This article discusses strata rules about accessibility infrastructure in NSW.
Question: Can an owner with mobility issues install a ramp and pathway to replace stairs at their unit entrance? Can the owners corporation refuse this request?
I own a ground-floor unit at the front of a small suburban complex. Current access requires me to walk across the front lawn and up three steps to my verandah to open my front door. As I have arthritis and other health issues, I am losing mobility and becoming disabled. Walking across the spongy lawn is difficult, and the stairs are becoming unmanageable. There is no banister.
I would like to replace the three steps with a ramp and pathway wide enough for a wheelchair or mobility scooter, connecting my front door to the street footpath. I have sufficient funds to cover at least some, if not all, of the cost. Am I legally allowed to make these modifications? Can the owners corporation or strata manager refuse me, and what process do I need to follow?
Answer: Based only on the enquiry, it appears the changes could be accessibility infrastructure, which means it is specially resolved if there’s 50% support of a work by-law at a general meeting (instead of 75%).
This query appears very specific, and I would suggest seeking legal advice.
In general, in respect of strata schemes, changes to common property of this scale are not likely to be cosmetic or minor works and would need to be made by a special resolution pursuant to section 108 of the Strata Scheme Management Act 2025. However, where the change to the common property is for accessibility infrastructure, pursuant to section 5(1)(b)(iii), a special resolution can be merely 50% (but it’s still a special resolution).
The terms “accessibility infrastructure” and “accessibility infrastructure resolution” are defined in section 4, and notability accessibility infrastructure is defined to be a change to common property:
to facilitate a person with a disability having access to–
- the common property, or
- the lot in the strata scheme in which the person resides.
Based only on the enquiry, it appears the changes could be accessibility infrastructure, which means it is specially resolved if there’s 50% support of a work by-law at a general meeting (instead of 75%).
If the lot owner wants to be responsible in part or in full for the works, section 108(3) to (6) allows the works by-law to be made with such conditions. An offer by a lot owner to be responsible for the works might attract greater support from the owners corporation to approve the works.
In answering the direct questions:
Are you legally allowed to make these modifications?
Changes to common property would require approval of the owners corporation, unless it’s cosmetic work, and that approval is with a by-law, unless it’s minor works.
Can the owners corporation or strata manager refuse?
The strata manager cannot approve or refuse. As this is common property of the owners corporation, the owners corporation, at a general meeting, approves or refuses the works.
What process do you need to follow to make this happen?
The lot owner would need to propose a work by-law for the upcoming general meeting agenda.
Matthew Lo Kerin Benson Lawyers E: enquiries@kerinbensonlawyers.com.au P: 02 8706 7060
This post appears in the October 2025 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
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