If you have a large strata scheme — whether it’s residential apartments or mixed-use lots — a specialist building manager can be an excellent investment.
A building manager works closely with strata managers and owners corporations to help ensure the smooth running of your building, ensure it’s well maintained and looked after, and enhance its value. Here are eight reasons why it’s worth considering.
1. Organising and Managing Repairs and Maintenance
Building managers — whether they’re full time or part time — are responsible for maintaining all areas of common property. They provide on-site oversight of all tradespeople and any repairs and maintenance work, ensuring it’s completed quickly and to a high standard while causing minimal disruption to residents and tenants.
They have established relationships with a wide range of contractors and tradespeople so can obtain better rates, and they can deal with emergencies quickly and efficiently. They also plan and implement longer-term maintenance and repair programs, ensuring a streamlined approach to managing the value of your block.
2. Dealing With the Inevitable Emergency
Building managers are readily on hand to deal with the inevitable emergency — whether it’s a broken garage door, a broken-down lift, or a failed hot water system. When something stops working, there’s a known person who responds rather than a scramble to work out who to call.
3. They Know the Property Intimately
A building manager’s day-to-day presence means they can identify issues while they’re small and have them fixed before they turn into larger problems. They also ensure building compliance and safety is maintained.
4. Assisting With the Upholding of By-Laws
While building managers can’t enforce by-laws — that remains a matter for the owners corporation — they can ensure all owners and residents are across the by-laws, which prevents many breaches from happening in the first place.
5. Providing Additional Services That Enhance Your Building’s Appeal
A building management firm can provide services that lift the experience of living in or visiting the building — such as concierge, security, cleaning and valet parking — presented and coordinated as part of one management arrangement.
6. Assisting With the Move-In, Move-Out Process
Managed moves mean minimal disruption to residents and guests — lift bookings, access, protection of common areas — and help new and departing residents navigate the process with ease and minimal issues.
7. A Communication Conduit
When it comes to the overall ‘health’ of your building, building managers often act as the conduit of communication between residents, strata managers and the owners corporation — a known, visible person residents can actually reach.
8. Peace of Mind
One of the greatest advantages of having a specialist building manager is the peace of mind it provides. You can rest assured everything will be taken care of swiftly and effectively if you commit the management of your block to a competent organisation. Building managers help to create and maintain a harmonious and positive community.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a building manager and a strata manager?
A strata manager handles the administrative and governance side — levies, insurance, meetings, by-laws and statutory obligations. A building manager handles the physical building day to day — maintenance, contractors, emergencies, security and residents. Most well-run larger buildings have both, working together.
Does our building need a full-time building manager?
Not necessarily — it depends on the building’s size and complexity. Larger buildings with significant plant, facilities and resident turnover often justify an on-site manager, while smaller schemes may be well served by a visiting arrangement. The right model is the one matched to what the building actually needs.
Can a building manager enforce by-laws?
No — enforcement is a matter for the owners corporation, supported by the strata manager. What a building manager does is make sure owners and residents know the by-laws, spot issues early, and keep the committee informed, which prevents most problems before enforcement is ever needed.
Is a building manager worth the cost?
For larger schemes, usually yes — through better contractor rates, problems caught early rather than fixed expensively, properly maintained assets that last their full lifespan, and a building that presents well and holds its value. The cost is visible in the budget; the savings are spread across everything that doesn’t go wrong.
Considering a Building Manager for Your Scheme?
Building Management Australia is a Sydney building management firm — not a strata agent. On-site and visiting building management, maintenance oversight, emergency response, concierge, cleaning and valet services are what we do, and we work alongside your strata manager, who handles governance and by-laws.
If your building could benefit from a specialist building manager, request a proposal at bmaus.com.au or email Andrew directly at andrew@bmaus.com.au.
About the Author
Andrew Veron is the founder of Building Management Australia (BMA), an independent Sydney building management firm established in 1995. BMA is a building management company — not a strata agent — providing on-site and visiting building management, facilities management, concierge, cleaning and valet services to residential, commercial and mixed-use properties. Over the past 30 years, Andrew and the BMA team have managed buildings across the Eastern Suburbs, North Sydney, Inner Sydney, Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, with assets currently valued in excess of $3 billion under management. Because BMA is independent of any strata management firm, committees receive unbiased advice and transparent contractor relationships. Reach Andrew at andrew@bmaus.com.au or bmaus.com.au.
This article is general information only and is not legal advice. The roles and responsibilities of building managers, strata managers and owners corporations are governed by legislation, your scheme’s by-laws and management agreements; owners corporations should obtain advice specific to their circumstances.
