Selling your half: the Section 184 certificate explained
When a duplex lot sells, the buyer's conveyancer will ask for a Section 184 certificate. What it is, who must provide it, the 14-day deadline, the regulated fee, and why self-managed duplexes get stuck.
The moment a duplex goes under contract, an email arrives from the buyer's conveyancer: "Please provide a Section 184 certificate." For a self-managed scheme this is often the first time anyone has heard of it.
What it is
Section 184 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 entitles an owner, mortgagee or prospective purchaser to a certificate from the owners corporation setting out the financial and administrative state of the lot and the scheme: the levies determined and any unpaid, the insurance in place, the by-laws, the names on the strata roll, whether a manager is appointed, and more. The buyer relies on it — a purchaser generally isn't liable for arrears the certificate didn't disclose.
Who provides it and when
The owners corporation must provide it within 14 days of a written request accompanied by the prescribed fee. Where there's a managing agent, the agent issues it. Where there isn't, one of the two owners has to produce it — including the insurance particulars, unit entitlements and levy position — and sign it on behalf of the owners corporation.
The fee
The fee is set by the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 (Schedule 4) and adjusted each 1 July — currently $109 + GST, or $94 + GST for a repeat request within three months. It's paid by whoever requests the certificate, usually the vendor's or buyer's conveyancer.
Why self-managed duplexes get stuck
To fill in the certificate you need, in one place: the strata roll, the current insurance certificate with sum insured and expiry, the by-laws (registered or not), the budget and each lot's contributions, any unpaid amounts, and the record of decisions. If those don't exist, the certificate can't be completed honestly — and a conveyancer will not settle on a blank one. We've seen settlements delayed by weeks while owners reconstruct paperwork that should have taken an afternoon.
How Duplex Strata handles it
Because the roll, insurance, budget and resolutions are already in the vault, we issue the certificate within about 36 business hours of the request and payment, sealed and signed by a licensed manager, direct to the conveyancer. The fee is the regulated fee; there's nothing on top.
Does a two-lot scheme still need to provide a Section 184 certificate under the new rules?
Yes. The small-scheme reforms remove meetings, not the certificate. Section 184 continues to apply.
Who signs it if there's no manager?
An owner, on behalf of the owners corporation, applying the common seal in the presence of the persons the Act requires (s 273). Getting this wrong is a common reason certificates are rejected.
What if the insurance isn't in order when we sell?
The certificate must disclose the true position. A buyer's conveyancer seeing no valid strata policy will usually require it to be fixed before settlement — another reason to have the annual insurance check done before you list.
- 1 October 2026: two-lot schemes stop lodging 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 hold a short online one for you at no extra cost.
- 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.
No meetings, no commissions, no money handled. Both owners sign online.