Short answer
You can install floorboards in a strata unit, but it usually needs owners corporation approval. Replacing carpet with hard flooring is treated in NSW as a minor renovation, which needs approval by ordinary resolution — often delegated to the committee — rather than being free like cosmetic work. Approval commonly comes with a condition to install certified acoustic underlay, because hard floors are a leading cause of noise disputes. Get the approval and the conditions in writing before you lay the floor.
Why floorboards need approval
Swapping soft carpet for timber or laminate changes how footstep noise travels to the lot below, so under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) hard flooring is not “cosmetic work” — it’s a listed minor renovation (around section 110). That means:
- You submit a written request with plans and any required certificates.
- The owners corporation approves by ordinary resolution at a general meeting, unless a by-law delegates that approval to the committee.
- Approval can carry conditions, most often about acoustic performance.
The exact section is given as a guide; the settled point is that hard flooring sits in the minor-renovation tier and needs approval.
The acoustic condition
The condition owners run into most is acoustic underlay. The owners corporation will usually require a certified underlay that meets the building’s noise rating, backed by an acoustic certificate, so that footstep noise stays within the standard. This isn’t red tape for its own sake — it’s the single thing that prevents the downstairs-neighbour dispute that hard floors so often trigger.
What happens if you skip approval
If you lay a hard floor without approval and a neighbour complains about noise, the owners corporation can take the matter to NCAT, which has the power to order the floor ripped up and carpet reinstated at your own expense. Approval first — with the acoustic condition met — is far cheaper than tearing out a finished floor.
Keeping the approval and acoustic certificate on record
A self-managed committee handles these flooring requests itself. A system such as Straita tracks the request against the scheme’s by-laws and any committee delegation, and records the decision and its acoustic conditions — including the certificate — so if a noise complaint arises later, the approval and the terms it was granted on are documented.
Primary sources
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) — minor renovations and the approval required.
- NSW Government — Strata renovation rules (Fair Trading) — flooring as a minor renovation and the acoustic certificate requirement.
- NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) — strata disputes, including unapproved renovations.