Too often developers and builders are getting away with shameful sub-par work, leaving owners to spend millions of dollars to repair. It’s a broken, failing system, and the question needs to be asked, “What role can – and should, strata managers play to rectify or prevent that failure?”

While the government takes steps with new legislation to place a duty of care back on professionals involved in a build, guidance around the role of the strata manager remains barely a whisper. Yet strata managers are charged with providing advice on – and guiding owners through, the complicated process of commencing legal action for building defects within the very tight time frames of 2 years for most defects, and 6 years for major defects.

So what happens if the strata manager, either willingly or due to a lack of education, fails to provide proper advice and guidance to owners? The answer, unfortunately, is often financial disaster.

It’s way past time to be frank about strata managers appointed by developers, and the very real conflict that presents.