Capital Works Fund Forecasts for NSW Strata Schemes
Ten year plans prepared under section 80, inspected and costed properly.
If your scheme is in New South Wales, the fund you need is called a capital works fund. The term replaced “sinking fund” under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, and the obligation attached to it is not optional.
Section 80 of that Act requires every owners corporation to prepare a plan of anticipated major expenditure covering a ten year period. The clock starts at the scheme’s first annual general meeting. The plan has to be reviewed at least once every five years, and where an initial maintenance schedule was provided by the original owner, that schedule has to be taken into account when the first plan is drawn up.
What changed in April 2026
From 1 April 2026, NSW Fair Trading introduced mandatory standard forms along with new sustainability requirements. Schemes that prepared a plan under the old approach will find the presentation expectations have shifted, even where the underlying numbers have not.
This matters more than it sounds. A plan that was compliant in 2024 may no longer be in the right format.
Why committees get this wrong
Two failure modes come up repeatedly.
The first is a plan that exists on paper but was never costed properly. Someone estimated the roof at a round number five years ago, nobody revisited it, and the fund is now short by a margin the committee cannot levy its way out of in one year.
The second is the opposite problem. Levies are set high, owners complain, and there is no defensible document explaining what the money is for. Without a properly prepared forecast the committee is arguing from opinion.
Both are avoidable.
What we prepare
Seymour Consultants has been preparing fund forecasts for bodies corporate and strata schemes since 2001. Our quantity surveyors are members of the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, so the cost estimates in your plan come from people who cost buildings for a living rather than from a generic template.
A forecast from us covers:
- An inspection of the common property, so the condition assessment reflects your building rather than a desktop assumption
- Identification of major capital items over the plan period, with expected replacement timing
- Current cost estimates for each item, and the projected cost at the point of expenditure
- A year by year contribution schedule the committee can actually adopt
- A document written to be read by owners, not only by accountants
Queensland and New South Wales are different
We work across both, and the distinction is worth understanding if your portfolio spans the border.
Queensland schemes operate under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 and use the term sinking fund forecast. New South Wales schemes use the capital works fund and the ten year plan under section 80. The engineering work behind the two is similar. The statutory framing, terminology and review cycle are not.
Getting the terminology right is not pedantry. A document headed “sinking fund forecast” handed to a NSW owners corporation invites the question of whether the preparer understood which jurisdiction they were working in.
Where we work in New South Wales
Our NSW coverage runs from the Queensland border south to Port Macquarie. That takes in the Tweed, Byron Bay, Ballina, Lismore, Grafton, Coffs Harbour and the mid north coast. We are based on the Gold Coast, which puts our inspectors within comfortable reach of the northern rivers and the coast below it.
How it works
Three steps.
Consultation. We establish the scheme details, the age and construction of the building, what records already exist and when your next review falls due.
Site inspection and analysis. An inspector attends, assesses the common property and captures the condition of each major asset. The costing work happens after that, not before.
Delivery and support. You receive the completed forecast. If the committee has questions when it goes to a general meeting, we are contactable.
Frequently asked questions
Is a capital works fund plan compulsory in NSW?
Yes. Section 80 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 requires an owners corporation to prepare a ten year plan of anticipated major expenditure.
How often does it need reviewing?
At least once every five years under section 80. An owners corporation can also review, revise or replace the plan by resolution at a general meeting at any point, and in practice it is worth doing after any significant capital works.
Can the committee prepare its own plan?
Nothing in the Act requires a professional preparer. In practice, committees that do it themselves tend to underestimate replacement costs and struggle to defend the numbers when owners object. The value in a professionally prepared plan is that the figures hold up.
Do you inspect the building or work from documents?
We inspect. A forecast built from plans and assumptions alone will miss the condition issues that drive real expenditure.
What if our scheme sits in Queensland?
We prepare sinking fund forecasts for Queensland bodies corporate as well. Ask us for the Queensland service and we will scope it under the BCCM framework.
To discuss a capital works fund forecast for your scheme, call 07 5573 4011 or email info@seymourconsultants.com.au.
