Strata By-Laws in 2026: What an Owners Corporation Can No Longer Refuse
By the AgentFind Editorial Team — Australian Property Professional Directory, Sydney
The power of a strata by-law has been steadily narrowed. In New South Wales, by-laws banning all pets are not valid, and banning animals by size, type or quantity will not be valid in most circumstances. By-laws banning sustainability infrastructure are prohibited unless the building is heritage-listed. And a bill currently before NSW Parliament would give owners a right to install an electric vehicle charger on their own lot without unreasonable objection from the strata committee. If your committee is still relying on a by-law written in 2014, it may be relying on something unenforceable.
Key Takeaways
By-laws still govern daily life in a strata scheme, but several categories of restriction have been removed from an owners corporation’s reach. Pets, sustainability infrastructure and — if the current bill passes — electric vehicle charging are the clearest examples.
- NSW Fair Trading is explicit: “by-laws banning all pets are not valid”, and an owners corporation cannot charge a fee or bond, or require insurance, for the keeping of a pet.
- The test is unreasonable interference — constant noise, chasing or attacking people or animals, or repeated damage to property — not whether other owners would prefer no animals.
- Sustainability infrastructure can be approved by ordinary resolution under the 2021 amendments, and since the 2025 reforms by-laws banning it are prohibited unless the building is heritage-listed.
- A right to install an EV charger is proposed, not yet law. The Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2025 was introduced on 19 November 2025 and remained before the Legislative Council as at publication.
Pets: The Ban Most Schemes Still Think They Have
An owners corporation cannot stop you from owning a pet unless the pet causes unreasonable interference. NSW Fair Trading states that by-laws banning all pets are not valid, and that banning animals based on size, type or quantity will not be valid in most circumstances. It also states that an owners corporation is not allowed to charge a resident a fee or bond, or require insurance, for the keeping of a pet.
Unreasonable interference is a defined idea, not a matter of taste. The behaviours it covers include making constant noise that unreasonably affects the peace, comfort or convenience of another resident; repeatedly running at or chasing another resident or animal; attacking or threatening another resident or animal; and repeatedly causing damage to common property or someone else’s property. Breach of a nuisance order, and dogs classified as dangerous or menacing or of a restricted breed under the Companion Animals Act 1998, also count.
An owners corporation must also decide on an application within a reasonable timeframe. Silence is not a refusal, and a refusal without a ground that fits the test is open to challenge.
| An owners corporation cannot | An owners corporation can |
|---|---|
| Make a by-law banning all pets | Act where a pet causes unreasonable interference |
| Ban animals by size, type or number in most circumstances | Refuse a dog classified as dangerous, menacing or a restricted breed |
| Charge a fee or bond for keeping a pet | Require reasonable conditions about common property, such as carrying an animal through shared areas |
| Require the resident to hold insurance for the pet | Take enforcement action where a nuisance order has been breached |
| Sit on an application indefinitely | Ask for the information it needs to decide, then decide within a reasonable timeframe |
Insider Insight: Apply in writing and make the decision easy. Name the animal, the breed, the weight, the age, whether it is registered and desexed, where it will be exercised, and how it will cross common property. A one-paragraph email with those details is far harder to refuse than a verbal request, and if it is refused, you now have a written refusal to take to mediation. Committees refuse vague applications and approve specific ones — that is true almost everywhere.
Sustainability Infrastructure and EV Charging: What Is Law and What Isn’t
Two different things are often conflated here. Sustainability infrastructure — a defined term that covers infrastructure for charging electric vehicles alongside things like solar and water efficiency measures — can be approved by ordinary resolution under the 2021 sustainability amendments, rather than the special resolution common-property changes usually need. Separately, since the 2025 reforms, by-laws banning sustainability infrastructure are prohibited unless the building is heritage-listed, and owners corporations must consider sustainability at each annual general meeting and budget for the associated costs.
What is not yet law is an individual right to install a charger. The Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2025, introduced to NSW Parliament on 19 November 2025 as the fourth tranche of the state’s strata overhaul, would give owners the right to install electric vehicle chargers on their lot without unreasonable objection from their strata committee. As at publication the bill remained before the Legislative Council and had not received assent.
