So the washing machine in the communal laundry of the property that you manage is broken. Again.
Maybe you heard about it from a frustrated resident. Maybe you got a call from the building manager. Either way, it’s landed on your desk, and now you’re the one who needs to sort it out; try and find a tradesperson, keep the owners corporation informed, field complaints, and somehow get a repair happening before the next strata committee meeting turns into a grievance session.
Here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to work this way. Some buildings have moved to a model where the equipment, installation, maintenance, and repairs are all handled by a specialist provider, at no cost to the owners corporation. If that sounds worth knowing more about before you wade through the repair process, Nina’s Laundrette offers exactly that for strata buildings across Australia.
But if you’re dealing with a breakdown right now and need to know what to do, this guide has you covered. If you’re a strata manager or a member of an owners corporation committee, especially if you’re newer to the role, here’s exactly what you’re legally required to do, how to handle it step by step, and what questions are worth asking before you just call for another repair.
First Things First: Whose Job Is This?
Shared laundry rooms are common property. That means the owners corporation is legally responsible for maintaining them. not individual lot owners, not the building manager, and not the resident who first noticed the machine was making a terrible noise.
Under Section 106 of the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, the owners corporation must “properly maintain and keep in a state of good and serviceable repair” all common property. Victoria’s Owners Corporations Act 2006 and Queensland’s Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 carry equivalent obligations.
Since October 2025, NSW Fair Trading has expanded powers here. If an owners corporation is found to have failed its maintenance obligations, Fair Trading can now require it to submit a written repair action plan with specific deadlines. That’s a meaningful shift from what was previously a slower, tribunal-only enforcement path.
The bottom line: when shared laundry equipment breaks down, the owners corporation needs to act. And you, as the strata manager or committee member, need to make sure that happens.
Step 1 — Document the Fault
Before anything else, get it in writing and get it documented. This matters more than it might seem.
Strata disputes about maintenance drag on when there’s no clear paper trail. If a repair stalls and a resident eventually takes the matter to NCAT, VCAT, or QCAT, your documentation is what anchors the timeline. A timestamped photo and a clear written fault description are far more useful than “we knew it was broken, we just couldn’t get a tradesperson out.”
Ask the person who reported the fault to provide:
- A photo of the fault (error codes, visible damage, water on the floor)
- The machine number or location (“Machine 2, Level 3 laundry, left-side unit”)
- The date and time they first noticed it
If there’s already an out-of-order notice on the machine, photograph that separately. It may be relevant if the fault turns out to be a recurring one.
Step 2 — Report It in Writing and Activate the Process
Verbal reports don’t create a legal repair obligation. Written notice to the strata manager does.
If you’re the strata manager receiving the report, log it immediately with a timestamp and acknowledge receipt in writing to the lot owner or committee member who reported it. If you’re on the committee, make sure the strata manager faults their system, not just a text to someone’s personal number.
What a written fault report should include:
- The nature of the fault and which machine is affected
- Date the fault was reported and by whom
- Any relevant photos attached
- A request for written acknowledgment and a repair timeframe
Once the report is lodged, the clock starts. Under NSW law, a two-to-four week window without any action is where you start to have a problem. Delays beyond two months without a documented repair plan have been treated as a breach of the statutory maintenance duty.
Step 3 — Know What You’re Authorised to Do
One of the most common sticking points for newer committee members is understanding what can be approved without a full general meeting.
In NSW, the strata committee can approve repairs costing less than $30,000 without going to a general meeting of all owners. For repairs above that threshold, at least two independent quotes are required unless the fault qualifies as an emergency.
What counts as an emergency? A fault that poses an immediate risk to health, safety, or building security. In a laundry context, this might include a machine flooding a common area, or an electrical fault creating a safety hazard. Emergency repairs are exempt from the quoting requirement and can proceed immediately.
For non-emergency faults, your standard washing machine won’t drain, a malfunctioning door seal, error code that won’t clear. The standard repair process applies: get a quote, approve it through the appropriate channel, and schedule the work.
In Victoria, if a tradesperson needs to access a private lot to reach the laundry room, the owners corporation must provide at least 7 days’ written notice before entry (except in genuine emergencies).
Step 4 — Check Whether It’s a Maintenance Issue or an Insurance Event
This step gets skipped more often than it should.
Strata schemes in NSW and Victoria are required to hold building insurance. A machine failure caused by a sudden electrical fault, a burst water connection, or third-party damage may qualify as an insurable event. This means the building’s insurer could cover the cost in full, rather than the administrative fund being drawn down.
