Strata Buildings and Termite Management — What Bodies Corporate Need to Know

Strata buildings have a termite risk profile that's different from standalone residential homes, and a management responsibility structure that's genuinely more complex. The risk is usually under-attended — not because strata managers and body corporate committees aren't competent, but because the responsibility sits between individual owners and the body corporate in a way that rarely gets explicitly resolved until something goes wrong.

This piece explains what strata buildings need to account for, where the management responsibility sits, and what a proper termite management cadence looks like for a multi-lot building.

What the body corporate is responsible for

In a strata scheme, the owners corporation (body corporate) has responsibility for maintaining and repairing the common property — which includes the building's structural elements: slab, footings, shared walls, common roof space, shared subfloor areas, and common garden areas.

Termite management of those structural and common elements is part of building maintenance. An untreated or uninspected slab edge, subfloor, or shared timber element in a strata building is common property that's been allowed to carry unmanaged structural risk. Where termite damage is found in a common-property structural element, the question of how it was allowed to happen falls on the body corporate's management record.

The position of individual lot owners is different: their internal fit-out, flooring, and internal walls are their responsibility. But the structure they've built their apartment on — the slab, the bearer and joist system in an older walk-up, the shared subfloor — belongs to the owners corporation.

A specific note for strata managers: this document isn't legal advice and the specific obligations of any owners corporation depend on their state legislation and strata plan. For formal advice on body corporate obligations, the relevant strata manager or legal advisor should be consulted. What follows is the practical building-management picture.

Why older strata buildings need extra attention

Older strata buildings — walk-up apartment buildings from the 1950s through 1980s, converted terrace rows, mixed-use buildings on inner-suburban sites — carry the same structural vulnerabilities as other pre-treatment-era construction, often combined with access difficulties that make inspection more complicated.

Subfloor access. Many older walk-up buildings have a shared subfloor or crawl space under the ground-floor apartments. These spaces are often accessed through small hatches that are rarely opened. Without regular inspections, subfloor conditions — soil moisture, ventilation, loose timbers, pier condition — can deteriorate over years without anyone noticing.

Shared courtyards and garden areas. Communal gardens in strata buildings often include established plantings, mulch, timber edging, and irrigation systems — all adjacent to the building's perimeter. Mulch piled against the building perimeter, garden beds raised against the external cladding, and poorly maintained irrigation creating persistent moisture at the slab edge are all common findings in strata garden areas. They're also common-property areas that the body corporate controls.

Aging chemical barriers. Many strata buildings from the 1990s and early 2000s had chemical barriers installed as part of initial construction or subsequent renovation. A 1998 chemical barrier is well past its original warranty period. Without a reinstatement treatment, the treated zone has degraded to the point where it provides limited protection.

What an annual strata inspection covers

A termite inspection of a strata building is more involved than an inspection of a standalone home. The inspection scope includes:

Common areas and shared spaces. All common-area accessible spaces: lobby, corridors, shared laundry, utility rooms, basement if present, basement car park framing and access points.

Roof void where accessible. The shared roof space above the top-floor apartments: roof timber condition, moisture, any signs of leaks or decay, accessibility for future inspections.

Ground-floor subfloor where accessible. Piers, bearers and joists, soil moisture, debris on the subfloor soil, ventilation condition, ant capping presence.

External perimeter. Slab edge visibility around the full building perimeter; drainage paths; landscaping setbacks from the structure; any structures (fencing, garden beds, stored items) against the external walls.

Shared garden elements. Garden sleepers, stumps, established trees adjacent to the building, mulch positioning, irrigation placement.

Per-unit internal access is often requested for a thorough inspection but typically isn't mandated — individual lot owners would need to provide consent. In practice, the common-area and perimeter inspection is the most useful for body corporate management purposes: it covers the structural elements they're responsible for and the external conditions they control.

Building a termite management cadence for a strata building

The annual inspection is the baseline. For a strata building with no previous management record, the first step is establishing that baseline — a comprehensive inspection that documents current conditions across all accessible common areas, produces written findings, and provides a set of recommendations the owners corporation can act on.

From there, the cadence is built on what the inspection finds:

Annual inspections. Standard minimum under AS 3660.2:2017. Creates the management record. Covers the common property. Provides the documentation the body corporate needs to demonstrate due diligence.

Spot inspections after building work. Any renovation, extension, new landscaping, or maintenance work that disturbs the perimeter soil, changes drainage patterns, or adds new timber to the structure should trigger an inspection of the affected area — particularly if an existing chemical barrier may have been disturbed.

Coordinated response to active finds. If termites are found in a common-property structural element, the Termite Management Plan and treatment sequence applies. The owners corporation is the client; the treatment scope and warranty documentation are provided to the body corporate, not individual lot owners.

Communication with lot owners. Individual owners whose lots are adjacent to an area of treatment, or who may need to provide access for a subfloor inspection, should be informed in advance. Clear communication avoids disputes about access and keeps everyone's management records aligned.

Next step

If your strata building doesn't have a current inspection record, or if you're a strata manager looking to establish a proper termite management cadence for a building in your portfolio, get in touch.

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