2-lot strata has one structural weakness: there's no tie-breaker. If your neighbour won't respond, won't agree or won't pay, you can't outvote them. But you aren't powerless, and the law provides a ladder — the trick is to climb it in order.
Step 1 — put it in writing, once, clearly
Most "won't cooperate" situations are really "didn't reply to a text". Send a short written request: what needs doing, why (quote, photo, insurance renewal date), what you're asking them to agree to, and by when. Email is fine. Keep a copy. Under the new small-scheme rules the document you're asking them to sign is a written resolution — send the actual resolution, not a description of it.
Step 2 — separate the urgent from the optional
The owners corporation's duty to repair common property (s 106) is not optional and doesn't wait for agreement. If water is coming through a shared roof, get it made safe and keep the invoice — the cost is a common property expense shared by unit entitlement whether or not the other owner signed first, and the Tribunal takes a dim view of an owner who let damage worsen. Cosmetic works and improvements are different: those genuinely need both signatures.
Step 3 — mediation
Before NCAT will hear most strata disputes, the parties must have attempted mediation. NSW Fair Trading offers a free strata mediation service; a private mediator is the alternative. Duplex Strata doesn't mediate or take sides between owners — we give you a plain-English guide to these steps, and for anything contested we recommend speaking to a solicitor.
Step 4 — the Tribunal
If mediation fails, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) can make orders — for example, requiring the owners corporation to carry out repairs (s 232), settling a dispute about contributions, or in an intractable case appointing a compulsory strata managing agent (s 237). Filing fees are modest and most owners represent themselves; the paperwork is where a manager earns their keep.
Unpaid contributions
If a contribution has been properly determined and levied and the other owner won't pay, it's a debt owed to the owners corporation, recoverable with interest at 10% per annum after one month (s 85) and, if necessary, through the Local Court. "Properly determined" is the key — a written budget resolution both owners signed at the start of the year makes this straightforward; a verbal arrangement makes it a fight.
Can I just do the repair and send them half the bill?
For urgent common property repairs, largely yes — the owners corporation must repair, and the cost is shared by unit entitlement. For anything discretionary, no: without the resolution you may be left carrying the cost.
The other lot is a rental and I can't reach the owner.
The strata roll should hold the owner's address for service. If yours doesn't, a title search ($20–40) will give the registered owner. Notices go to the owner, not the tenant.
Will Duplex Strata take my side?
No — we act for the owners corporation, which is both of you. What we will do is make sure the request is clear, the law is stated correctly and the record is kept, which is usually what breaks a stalemate.
- From 1 October 2026 (now in force): 2-lot schemes no longer lodge the annual Strata Hub report (NSW Fair Trading, "Changes to strata laws").
- Small strata scheme rules (no meetings, decisions by written resolution of both owners, new s 7A): in a Bill that has passed the Legislative Assembly and is before the Legislative Council. They start on a date to be proclaimed. Until then, where the law still requires a meeting, we give you a simple template pack so you can hold it yourselves in a few minutes.
- Unchanged: the duty to insure the building for full replacement value in the owners corporation's name, to keep common property in repair, to keep a strata roll and records, and to provide a Section 184 certificate when a lot is sold.