Owners corporation certificates in Victoria: what to check before you buy a unit or townhouse

A lot of property in Melbourne's south-east comes with an owners corporation attached. Townhouses sharing a driveway in Lynbrook, units behind a house in Cranbourne, a new estate with shared landscaping in Clyde North. If the plan of subdivision has common property, the lot owners together form an owners corporation, and buying a lot makes you a member.

Membership costs money and comes with rules. The owners corporation certificate is the document that tells you how much and which rules, and it arrives inside the Section 32 vendor statement. This post covers what the law says it must contain, the debts that can follow the lot to you, and the questions it does not answer.

Everything below comes from version 24 of the Owners Corporations Act 2006, in force from 9 September 2026, and the current Sale of Land Act 1962.

How it gets to you

Section 32F of the Sale of Land Act requires a vendor selling land affected by an owners corporation to either set out the prescribed information in the Section 32, or attach a copy of the current owners corporation certificate. Either way, the vendor must also attach the owners corporation's rules and the resolutions from its last annual general meeting.

There is one exception. If the owners corporation is inactive, the Section 32 just has to say so. Section 32F(2) treats an owners corporation as inactive if in the previous 15 months it has not held an annual general meeting, fixed any fees and held any insurance.

Our guide to the Section 32 vendor statement covers the rest of the document.

What the certificate must contain

Section 151 lets anyone apply to the owners corporation for a certificate, in writing and with the fee. The owners corporation must issue it within 10 business days. It cannot charge more than the prescribed maximum, and the maximum rises if you want the certificate faster. Consumer Affairs Victoria's fees page sets the caps in fee units, worth $17.27 each in 2026-27:

Lower caps apply to additional certificates ordered from the same manager as part of the same sale. The vendor usually orders the certificate when the Section 32 is prepared.

Under section 151(4)(a), the certificate must contain the prescribed information about:

• fees payable in respect of the lot
• fees and charges imposed, or proposed to be imposed, on the lot
• fees and other money owing on the lot
• insurance
• repairs and maintenance
• the funds the owners corporation holds
• its liabilities and contingent liabilities, including from legal proceedings
• contracts, leases, licences and agreements affecting the common property
• services provided to lot owners, occupiers and the public
• notices and orders served on the owners corporation
• legal proceedings it is a party to
• the manager
• any appointment of an administrator.

Section 151(4)(b) requires it to come with the rules (or the consolidated rules, if amended), a statement in the prescribed form for prospective purchasers, a copy of all resolutions from the last annual general meeting, and a statement that further information can be found by inspecting the owners corporation register.

The debts that follow the lot

This is the line in the Act that matters most to a buyer. Section 28(1) makes the owners for the time being, and any purchaser in possession, liable to pay any outstanding fees, charges or other amounts owing to the owners corporation for the lot.

In plain terms, unpaid fees do not stay with the seller. If the vendor is behind, the owners corporation can pursue whoever owns the lot now. That is why the "money owing" line on the certificate matters. Your contract and the settlement adjustments should make sure arrears are paid out of the vendor's money at settlement, not left for you.

Special levies

Annual fees are predictable. Special fees are not.

Section 24 lets an owners corporation levy special fees and charges for extraordinary items of expenditure. A few rules apply:

• they are normally shared according to lot liability, the share set out in the plan of subdivision
• where the work wholly or substantially benefits some lots but not all, the lot that benefits more pays more
• if the levy is more than twice the current annual fees, it needs a special resolution, unless the work is urgent to ensure safety or prevent significant loss or damage.

The certificate must disclose fees and charges "imposed or proposed to be imposed". So read the minutes and resolutions attached to it, not just the fee table. A roof replacement discussed at the last annual general meeting but not yet levied can still land on you after settlement.

The five tiers, and why size matters

Since 2021, section 7 sorts every owners corporation into one of five tiers by the number of occupiable lots:

Section 36 makes a maintenance plan compulsory only for tiers 1 and 2. A maintenance plan means a maintenance fund, so a large building should have money set aside for big repairs. A small group of townhouses may well not, which means a large repair is more likely to arrive as a special levy.

Two-lot subdivisions

A house with a unit behind it, or a pair of side-by-side townhouses, can have an owners corporation that never meets and never collects fees. Consumer Affairs Victoria has a separate page on two-lot subdivisions. If the owners corporation is inactive, the Section 32 says so. You still own the common property, usually the shared driveway, jointly with your neighbour. Who maintains and insures it is a conversation to have before you buy, not after.

Insurance

Section 59 requires an owners corporation to take out reinstatement and replacement insurance for all buildings on the common property, and section 60 requires public liability insurance for the common property. Section 63 removes the requirement where there is no common property.

Two practical points. First, the policy covers common property, so in a typical townhouse development your own dwelling may need its own building insurance. Check the plan and the policy before you assume. Second, the certificate has to disclose insurance, so if the owners corporation is uninsured or underinsured, that should show up.

What the certificate does not tell you

A certificate is a snapshot on the day it was issued. Consumer Affairs Victoria warns that Section 32 statements are sometimes prepared up to 12 months before a sale, and tells buyers to ask for a fresh certificate before settlement or inspect the owners corporation's records.

You have a right to look. Section 146 requires an owners corporation, on request by a purchaser of a lot or their representative, to make its records available for inspection free of charge. It can charge a capped fee for copies.

Things worth looking for in the records, beyond the certificate:

• minutes of the last two or three meetings, for repairs that have been discussed but not yet costed
• the maintenance plan, if there is one, and whether the fund matches it
• disputes or VCAT applications involving owners or the manager
• defects in a newer building, especially where owners are discussing a claim against the builder
• rules on pets, short-stay letting and renovations, if any of those matter to you.

Consumer Affairs Victoria's checklist for buying an apartment or unit covers the same ground and is worth reading before you inspect.

Buying off the plan

If the lot is off the plan, there is no owners corporation yet, so there is no certificate. You get a proposed budget, proposed rules and the developer's estimate of fees. Treat them as estimates. Our guide to buying off the plan covers the protections that apply while the plan is unregistered.

Questions we get asked

The certificate is eight months old. Is that a problem?

The Act does not set an expiry date, but the figures in it may have changed. We can ask for an updated certificate before settlement, and it is a sensible step where the annual general meeting has happened since the certificate was issued.

Can the owners corporation chase me for the seller's unpaid fees?

Yes. Section 28 makes the current owner liable for outstanding amounts. That is why we check the amount owing and make sure it is cleared from the vendor's side at settlement.

Who do I talk to about a dispute with the owners corporation?

If you are already an owner, the owners corporation's own dispute process comes first, and VCAT after that. A dispute is not conveyancing, so it would go to a solicitor. Before you buy, though, reading the records is our job, and we would rather you knew about a dispute before you signed.

Talk to us before you sign

Owners corporation documents are long, and the useful parts are rarely on the first page. We read them as part of every property purchase of a unit or townhouse, and tell you plainly what you are taking on.

Wise Step Conveyancing is at 105A High Street, Cranbourne, and acts for buyers across Victoria. We are open Monday to Friday, and on weekends by appointment. Ask us for a quote, or get in touch if you would rather talk it through first.

This article is general information about Victorian conveyancing and is not legal advice for your particular transaction. Speak to us about your specific circumstances.