Short answer: a bathroom renovation in a NSW strata apartment is a major renovation, because it disturbs or renews waterproofing. It needs a special resolution of the owners corporation — one that passes only when no more than 25% of the value of the votes cast are against the work. That is a 75% threshold, not the more-than-50% ordinary resolution most owners assume applies.
The classification is driven by waterproofing. Not by cost, not by how cosmetic the finished room looks. If the membrane is touched, you are in the top tier.
The three tiers, as NSW defines them
- Cosmetic work — no approval needed. Defined as changes that do not affect the structure or outside of your apartment and do not require waterproofing. Painting, hooks, carpet.
- Minor renovations — ordinary resolution, more than 50% of votes. Kitchen renovations such as installing or removing cupboards, changes to internal walls, changes to recessed light fittings.
- Major renovations — special resolution. Structural changes and waterproofing work. The resolution passes when no more than 25% of the value of the votes cast are against the work.
Why a bathroom is always in the top tier
Read the cosmetic definition again. It expressly excludes work that requires waterproofing. Now read the major definition. It expressly includes waterproofing work.
There is no bathroom renovation worth doing that leaves the membrane alone. If you are re-tiling a shower, the membrane comes up with the tiles. The tier is decided before you have chosen a single fixture.
The common misreading goes like this: the minor renovations tier expressly lists kitchen cupboard work and “changes to internal walls”, so people reason that a bathroom must be minor too. It is not. Waterproofing is the line that separates the tiers, and a bathroom sits on the wrong side of it.
Why owners corporations care about waterproofing specifically
A failed membrane does not stay in your lot. Water tracks through the slab into the apartment below and into common property, and the argument about who pays for it runs for years.
There is a legal dimension too. In NSW the statutory warranty runs six years for major defects and two years for all other defects, from completion. Waterproofing is expressly a major element, so defective waterproofing sits in the six-year bracket. An owners corporation approving your renovation is approving a six-year exposure attached to its building.
That is why a specific, well-evidenced application gets approved and a vague one stalls. The committee is not being obstructive; it is being asked to carry a risk it cannot inspect.
What to put in a by-law application
Most schemes deal with a major renovation by making a by-law. Give them everything they need in one go:
- A written scope of works, room by room, saying plainly what is being removed and what is being installed.
- Plans or marked-up drawings, including any change to fixture positions.
- The builder's name and NSW contractor licence number, and the licence numbers of the licensed trades — plumbing, electrical and waterproofing, which is a licensed specialist trade in its own right.
- The waterproofing system to be used, who will install it, and confirmation that certification will be issued and a copy given to the owners corporation.
- Certificates of currency: public liability, and Home Building Compensation insurance where the contract price exceeds $20,000 including GST.
- Work hours, noise management, and how common property — lifts, lobbies, stairs, carpet — will be protected.
- Waste removal: where the skip goes, how rubble leaves the building, who cleans up.
- A start date and a realistic duration.
- Wording covering who is responsible for maintaining the altered lot property afterwards. This is usually where the strata lawyer focuses.
Sequencing: get the resolution before you order anything
This is the practical failure we see most often. An owner picks tiles, pays deposits on tapware and a stone top, then discovers the annual general meeting is months away.
Resolutions are passed at a general meeting, and meetings run on notice periods. If the AGM is not close, ask your strata manager what it takes to have a general meeting called. Then allow further time for the by-law itself to be drafted, passed and registered — your strata manager can tell you how long that runs in your scheme.
A special resolution is a genuinely high bar. Talk to the committee early, answer the waterproofing question before it is asked, and give owners a document they can read rather than a proposal they have to interrogate.
On money: over $20,000 including GST, Home Building Compensation insurance must be in place before work starts or a deposit is taken, and deposits are capped at 10%. Do not pay a deposit on a job you are not yet approved to do. Long-lead items — imported tapware, custom stone, made-to-order joinery — are the ones that tempt people to order early.
Gordon, Killara and Hornsby
Gordon and Killara have a large number of low-rise walk-up blocks built decades ago, alongside newer buildings. In the older ones the wet areas are frequently original, which means the membrane is at or past the end of its service life, access is by stairs, and the committee has often already lived through a leak from someone else's bathroom. That cuts both ways: they understand exactly why waterproofing matters, and they will read your application closely.
Hornsby has a larger share of more recent higher-density stock near the station. Newer schemes more often have a standing renovation by-law and a set process, which is easier — but the process still has to be followed, and the resolution threshold is the same.
Either way, ask the strata manager for the scheme's existing by-laws before you draft anything. Some of the work may already have been done for you.
Council approval is a separate question
Owners corporation approval is not council approval, and neither substitutes for the other. On the planning side, HIA states that bathroom renovations can be exempt development in NSW under the Codes SEPP where there are no structural changes, and that no dollar threshold applies. So the common position for an apartment bathroom is: no council approval needed, but a special resolution definitely needed.
Contract and licensing obligations apply on top of both. Over $5,000 including GST in labour and materials, a written contract and a licensed contractor are required.
Common questions
Do I really need 75% approval to renovate my bathroom in a NSW apartment?
Yes. Because the work involves waterproofing it is a major renovation, and a major renovation needs a special resolution — which passes only when no more than 25% of the value of the votes cast are against it.
Is re-tiling a shower a minor renovation?
No, if the waterproofing is disturbed or renewed, which it almost always is when tiles come off. Waterproofing puts the work in the major renovation tier.
What if my work genuinely does not touch the waterproofing?
Then it may sit lower in the tiers, but that is a narrow case — swapping tapware or a vanity without breaching the membrane. Set it out in writing and get the scheme to confirm the classification before you start.
How long does strata approval take?
It depends entirely on your scheme's meeting cycle. Ask the strata manager first, and do not order materials until the resolution has passed.
Who is responsible for the waterproofing afterwards?
Your builder carries the six-year statutory warranty on waterproofing as a major element. Ongoing responsibility for the altered lot property is normally dealt with in the by-law, which is why the by-law wording matters.
Sources
- NSW Government, Strata renovations (17 March 2026), under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015
- NSW Building Commission, Building defect complaints and statutory warranties (5 September 2025)
- NSW Government, Waterproofing work (23 June 2026)
- State Insurance Regulatory Authority NSW, Home building compensation (2026)
- NSW Government, Guide to providing home building contracts (11 June 2026)
- Housing Industry Association, Are bathroom and kitchen renovations exempt development? (21 January 2026)
Renova Build holds NSW contractor licence 397801C. Our showroom is at 104 George Street, Hornsby. This article is general information, not legal advice or advice on your specific scheme.
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