The practical advice sits between the two. Today, a charger on your own lot is a proposal you take to a general meeting, helped considerably by the lower voting threshold and by the prohibition on blanket bans. Tomorrow it may be a right. Check the bill’s status before you plan a campaign around either position — this is exactly the kind of thing that changes between one AGM and the next.
Renovations: Three Tiers, Three Different Answers
NSW divides lot work into three categories, and knowing which one you are in tells you whether you need nothing, a vote, or a by-law. Cosmetic work needs no approval. Minor renovations need approval by ordinary resolution at a general meeting. Work affecting the structure, waterproofing or external appearance of the building needs a by-law, which requires a special resolution.
Cosmetic work covers things like painting, filling minor holes, laying carpet and installing hooks, nails or handrails. Minor renovations cover work such as renovating a kitchen, installing hard or timber flooring, internal wiring and cabling, and reconfiguring non-structural walls — the category most owners get wrong, because it feels cosmetic and is not. Major work — moving a wet area, altering a balcony, changing windows, anything that touches the waterproof membrane — is the by-law tier.
The cost of getting the tier wrong is high: work done without the approval it needed can be ordered to be reversed at the owner’s expense, and it will surface as a disclosure problem when you sell. If the answer is genuinely unclear, ask the strata manager in writing before you book the trades, not after.
FEATURED CASE STUDY
The Timber Floor That Cost $12,000 Twice
An owner in a 1990s Sydney block replaced worn carpet with engineered timber throughout a two-bedroom apartment, at a cost of about $12,000. She understood flooring to be cosmetic, and nobody had told her otherwise.
Hard-floor installation is a minor renovation, not cosmetic work — it required approval by ordinary resolution at a general meeting, and the scheme’s by-laws set acoustic requirements the underlay did not meet.
Two downstairs owners complained about impact noise within a month. The matter went through mediation, and the owner agreed to relay the floor over a compliant acoustic underlay — a second bill of roughly $9,000, plus six weeks out of the apartment.
One email to the strata manager before the quote was accepted would have surfaced both the approval requirement and the acoustic specification. The lesson is not that the rules are unfair; it is that the cheap step comes first. This is an illustrative scenario built from the typical figures above, not a specific client file.
Changing a By-Law, and Who Will Be Trained to Read It
Adding, amending or repealing a by-law requires a special resolution at a general meeting, and the change must be registered to take effect. An owner can put a motion; you do not need to be on the committee.
In practice the work is upstream of the vote: draft the by-law properly, circulate it with the notice, and explain the problem it solves in one paragraph. Owners vote against by-laws they do not understand. Where the by-law affects an individual lot — a renovation, an exclusive-use arrangement, a charger — the owner benefiting usually bears the cost of preparing and registering it.
Worth knowing too: from 1 October 2026, NSW strata committee members must complete free mandatory online training annually, within three months of appointment, with exemptions including two-lot schemes, strata managing agents, members of the Australian College of Strata Lawyers and those filling a temporary vacancy. The practical effect over time should be committees that know what their by-laws can and cannot do — which is the underlying problem in most by-law disputes.
Frequently Asked Questions
➕ Can a strata scheme ban pets in NSW?
➕ What is “unreasonable interference” by a pet?
➕ Can the owners corporation charge a pet bond?
➕ Can my strata scheme stop me installing an EV charger?
➕ Do I need approval to install timber or hard flooring?
➕ What counts as cosmetic work?
➕ How do I change a by-law?
➕ Is strata committee training compulsory in NSW?
Check the Reviews Before You Pick Up the Phone
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Had a by-law argument? Tell us in the comments what it was about and how it ended. Owners currently drafting a pet application or a charger motion will get more from that than from any template.
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Related reading: strata disputes at NCAT and VCAT, special levies and capital works funds and buying off the plan.
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 — while others are contained in bills that had not passed as at publication. 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, building 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 — Pets in strata; NSW Government — Guide to strata law changes; NSW Government — fourth strata reform bill introduced; Parliament of NSW — Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2025; NSW Climate and Energy Action — making your residential strata building EV ready.
