Short answer
If a neighbour is breaking the by-laws, report it to the committee or strata manager rather than confronting them alone. The owners corporation can issue a notice to comply, and if the breach continues it can apply to NCAT, which can order the neighbour to stop and can impose a penalty set by the Act.
Report it, don’t confront it
By-laws are enforced by the owners corporation, not by individual owners. Your role is to report the breach clearly — in writing, with dates, and photos if relevant — to the committee or strata manager. They act on behalf of all owners, which keeps the matter formal and takes the personal heat out of it.
What the owners corporation can do
The process under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 runs in a set order:
- Notice to comply. The owners corporation can serve a formal notice to comply on the owner or occupier breaching the by-law (section 146).
- Application to NCAT. If the by-law is breached again after a notice, the owners corporation can apply to the Tribunal, which can impose a penalty set by the Act (section 147). (We don’t publish the dollar figure here — the amount is set and updated in the legislation; check the current Act.)
The Tribunal can also make other orders — for example, requiring the neighbour to stop the conduct or undo it.
Why records matter
Whether the matter is settled quietly or ends up at the Tribunal, the outcome turns on evidence: what happened, when, what was reported, and whether a notice was issued. A dated record of the breaches and the steps taken is what makes a notice to comply — or an NCAT application — stick.
Keeping the record for you
A self-managed scheme running on Straita logs by-law issues as they’re reported and keeps the trail of notices and actions in one place. So when a neighbour’s breach has to be escalated, the committee already has the dated history the notice-to-comply process and the Tribunal expect — not a scramble to piece it together after the fact.
Primary sources
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) — sections 146 (notice to comply) and 147 (civil penalty for breach of by-laws).
- NSW Government — Strata schemes (Fair Trading) — by-laws and enforcement.
- NCAT — NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal — by-law breach applications.