What should a strata roof maintenance schedule include?
A workable strata roof schedule has three layers: gutter and drainage clearing before each storm season, a documented visual roof inspection annually, and a condition report with photographs every few years to inform the capital works fund. The documentation matters as much as the work, because it is what justifies spending to owners.
Last reviewed 10 September 2026
Strata committees are not short of roofing opinions. What they are usually short of is a record: which parts of the roof were looked at, when, by whom, and what was found. A schedule is how that gets built.
The three layers worth separating
- Drainage maintenance, before each storm season. Gutters, downpipes, box gutters, sumps and rainheads cleared and tested. This is the item that prevents internal damage claims.
- An annual documented visual inspection. Flashings, ridge capping, valleys, penetrations and any membrane or box gutter, with photographs attached to the report.
- A periodic condition report. A broader assessment of remaining service life, written to inform the capital works fund rather than to fix anything immediately.
Separate the cleaning from the inspecting. A contractor clearing a gutter is not assessing a roof, and a committee that conflates the two ends up with neither on record.
What to ask for in writing
- Photographs of what was inspected, not only of what was defective. Absence of a photograph is how a dispute starts.
- A clear scope statement naming the areas covered and the areas not reachable safely on that visit.
- Defects separated into urgent, monitor, and capital, so the committee can sequence spending rather than react to it.
- Safe Work Method Statements and current insurance certificates held on file, so the next visit does not restart the paperwork.
The items that cause most of the trouble
On older Shire and St George blocks it is consistently box gutters and the flashings into parapet walls. Both are concealed, both fail slowly, and both discharge inside the building envelope rather than outside it, so the first symptom is usually a ceiling in a top-floor unit rather than anything visible on the roof.
How we work with managers
We work from your work order on a 30-day account, and we report with photographs and itemised findings so a committee can read it without a roofing background. We have done this for real estate and strata managers across the area for over thirty years.
What we do about it
Also asked
Related questions
A documented visual inspection once a year suits most blocks, with drainage clearing before each storm season and a fuller condition report every few years. Blocks with box gutters, membranes or heavy tree cover justify more frequent drainage attention than that baseline.
Roofs are usually common property, so the owners corporation generally carries them rather than an individual lot owner. The boundary can vary with the strata plan and any by-laws, so confirm it with your strata manager before committing to works.
Yes. We provide written reports with photographs, a stated scope, and findings separated into urgent, monitor and capital items, which is the format committees can act on and keep on file.
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