Before you get repair quotes, ask the strata manager to check the building’s current policy. Gradual wear and tear is typically excluded, but sudden accidental damage often isn’t. It’s worth a quick call to the insurer before you commit to paying out of the admin fund.
Step 5 — Escalate If Repairs Are Being Delayed
If weeks go by without a confirmed repair timeline, don’t wait. Delays weaken everyone’s position, and they generate more complaints from residents in the meantime.
The escalation pathway looks like this:
Day 1: Written report lodged with strata manager
Weeks 2–4: If no action, committee meeting or formal motion to approve repair
Month 1–2: If still unresolved, NSW Fair Trading mediation (free), Consumer Affairs Victoria, or equivalent in your state
Beyond that: Formal tribunal application NCAT (NSW), VCAT (VIC), or QCAT (QLD)
The tribunal route is a last resort and rarely necessary if the process above is followed promptly. Most disputes don’t get that far and they drag on because they weren’t documented and escalated properly from the start.
When to Ask: Should We Replace Rather Than Repair?
This is the conversation a lot of committees avoid, but it’s often the right one.
Standard commercial washing machines have a service life of roughly 10–15 years. Commercial dryers run longer, closer to 15–20 years. Around half of Australian strata schemes were registered before 2000, which means many buildings are running laundry equipment that’s well past its optimal service window.
If a machine keeps breaking down, a repair just defers the cost. The right time to push for replacement rather than another call-out is when:
- The machine has failed more than once in the past 24 months
- Parts are unavailable or have a lead time longer than six weeks
- The repair quote is more than 50% of what a comparable new machine would cost
- The equipment predates 2005 and has never been replaced
Check the building’s 10-year capital works fund plan. In NSW and Victoria, strata schemes are required to maintain one. Shared laundry equipment should be budgeted for within it. If it isn’t listed and the machines are clearly ageing, raise it formally at the next AGM. Getting it on the record before the next breakdown means you’re not scrambling to justify an unplanned expenditure.
It’s also worth knowing that replacement doesn’t have to mean the owners corporation foots the bill. Through a laundry route operator arrangement like the one Nina’s Laundrette offers body corporates, brand-new commercial machines are supplied and installed at no cost to the building. The service includes all ongoing maintenance. If replacement is on the table, it’s worth understanding this model before committing to a capital purchase.
Common Mistakes That Make This Harder Than It Needs to Be
A few things that routinely turn a straightforward repair into a drawn-out dispute:
Relying on verbal reports. Only written notice to the strata manager activates the legal repair obligation. A resident texting the building manager doesn’t count.
Accepting “we’ll look into it” without a deadline. If you can’t confirm when a contractor will be engaged, keep following up. Vague commitments are easy to ignore and hard to use as evidence later.
Assuming the cheapest repair is the right call. On ageing equipment, it often isn’t. Factor in how many times you’ve already called someone out.
Waiting too long to escalate. If a month passes without resolution, the residents are unhappy, your committee is frustrated, and you’re in a weaker position at any future tribunal. Move faster.
Authorising personal repairs. Residents, even those who are licensed tradespeople, cannot repair common property without formal authorisation. Unauthorised work voids the building’s insurance coverage on the asset.
Frequently Asked Questions
There’s a Better Way to Handle This Long-Term
If this isn’t the first time you’ve dealt with a broken machine in your building, it probably won’t be the last..
Most strata buildings own their laundry equipment outright, which means every breakdown is the owners corporation’s problem: the repair cost, the tradesperson coordination, the resident complaints, the committee discussion. That’s a lot of overhead for machines that are often ageing and increasingly unreliable.
There’s a different model worth knowing about. With a laundry route operator arrangement, the building doesn’t own the equipment at all. A specialist provider like Nina’s Laundrette supplies and installs brand-new commercial-grade machines at no upfront cost to the owners corporation. All maintenance, repairs, and servicing are covered by the provider. Residents pay per wash via cashless payment (card, phone, or app), and every machine has a QR code so fault reports go directly to Nina’s, not to you.
For body corporates, the practical benefits are significant: no capital expenditure, no repair bills, no maintenance coordination, and no coin collection. The committee’s involvement in the laundry room drops to effectively zero.
Nina’s Laundrette operates this program for apartment buildings and strata complexes across Australia — VIC, NSW, QLD, SA, ACT, WA, and TAS. If your building’s machines are ageing, unreliable, or you’re simply tired of managing them, it’s worth a conversation.
Learn how Nina’s Laundrette’s no-cost laundry equipment program works for body corporates