Selling a unit adds the building’s own records to what the buyer receives. In Victoria a seller must include an owners corporation certificate and its accompanying documents in the Section 32 statement; in Queensland the seller must give information about the lot and the scheme it is in before the buyer signs; and in Western Australia the seller must give the buyer certain information before the buyer signs a contract for a lot in a strata titles scheme.
General information, not legal advice. The rules are from Consumer Affairs Victoria, the Queensland Government’s body corporate pages and Landgate in WA. A lawyer or licensed conveyancer can say what a particular contract needs.
4AVictoria: the owners corporation certificate
VICThe certificate comes from the owners corporation, which has 10 business days from a written request, with the fee paid, to issue one to anyone who asks.
The certificate must include, among other things, any notices or orders served on the owners corporation in the last 12 months that are still outstanding. Because a Section 32 statement is sometimes prepared up to 12 months before the sale, Consumer Affairs Victoria suggests buyers either ask for a new certificate before settlement or arrange to inspect the owners corporation register and records.
An owners corporation keeps records under the Owners Corporations Act 2006 and other laws, among them Commonwealth taxation laws and the Building Act 1993. Every owners corporation must keep an owners corporation register. Checking it is free, though the owners corporation can charge a fee for copies of documents, and a copy asked for by someone entitled to inspect the register costs a reasonable fee.
Victorian sale law also bars the sale of a lot affected by an owners corporation unless the seller or the owners corporation holds current insurance of the kind the Owners Corporations Act 2006 requires the owners corporation to have. At open inspections, sellers or their agents must have Consumer Affairs Victoria’s due diligence checklist available, which helps buyers spot issues such as buying into an owners corporation.
4BQueensland: the body corporate papers
QLDThe seller disclosure scheme applies from 1 August 2025. For a lot in a body corporate, the Queensland Government’s page lists what the buyer receives:
- a body corporate certificate, completed on BCCM form 33 (form 34 for specified two-lot schemes) or BUGTA form 18
- a copy of the insurance certificate, with the body corporate certificate
- a copy of the by-laws, and of the improvements register, before the contract is signed
- a copy of the community management statement (CMS) before the contract is signed
- a copy of the register of body corporate assets, if there is one
Levies sit behind those papers. Owners pay regular levies to the body corporate, late payment can attract interest of up to 30% a year and extra costs, and a new owner may be liable for outstanding amounts. For information and help with disputes, Queensland has the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management, whose dispute resolution orders can be searched.
4CWestern Australia: disclosure, then any changes
WAWA strata law sets out the information a seller must give a prospective buyer before the buyer signs. Landgate points sellers to its “Precontractual disclosure statement to the buyer” form, on its strata titles forms page. Consumer Protection WA describes two forms for buyers of strata property: Form 28, listing the information a buyer should receive and their rights if they do not, and Form 29, setting out a new owner’s rights and obligations.
| What happened | What the buyer may do |
|---|---|
| The information was not given before the buyer signed | May have the right to avoid the contract, delay the proposed settlement date, or both |
| It was not given, or was given only after the contract | Delay settlement by 15 days |
| It was given after the contract but before settlement, and would materially prejudice the buyer (the buyer must prove it) | Avoid the contract within 15 working days of receiving it |
The seller’s duty goes on after the contract. Certain changes between contract and settlement, called notifiable variations, have to be given to the buyer in writing, and they come in two types depending on how serious they are. Examples on Landgate’s page include the lot’s area shrinking by 5% or more from what the buyer was told, or the lot’s share of unit entitlements moving by 5% or more. The seller must then give the buyer enough information to judge whether they are materially prejudiced. Landgate encourages a seller caught by the contract avoidance provisions of the Strata Titles Act 1985 to seek legal advice.
4DNew South Wales and the ACT
NSWNSW Fair Trading publishes an approved section 184 certificate form under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. NSW’s pool attachment rule does not apply to a lot in a scheme of more than two lots; the pool sheet has the detail.
ACTStrata is known as unit title in the ACT, and a buyer becomes part of the owners corporation automatically.
The full list of what a NSW or ACT unit seller hands over is not covered here; a lawyer or licensed conveyancer can say what a particular contract needs.