The Strata Act

The Strata Act was introduced in 1961 in Australia. This Act entitled owners of a owners, who owned a particular part of the building, to receive a title deed. Prior to this Act, it was not possible for a owner in Australia to own a title deed for a part of a building he owned. So the Australians could not sell or do anything with that part of the building they owned. This Act was a great relief.

Now you must be wondering what a strata is? Actually a strata can be applied to town houses, duplex, villas, offices, retails or factories. The Strata is a system that was introduced for handling legal portions of a building which was known as "lots". After the introduction of the Strata Act, the owner of a particular building was entitled to a Certificate of Title, for whichever part of the building he was owning. This is known as the Strata Title. This title enables the owner to do whatever he wants with the part of the building he owns.

Since the owner title was introduced many owners decided to buy these lots. And all these owners then formed into a Body Corporate which was known as Strata Company. All these owners automatically became a member of this Body Corporate. Then it was decided that somebody has to act on behalf of these members. On this basis a Body Corporate manager was fixed to look into their matters and manage the common property area of the divided building. The common properties can be swimming pool, tennis court, gym, meeting room etc and all the owners of the building has to contribute to the maintenance of the common property.

Sometimes lands are developed and a number of individual units or strata lots are build, which is then purchased and occupied by different owners. This type of scheme was known as Strata Scheme. The owners who come under this scheme form a Owner's Corporation. A executive committee is set up who makes decisions on behalf of the corporation.

When a building is shared by many number of dwellers, all these dwellers have shared responsibility regarding the building and the common property. This is known as Strata Management. The Strata Management is also known as Body Corporate Management in Australia.

Body Corporate manager