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Strata electrical: who's responsible for what.
by David Millar · Licensed electrician REC-22849Strata electrical disputes usually start with the same question: is this common property or is it mine? The answer determines who authorises the work and who pays. Here's how it works in Victoria.
Strata electrical work generates more confusion than almost any other type of job we do. A lot owner calls about a switchboard issue, and it turns out to be in the basement, which is common property, and the owners corporation needs to be involved. Or a tenant complains about a lighting failure in the car park, and the lot owner refers them to the OC, who refers them back to the lot owner.
Getting clarity on who's responsible for what is worth doing before anything fails. Here's how responsibility works in Victoria, and what it means in practice for lot owners and owners corporation managers.
The legal framework: Owners Corporations Act 2006 and the plan of subdivision
In Victoria, strata title buildings are governed by the Owners Corporations Act 2006. The legislation establishes that the owners corporation (OC) is responsible for managing and maintaining common property, while lot owners are responsible for everything within their lot.
The critical document for working out which is which is the plan of subdivision, the registered plan lodged with Land Use Victoria that defines the boundaries of each lot. The plan shows where each lot starts and ends, and by implication what's common property.
For electrical purposes, the key question is: does the electrical infrastructure in question sit inside the lot boundary, or outside it? The lot boundary is usually defined as the inner surface of the external walls, floors and ceilings. In a standard apartment, the wiring inside the apartment (from the lot boundary inward) is the lot owner's responsibility. The wiring from the main switchboard to the lot boundary (including risers, sub-mains and metering) is typically common property.
This isn't always clear-cut. Some plans define boundaries differently, and some older buildings predate modern strata legislation. If there's genuine ambiguity, get the plan of subdivision and read it, or get advice from a strata lawyer.
The main switchboard in a residential apartment block
In a typical multi-storey residential apartment building, the main switchboard is almost always common property. It's usually located in a ground-floor or basement electrical room, well outside any individual lot boundary. It serves the whole building. The OC is responsible for its maintenance, safety and upgrade.
Individual apartment switchboards (the distribution board inside each apartment) are lot property. The lot owner is responsible for maintaining them and for any upgrades required (for example, adding RCDs or upgrading circuit breakers when renovating).
The sub-main cables running from the main switchboard to each apartment's meter or distribution board are common property. They're part of the infrastructure that serves the whole building, even though they serve individual lots. If a sub-main fails, the OC is responsible for the repair.
Commercial strata
In commercial strata (an office or retail complex subdivided into separate lots) the split is similar in principle but can be more complex in practice.
The base-build electrical infrastructure (the main switchboard, the distribution to individual tenancy boards, common area power and lighting) is common property and the OC's responsibility. What's inside each tenancy (the distribution board within the lot, the circuits, the power and lighting within the space) is lot property.
The complication arises in older commercial strata buildings where the tenancy fitout electrical work was done decades ago and the distinction between what's base-build and what's tenant fitout is blurred. In these cases, a licensed electrician needs to trace circuits and document what's where before any significant work is undertaken.
Common area lighting
Common area lighting (stairwells, corridors, car parks, lobbies, external path lighting) is unambiguously common property and the OC's responsibility. This includes the light fittings, the wiring, the switch circuits, and any emergency lighting systems.
Emergency lighting in common areas is a specific maintenance obligation. Under the NCC and AS/NZS 2293, emergency lighting must be tested regularly (six-monthly discharge tests under AS/NZS 2293.2, with a full system inspection annually) and records kept in the building's logbook. This is an OC obligation, not a lot owner obligation, and it's one that gets overlooked in self-managed OCs more often than it should.
If you manage a strata property and you're unsure whether your emergency lighting testing is up to date, that's worth checking before your next insurance renewal.
EV chargers in strata: the current situation
EV charging is the issue that's generating the most questions in strata at the moment, and the most friction. The basic split works like this:
Individual lot-based charging (single EV charger for a single car space): If a lot owner wants to install a charger in their car space, they need the OC's approval to run electrical infrastructure through common property (the car park area, the riser, the distribution board) to reach their lot. The OC considers the proposal, and the lot owner bears the cost of running the sub-circuit.
The practical challenge is that many older apartment buildings have limited electrical capacity in the main switchboard and insufficient capacity in the car park distribution to support multiple EV chargers. When one lot owner installs a charger, the next few are manageable. When 15 lots all want chargers, the main switchboard may need an upgrade, which is common property and the OC's responsibility.
Shared charging infrastructure (managed charging for the whole complex): Some OCs are proactively installing shared EV charging infrastructure as a capital works project, funded through the maintenance fund. This treats EV charging as a building amenity rather than a series of individual lot upgrades. The shared infrastructure approach allows load management (the chargers share the available capacity and charge vehicles overnight) which avoids overloading the switchboard. This is increasingly the approach we recommend for buildings with more than 20 lots.
Under the Owners Corporations Act, the OC can levy members for capital works projects through a special levy or through the maintenance fund. For lot owners wanting to push for shared EV infrastructure, the path is a motion at the OC meeting with a proposal and costings.
Approvals for work touching common property
Any electrical work that touches common property requires OC approval. This isn't bureaucratic gatekeeping. Any work on common property affects all lot owners, and the OC has maintenance obligations for what it owns.
In practice, a lot owner wanting to do electrical work that involves common property (running a new sub-circuit through the car park, upgrading their meter, connecting to the main switchboard) needs to:
- Submit a proposal to the OC or OC manager
- Get written approval from the OC (at a meeting or by resolution)
- Use a licensed electrical contractor
- Ensure a Certificate of Electrical Safety (COES) is issued for the work
The COES is important. It's the regulated certificate issued by the licensed electrician's Registered Electrical Contractor confirming the work complies with the wiring rules, lodged with Energy Safe Victoria, with a copy to the customer. Without a COES, the work isn't formally completed from a compliance perspective, and it can create issues when the lot is sold.
OC maintenance fund obligations for electrical infrastructure
The Owners Corporations Act requires OCs (above a certain number of lots) to have a maintenance plan that covers the maintenance, repair and replacement of common property. For larger residential buildings, this includes the main switchboard, common area wiring, emergency lighting, and any other common electrical infrastructure.
Switchboards in older apartment buildings (particularly those built before the 1990s) often need upgrade work. Older equipment may not have the RCD protection required under current regulations for new work, and the switchboard may not have the capacity to accommodate modern loads including EV chargers. These upgrades are common property capital works, funded by the OC maintenance fund or special levy.
For OC managers working with buildings in Melbourne's eastern suburbs (Ringwood, Box Hill, Nunawading) we regularly provide condition reports on common electrical infrastructure that can feed into a maintenance plan. If you're updating your OC's maintenance fund schedule and need an assessment of the switchboard and common area electrical systems, that's something we can help with.
For strata electrical work, both for individual lot owners and owners corporations, contact us about our strata electrical services.