NSW Strata Law Changes: What the April 2026 Reforms Mean for Building Security
A third and final wave of NSW strata legislation reforms took effect on 1 April 2026, and buried within the headline changes to capital works fund planning and buyer disclosure obligations is a provision with direct relevance to building security: security cameras are now explicitly named as a mandatory line item in the Initial Maintenance Schedule (IMS) that developers of new strata schemes must prepare before the first AGM. For strata committees, facilities managers, and building owners across NSW, understanding what this means for your obligations — and your budget — is worth doing now.
The Initial Maintenance Schedule: Security Cameras Now Required
The IMS is a document developers must provide for new strata schemes, detailing maintenance requirements and costs for all common property items over the life of the scheme. Under the April 2026 reforms, the IMS must now be prepared using a government-prescribed standard form and must cover a specific list of building systems — including security cameras, alongside roofing, external walls, lifts, fire safety systems, and pools. Estimated costs and manufacturer warranty details must be included for each item.
For multi-storey developments — any building where lots are stacked one above another — the obligations go further. Developers must engage an independent quantity surveyor, holding recognised qualifications through either the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (AIQS) or the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), to review and certify both the IMS and the initial levy estimates before the first AGM. That surveyor must confirm that levy estimates are adequate to cover the scheme’s actual expected expenditure in its first year.
The practical implication is significant: security camera infrastructure in new strata developments can no longer be an afterthought in financial planning. Developers who understate maintenance costs, set artificially low levies, or omit CCTV from the IMS now face substantial penalties — and independent scrutiny before the scheme is handed to the owners corporation.
Capital Works Fund Planning: Broader Implications for Security Infrastructure
The April 2026 reforms also standardise how existing strata schemes plan their 10-year capital works funds. When an owners corporation prepares a new plan or reviews and replaces an existing one, it must now use a prescribed standard form that cannot be modified. The form requires a year-by-year breakdown of anticipated costs across building systems, including mechanical systems and — by extension — electronic security infrastructure such as CCTV, intercoms, and access control.
Notably, the new standard form encourages schemes to budget for long-life items even if their replacement falls outside the current 10-year window. For building security, this is directly relevant: IP camera systems, NVR or VMS platforms, and access control hardware all have defined lifecycles. An NVR running end-of-life firmware, or an analogue camera system approaching 10–12 years, represents both a security risk and a capital expenditure that should be appearing in a well-prepared fund plan.
Committees that have historically bundled “security equipment” into a vague maintenance line now face a more scrutinised format. A Mallen site audit can help committees establish a documented device register, age profile, and replacement timeline for all electronic security assets — exactly the kind of baseline a strata manager or quantity surveyor will need to produce a compliant, credible capital works fund plan.
Operational Implications for Strata Committees and Facilities Managers
These reforms create a clearer accountability chain for building security infrastructure across the strata sector in NSW. Here is what committees and facilities managers should be considering:
- New developments: If you are on the committee of a newly registered scheme, verify before your first AGM that the developer has provided a compliant IMS on the prescribed form, that security cameras are itemised with estimated maintenance costs and warranty details, and that an independent quantity surveyor has certified the document and levy estimates for multi-storey buildings.
- Existing schemes due for a capital works fund review: When your plan comes up for review, ensure electronic security systems — CCTV, intercom, and access control — are documented as discrete line items with realistic replacement timelines, not bundled into a catch-all maintenance category.
- Buyers and their advisers: From 1 April 2026, Section 184 certificates must also disclose embedded network arrangements. Where a building’s security or communications infrastructure runs on a privately operated embedded network, this is now a required disclosure — worth factoring into due diligence.
- Move-in bonds: Owners corporations must ensure any bond charged for a move involving goods lifts or common property access is proportionate to the actual risk of damage. Excessive bonds are now challengeable at the Tribunal.
It is also worth noting that the reform package references further changes still to come later in 2026. Strata committees should stay engaged with their strata managers for updates as additional regulations are gazetted.
The broader direction is clear: NSW strata legislation is moving toward greater transparency, standardisation, and financial accountability across all building systems. Security infrastructure — long treated as an optional or informal budget item in many schemes — is now named explicitly in the legislation’s maintenance planning framework. Committees that approach this proactively, with documented asset registers and realistic lifecycle costings, will be better positioned both for compliance and for avoiding the kind of surprise special levies that have historically followed deferred maintenance in this sector.
Original source: https://jamesons.com.au/blog/nsw-strata-law-changes-from-1-april-2026/