid name. Enquiries go directly to the professional you contact, and AgentFind takes no commission on any resulting sale.

Get the Strata Report Reviewed Before You Exchange

Find a conveyancer to review the certificate, the ten-year plan and the minutes together — or a strata manager if your scheme needs better funding discipline.

[Search Conveyancers](https://agentfind.com.au/listings/?_listing_type=conveyancer)
 [Search Strata Managers](https://agentfind.com.au/listings/?_listing_type=strata-manager)

Open any professional’s profile and choose Bookmark to add them to your shortlist — you’ll be asked to sign in first, then your saved professionals appear on your Bookmarks page.

Related reading: [the hidden costs of selling property in Australia](https://agentfind.com.au/hidden-costs-of-selling-property-australia/) and [auction vs private treaty in a falling market](https://agentfind.com.au/auction-vs-private-treaty-australia/).

Important — currency and verification notice

**This article is general information only and was current at the date of publication shown above. It is not legal, financial, taxation or strata advice, and it does not take your circumstances into account.**

Legislation, regulations, penalties, thresholds, scheme rules and tribunal procedures change frequently, and several of the provisions referred to here commenced or change on staged dates. Before acting on anything in this article you must independently verify the current position that applies to your property and your state or territory — including the relevant strata, property and consumer legislation; the jurisdiction, procedures and time limits of the applicable tribunal (for example NCAT in New South Wales or VCAT in Victoria); the content and currency of any certificate you intend to rely on, such as a section 184 or section 108 certificate; and the current status of any building defect, combustible cladding or remediation scheme affecting the building.

AgentFind is a directory service. We do not provide legal, financial or strata advice and we accept no responsibility for decisions made in reliance on this article. Obtain advice from a qualified professional — a solicitor, licensed conveyancer, accountant, licensed mortgage broker or licensed strata manager as appropriate — and confirm current requirements with the relevant government authority or regulator before committing to a transaction or a course of action.

*Sources: [NSW Government — Guide to strata law changes for strata committees and owners](https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/strata/guide-to-strata-law-changes-for-strata-committees-and-owners); [NSW Government — Section 184 certificate](https://www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-12/section-184-certificate.pdf); [Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) s 184](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ssma2015242/s184.html).*

## Classification

- **Category:** Strata, Tips

## Images

![Apartment building facade against a blue sky, typical of an Australian strata scheme](https://agentfind.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/photo-1770810416806-cca71456d937.jpg)