Guide for strata managers and committees

Choosing a remedial builder

Remedial work usually reaches a committee as an engineer's report, a specification and a handful of quotes that are hard to compare. The builder you choose decides whether that specification is carried out as written, on budget, with residents still living in the building.

This guide sets out what to check before you appoint anyone, us included. It is short on purpose: use it as a checklist at your next committee meeting.

The engineer specifies. The builder prices and delivers.

On most strata remedial jobs the owners corporation engages a consulting engineer first. The engineer finds the cause of the defect and writes the specification. The builder prices that specification and carries it out.

	Consulting engineer	Remedial builder
Before tender	Inspects, finds the cause, writes the specification	Walks the building, tests access and buildability, prices the specification
On a Class 2 building	Prepares the regulated design and signs the design compliance declaration	Lodges the design and declarations on the NSW Planning Portal and signs the building compliance declaration
During the work	Inspects at agreed hold points and certifies progress	Builds to the specification, manages residents and site, records the work

On apartment buildings (Class 2), the NSW Design and Building Practitioners scheme makes this split formal for remedial work: a registered design practitioner prepares the design, and the builder lodges it with the declarations (NSW Government).

Keep the roles separate. A builder that writes the scope it then prices is checking its own work. A good builder still has plenty to add before tender: where the specification is hard to build, hard to reach, or likely to change once the old work is opened up.

A checklist for any builder

Nine checks to run on every builder you are considering. The first three are matters of law; the rest are good practice.

1. Contractor licence. Required by law. Ask for the licence number, in the builder's company name. A licence is required for residential building work over $5,000 including GST (NSW Government). Check it on Verify NSW.
2. Class 2 registration. Required by law. Ask for the building practitioner registration number. A builder doing or overseeing work on an apartment building must be registered as a building practitioner (NSW Government). Check it through Service NSW.
3. Variations in writing. Required by law. Home building contracts over $20,000 must say that variations are in writing and signed by both parties (NSW Government). Ask how the builder prices them, and insist each one is approved before the work is done.
4. Insurance. Ask for current certificates of currency for public liability, contract works and workers compensation, and check the limits and expiry dates against what your strata manager requires. Where home building compensation cover applies, check the certificate on HBC Check.
5. References. Ask for two or three strata managers and engineers from similar buildings. Homeowner reviews say little about strata work. Ask the referees whether the job finished on budget and whether they would use the builder again.
6. Comparable pricing. Ask for a price set out against the same specification, trade by trade. Lay the quotes side by side, line by line. Provisional sums, quantities and exclusions should be stated, not left out. A much lower price usually means something is missing.
7. Occupied buildings. Ask how residents, access, noise, common areas and security will be managed, for a sample resident notice, and how the site will be set up.
8. Method to the committee. Ask whether the builder will present its method and program before contract. A builder confident in its method will explain it in plain words and take questions.
9. No inducements. Ask for confirmation that no gift, commission or benefit is offered to anyone involved. A strata managing agent may not accept gifts or benefits over $60, and must disclose commissions and connections with suppliers (NSW Government).

How we work

Every job runs the same way, from the engineer's report to the end of the defects period, with one director accountable throughout.

1. Inspect. We walk the building with the engineer's report or specification in hand, and photograph every defect we are asked to price.
2. Scope. We write the scope against the engineer's specification, in the engineer's own wording, broken into trade packages the committee can follow.
3. Price. Pricing is trade by trade. Provisional sums and quantities are stated, and exclusions are listed plainly.
4. Deliver. Resident notices, safe access, protected common areas, and regular reports to the engineer and strata manager.
5. Certify. The engineer inspects at agreed hold points. On apartment buildings we lodge the design and declarations the Design and Building Practitioners scheme requires.
6. Hand over. Warranties and maintenance advice, and we come back for the defects period.

We are glad to be involved before tender. Walking the building with the engineer early tests access, buildability and cost before the specification is fixed.

What we bring

• An architect reads the building. Alexander Housalas, our director, is an architect. He looks at how water, structure and finishes work together, and why a repair failed before.
• The engineer's words, unchanged. Our scope keeps the specification's wording, broken into trade packages, so the committee can check our price against the engineer's document.
• Pricing you can compare. Trade by trade, with provisional sums, quantities and exclusions stated plainly.
• Occupied buildings are our normal. Most of our work is done with residents at home.
• Registered for Class 2. Building practitioner registration BUP0002567 and contractor licence 302815C.
• Ten years on a government panel. We have been an approved panel builder for NSW Trustee & Guardian for more than ten years.

Two recent jobs

This guide is general information, not legal advice. The rules above were checked against NSW Government sources in October 2026.