Strata Bathroom Renovations in NSW

Why this page exists

Because on the North Shore a very large share of bathrooms sit in apartments — through Chatswood, North Sydney, Crows Nest, Neutral Bay and the walk-up belt behind the highway — and because in a unit the approval consistently takes longer than the renovation.

People plan the build carefully and treat the approval as paperwork. It is the other way round.

The three categories, roughly

NSW strata law treats renovation work in broadly three tiers, and where your job lands determines what you need.

Cosmetic work — the light-touch category. Things like painting, filling minor holes, laying carpet, installing handrails. An owner can generally do these without owners corporation approval, subject to the scheme's own by-laws.

Minor renovations — the middle tier, typically requiring approval by ordinary resolution of the owners corporation rather than a special by-law. This category covers a range of work that changes the lot without touching structure.

Major work — anything affecting structure, external appearance, or waterproofing. This usually needs a by-law, and it is where a full bathroom renovation almost always lands.

That last word is the one that matters. A bathroom's waterproof membrane is not a finish; it is the barrier protecting common property and the lot below. Renewing it is what pushes a bathroom out of the simple categories.

Schemes differ, by-laws differ, and the categories have technical definitions. Treat the above as orientation and confirm your specific position with your strata manager.

What an application should contain

The applications that get approved quickly look nothing like the applications that stall. Include:

• A clear scope of works. What is being removed, what is being installed, whether the layout changes, whether any wall is being altered.
• The waterproofing specification. Which standard, who is applying it, and confirmation that documentation will be provided on completion.
• The contractor's details, including licence and insurance.
• A program, with working days and proposed hours.
• How common property is protected — lift protection, corridor coverings, the route to the bin.
• Noise and access arrangements, and how neighbours will be notified.

An application that answers the owners corporation's questions before they are asked removes most of the reasons to defer a decision to the next meeting.

The timing problem, concretely

Here is how a unit bathroom typically goes wrong.

The owner gets quotes in March, chooses a builder, picks tiles, and asks for an April start. The builder asks whether strata has approved it. The owner contacts the strata manager, who explains the scheme needs a general meeting, and the next one is in June.

Nothing was done incorrectly. The sequence was simply inverted.

The correct order is: talk to the strata manager first, find out what your scheme requires and when it can be decided, and build the rest of the program backwards from that date. Quotes and selections can run in parallel — they cost nothing to hold.

Work hours, lifts and the things that shape a program

Beyond the approval itself, most buildings impose operational constraints that genuinely affect cost and duration:

Permitted hours. Frequently 8am to 4pm on weekdays only, sometimes with a restricted window on Saturdays. A trade that can only work seven hours a day takes longer than one that can work ten.

Lift bookings and protection. Material has to come up and rubble has to go down. In a building with one lift and a booking system, that is a scheduling constraint on every delivery.

Loading and skip placement. In the denser parts of Chatswood and North Sydney there is often nowhere to put a skip without a council permit.

Notice to neighbours. Many schemes require it. It is also simply worth doing — a neighbour who knows what is happening is far less likely to complain about the noise.

The slab, and why layouts rarely move

Almost every apartment bathroom sits on a concrete slab, with the waste connecting to a common stack. Moving a waste therefore means either cutting the slab or building the floor up to create new fall — and both invite additional scrutiny from the owners corporation on top of the cost.

The practical answer in nearly every unit is to design around the existing waste positions. That is less limiting than it sounds. Removing an unused bath for a walk-in shower, fitting a slimline wall-hung vanity, tiling full height, a full-width mirror and proper light at it will change the room substantially without a pipe moving. The small bathroom page covers the approach.

Waterproofing paperwork matters more here

In a house, a waterproofing failure is your problem. In an apartment, it is your problem and your downstairs neighbour's problem and potentially the owners corporation's problem, and the question of who pays turns on documentation.

So: get the membrane certificate. Get the product and the date. Take photographs of the completed membrane before the screed covers it. Keep all of it with the approval conditions.

That file costs nothing to assemble during the job and is the difference between a warranty conversation and a dispute if anything ever goes wrong. More on the stage itself on the waterproofing page.

Insurance, and the question people forget

Two insurance questions sit around a strata renovation, and both are easier to resolve before work starts than after.

The contractor's cover. Ask for a certificate of currency for public liability, and check it runs for the whole period of the works rather than expiring mid-job. Many schemes require a copy as a condition of approval.

Home building compensation cover. For residential building work in NSW above a threshold value, this statutory cover is generally required and is arranged by the contractor, not by you. Check the current threshold with NSW Fair Trading rather than relying on anyone's summary, and ask to see the certificate if your job sits above it.

There is also the scheme's own insurance. The owners corporation insures the building; your contents and any improvements to the lot are usually your responsibility. If the renovation materially improves the lot, tell your own insurer — the sum insured you set three years ago no longer describes what is in that room.

None of this is complicated. All of it is much easier to sort out in the week before the job than in the week after something goes wrong.

A realistic sequence for a unit

1. Strata manager conversation — what does the scheme require, and when can it be decided?
2. Quotes and selections, running in parallel.
3. Application lodged, with scope, waterproofing spec, contractor details and program.
4. Approval, with conditions noted.
5. Bookings — lift, hours, skip or bin, neighbour notice.
6. Build — three to four working weeks for a standard job.
7. Documentation — membrane certificate, warranties, photos, filed.

Steps one to four are the ones that determine your start date. Step six is the part everybody plans.

Ready to get a number? Call 02 4602 1201 or send the room details through, and tell us whether you have spoken to strata yet — it genuinely changes the advice.