Short answer
A Notice to Comply with a by-law is the formal first step an owners corporation takes before it can seek a penalty at NCAT for an ongoing by-law breach. It is issued by the owners corporation (this function can be delegated to the strata committee or manager), must use the approved NSW Fair Trading form, and must name the by-law breached and what the person must do to fix it. If the breach continues after the notice, the owners corporation can apply to NCAT for a monetary penalty.
The procedure
Gather evidence of the breach. A notice needs to rest on something concrete — dated photos, written logs, or footage showing the breach — not hearsay. This is what supports the notice if the matter later goes to NCAT.
Have the owners corporation decide to issue it. The power to issue a notice sits with the owners corporation and is commonly delegated to the strata committee (or the managing agent). In practice that means the decision to issue is made properly — by resolution at a committee meeting or ballot — rather than one office-bearer mailing a notice out alone. Check your scheme’s delegations before issuing.
Use the approved form and serve it correctly. The notice must be given in the approved NSW Fair Trading form. It must identify the exact by-law breached and state clearly what the person must do to comply, and it must be served on the person by a valid method.
What happens if the notice is ignored
If the person keeps breaching the same by-law after the notice, the owners corporation can apply to NCAT for an order imposing a monetary penalty, with a higher penalty available for a further breach of the same by-law within 12 months. The maximum penalties are set by the Act (expressed in penalty units) and are updated from time to time — confirm the current figures with NSW Fair Trading or a licensed strata manager. Any penalty is paid to the owners corporation.
Timeframes and exact form: the compliance period stated in the notice, service methods and the current approved form are set by the Act and Regulation and can change — confirm the current requirements against NSW Fair Trading and the legislation before issuing, rather than relying on a fixed number here.
Straita and the paper trail
The reason a Notice to Comply gets thrown out is almost always the record around it — no evidence, no clear decision to issue, no proof of service. A self-managed scheme running on a platform such as Straita keeps that trail in one place: the breach log, the committee’s decision, the notice and the service record, so if the matter reaches NCAT the owners corporation can show the steps were followed.
Primary sources
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) — notice to comply with a by-law and NCAT penalties for continued breach.
- Notice to Comply with a By-Law (NSW Fair Trading approved form) — the approved form and what it must contain.
- NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal — strata schemes — applying for an order after a notice is ignored.