What is a Strata Title Inspection Report? - History in a Hurry!

Owners Corporations are required to keep Accounts, Minutes of Meetings, Correspondence and other records to properly manage the building.

An OPR Strata Records Report will provide information on Funds, Levies, Insurance, Litigation, Building Alterations and Maintenance, By-laws, Fire Orders and sometimes Social Problems.

Why Purchase a strata title inspection report

When you buy a unit you are buying a share in the business of the building. You become responsible for problems in all the units, not just your own.

Since the privatisation of certification even basic building standards have been inadequately documented. Many older apartment buildings built in the 1960's and 1970's are undergoing major upgrades - or should be.

OPR strata inspectors are trained to identify and report on problems which should have an affect on the purchase price and purchase decision.

We do a wide variety of strata inspections every day and every member of our team has learned to read and interpret Owners Corporation information so you get an independent view of the property you want to buy.

Horror Stories - Things The Agent Didn't Mention

Different types of Strata Reports

We regularly inspect the records of Company Title Buildings, Community Associations, Neighbourhood Associations and Building Management Committees.

These are all different ways of sharing the ownership of land and buildings and they have their own special characteristics. At OPR we deal with these differences all the time and we are familiar with all of them. Have a look at our paper on Multiple Entity Buildings.

You are entitled to expect.

• OPR is independent - we are working for you.
• Quick response time.
• Records are inspected using systems we have developed over 20 years.
• We train our own strata inspectors.
• Copies of important supporting documents are enclosed at no extra cost.
• All reports reviewed by senior staff prior to delivery.
• Special instructions/questions welcomed.
• Follow up enquiries welcomed.

There are limits - Records may be incomplete or poorly organised.

• Try making sense of an archive box of random sheets of paper - yes it happens.
• Current project files may be separated from the records because someone is working on them right now.
• Owners Corporations almost never record the completion of projects - they just stop spending money.
• Building Defects may be handled directly with the builder - no money changes hands - no records are created.
• The Owners may be deliberately withholding information.
• Legal action complicates everything. We try to get the essence of the matter but it is often not clear.
• Legal action often means some documents are with the solicitor. We can't see them.

There are limits - We try to avoid destroying entire forests.

• Some building defects reports are supplied as electronic copies only. Sometimes hundreds of pages.
• We extract the summaries from most technical reports.
  Many contain a lot of compliance information which is of little use to a general reader and has no bearing on the purchase decision. Fire safety reports may contain Australian Standards information on recommended equipment. Pest inspection reports have information on the species of termites found in Australia.

NSW Office of Fair Trading

General information on buying into a Strata Scheme.