NSW Capital Works Fund Plans: Mandatory Standard Forms
In force since 1 April 2026. Format changed, not the arithmetic.
Capital works fund plans in NSW now require a mandatory standard form
In force since 1 April 2026, and it affects every NSW strata scheme.
NSW Fair Trading has introduced mandatory standard forms for capital works fund plans, together with new sustainability requirements.
The trap in this one
A plan can be entirely sound on the numbers and still be non compliant now, because the format changed rather than the arithmetic.
Committees that had a plan professionally prepared in 2023 or 2024 tend to assume they are covered until the next five year review falls due. The forms requirement does not wait for that review.
What has not changed
Section 80 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 still requires an owners corporation to prepare a ten year plan of anticipated major expenditure, running from the scheme’s first annual general meeting, reviewed at least once every five years. Where the original owner supplied an initial maintenance schedule, that still has to be taken into account when the first plan is prepared.
The obligation is the same. The presentation is not.
Initial maintenance schedules too
From the same date, initial maintenance schedules provided by developers must follow a prescribed template. Schemes coming out of developer control should check what they were handed.
What to do
- Find out when your capital works fund plan was last prepared
- If that was before April 2026, check whether it meets the current form requirement
- Where a review is due anyway, deal with both at once rather than twice
More background in our guide to sinking fund forecasts and capital works funds, or call 07 5573 4011.
