Strata & real estate · Canberra & ACT
Strata and real-estate work
The most reliable repeat work in Canberra, and the work most likely to go sideways over one question: who's actually paying for this?
Settle who's instructing you before you turn up. In an ACT unit-titled complex, some things belong to the individual owner and some to the owners corporation, and the person who called you isn't always the one who can authorise the spend. Get the instruction from the manager, agent or executive committee in writing, with an approval limit and an invoicing address, before the first visit. Nearly every unpaid strata invoice started as a verbal from a resident.
Where the work comes from
Strata and owners corporation managers
Common property: roofs, gutters, lighting, gates, car parks, bin rooms.
Common property: roofs, gutters, lighting, gates, car parks, bin rooms.
Property managers
Tenant-reported repairs, with a spend limit and a turnaround expectation.
Tenant-reported repairs, with a spend limit and a turnaround expectation.
Sales agents
Pre-listing repairs and presentation work, always against an auction date.
Pre-listing repairs and presentation work, always against an auction date.
Individual owners
Inside their own lot, or things the corporation has knocked back.
Inside their own lot, or things the corporation has knocked back.
Building managers
Larger complexes in Kingo, Braddo, Gunners and Belco.
Larger complexes in Kingo, Braddo, Gunners and Belco.
Buyers before settlement
Quoting off a building report, usually at short notice.
Quoting off a building report, usually at short notice.
What this work actually demands
- Answering the phone beats being cheapest. A manager with forty properties will use the tradie who picks up and turns up, and will keep using them for years. It's the most valuable habit in the trade.
- A written scope and an approval limit. "Attend, diagnose, don't exceed $X without approval" protects both sides.
- Tenant liaison. Someone has to arrange access with a person who didn't choose you. Doing that politely is half your reputation.
- Photos with the invoice. Managers have to justify the spend to an owner or a committee. Give them what they need and your invoices get approved faster.
- Insurance and licences on file, current, before you're added to a panel.
- Patience with the paperwork. Committees meet when they meet. Quotes sometimes sit. That's the trade-off for work that keeps coming.
Typical jobs
Leaking roof or balcony
Common area lighting
Car park gate or roller door
Intercom faults
Gutter clearing
Fence and gate repairs
Blocked common drains
Safety switch and smoke alarm checks
Make-good between tenants
Water damage to a lot below
Balustrade and stair repairs
Graffiti and vandalism
If you manage properties, tell us
- Whether it's common property or inside a lot, if you already know.
- Your approval limit and who signs off above it.
- Access arrangements and when the tenant's around.
- Whether you want a quote or an attendance, because they're different jobs.
- How many properties you look after. If you're after someone ongoing rather than for one job, say so — it changes who responds.