Who pays for cleaning sandstone in a strata building?

Sandstone that is common property, such as external walls, shared entries and paths, is the owners corporation's responsibility to maintain under section 106 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. Your strata manager can advise which fund the work is drawn from.

Can I clean the sandstone outside my apartment myself?

Not if it is common property, unless the owners corporation has authorised it. Under section 111, an individual lot owner must not carry out work on common property without authorisation. Raise it with your strata committee or manager.

Does sealing strata sandstone need a special resolution?

Routine maintenance generally doesn't, but alterations to common property need a special resolution under section 108. If a proposal changes the stone's appearance or adds something new, ask your strata manager whether it is maintenance or an alteration before going to quote.

Should stone cleaning be in our 10-year capital works plan?

It is worth including. The plan must set out anticipated major expenditure from the capital works fund over 10 years and be reviewed at least every five years. Cyclical cleaning, re-sealing and known restoration items fit naturally into that schedule.

How much notice should residents get?

Check your by-laws and building rules first. As a practical matter, give enough notice for residents to move cars, close windows, bring in washing and arrange pets, and allow extra time for tenants. Tell them which areas are affected, on which days, and who to contact.

Does a strata stone cleaning contractor need a licence?

Building Commission NSW requires a contractor licence in the minor maintenance and cleaning category for work worth more than $5,000 including GST. Check the licence on the NSW public register.

Strata Sandstone Cleaning in NSW: A Committee Guide

The Prestige Standard stone-care team · Published 5 November 2026 · Updated 5 November 2026 · 9 min read

Strata sandstone cleaning in NSW: a guide for committees and strata managers — Illustrative image.

Who is responsible for sandstone in a strata scheme

In NSW, the starting point is the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. Under section 106, the owners corporation must maintain and repair common property. External sandstone walls, shared paths, entry steps, retaining walls, letterbox walls and pool surrounds are usually common property, which makes their upkeep the owners corporation's responsibility, acted on through the strata committee and strata manager.

Two other provisions shape how stone work is organised:

Section 111: an individual lot owner must not carry out work on common property without authorisation. An owner who would like the front steps cleaned can raise it with the committee, but can't simply engage a contractor to do it.
Section 108: alterations to common property need a special resolution at a general meeting.

"Usually common property" is doing a lot of work in that first paragraph. Where the boundary between a lot and common property falls depends on the registered strata plan and the by-laws. The Strata Community Association (NSW) guide to who is responsible for what makes this point repeatedly: pavers and other surfaces inside a courtyard or balcony are generally the lot owner's, unless the strata plan shows that area as common property, and items an owner installed under a by-law may remain the owner's responsibility. The guide recommends checking the plan and by-laws, and getting legal advice where it's unclear.

Sandstone and travertine in strata schemes: who usually looks after what (always check the strata plan and by-laws)
Element	Usually	Check
External sandstone walls and facades	Owners corporation	Boundary lines on the strata plan
Entry steps, shared paths and driveways	Owners corporation	Whether any part is within a lot
Retaining walls and garden walls in common areas	Owners corporation	Whether a wall sits on a lot boundary
Pool coping and pool surrounds in shared facilities	Owners corporation	Exclusive use by-laws
Paving inside a private courtyard	Often the lot owner	Whether the courtyard is shown as common property
Stone laid by an owner after registration	Often the lot owner	Any by-law that approved the work

If the committee is unsure, the strata manager is the right first stop. Our regulations page summarises the strata rules alongside the other NSW requirements that apply to stone work.

Maintenance, alteration and heritage: why the distinction matters

Most stone cleaning and like-for-like re-sealing is straightforward maintenance of common property. Some proposals go further, and it pays to identify them early.

Changing the look of the stone, for example with a colour-enhancing sealer or a coating that adds sheen.
Removing or replacing stone, or replacing failed cement pointing with a different mortar.
Adding new elements, such as handrails, anti-slip treatments or lighting fixed into the stone.

Where a proposal could amount to an alteration of common property rather than maintenance, ask the strata manager whether a special resolution under section 108 is needed before going to quote. It is far easier to settle that question first than to discover it mid-project.

Heritage is the other early question. Many strata buildings in the Eastern Suburbs sit within heritage conservation areas, and some are heritage items in their own right. Under clause 5.10 of the relevant Local Environmental Plan, work to a heritage item or in a conservation area generally needs development consent, although councils can confirm in writing that minor works or maintenance don't. Woollahra Council, for example, asks owners to notify it and receive written advice before work starts, and doesn't apply that process retrospectively. Gentle cleaning is the least invasive stone work there is, but restoration, repointing and coating removal are more likely to need a conversation with council. Our guide to heritage sandstone cleaning in Sydney covers this in more detail.

Scoping stone cleaning and sealing for the committee

Quotes are only comparable if every contractor is pricing the same job. A short written scope, prepared before inviting quotes, is the single most useful thing a committee can do.

Describe the areas

List each area separately: front entry steps, street-facing wall, driveway retaining wall, pool coping, rear paths. Note approximate size, height, the stone type if known (sandstone, travertine, limestone or something else) and any previous coatings. Photos of each area, taken in daylight, save everyone a site visit or two.

Describe the problems

Black mould on shaded walls, lichen on copings, white salt bloom at the base of walls, rust stains below balustrades, peeling old sealer, eroded or sandy stone. Each one changes the method and the cost. Our guides to removing rust stains from sandstone and coastal sandstone care explain some of the common issues.

Set the method expectations

Low-pressure cleaning on sandstone, with no high-pressure turbo tips.
No acid washing of sandstone, travertine or limestone.
Test patches on each stone type before the full job, with the committee or manager signing off the result.
Breathable penetrating sealers outdoors, not glossy film-forming coatings, unless there is a specific reason.
Run-off captured and taken away, not hosed into gutters or stormwater drains.
A written record of every product used, by area, for the building's maintenance records.

Note access and constraints

Heights that need scaffolding, elevated work platforms or rope access. Areas next to cars, gardens, pools or ground-floor windows. Times when entries can't be closed. Where water and power can be drawn from. Any heritage listing.

Exclusions

Stone cleaners and sealers are not structural specialists. Cracked lintels, leaning walls and loose coping need an engineer, stonemason or builder, and the scope should say so rather than leaving it to chance.

Getting quotes the committee can compare

Send the same scope to each contractor and ask them to quote against it line by line. Then check the essentials.

Licence. Building Commission NSW licenses a minor maintenance and cleaning category, which covers pressure washing and applying protective coatings. A contractor licence is needed to contract for work in this category when the job is worth more than $5,000 including GST in labour and materials. Check the licence number on the NSW public register.
Written contract. Residential building work over that threshold also needs a written contract, with a small jobs contract for jobs between $5,000 and $20,000 and a full home building contract above that, and the contractor must give you the Consumer Building Guide before signing. Your strata manager will know how this applies to the scheme.
Insurance. Ask for current certificates of currency for public liability and workers compensation, and check the dates.
Method statement. How they will clean each area, with what products, at what pressure, and how they will manage run-off and protect residents.
Safety. Any honing, grinding or cutting of sandstone generates crystalline silica dust, and NSW rules require controls such as water suppression or on-tool extraction when power tools are used on it. Ask how they will handle this if the scope includes repair work.

Our guide to choosing a stone sealing contractor in Sydney has a fuller list of questions and a quote comparison table, and our guide to sealing costs explains what drives the price.

Planning stone work in the capital works fund

Section 80 of the Act requires the owners corporation to prepare a plan of anticipated major expenditure from the capital works fund for a 10-year period, starting from the first annual general meeting. The Act requires the plan to be reviewed at least once every five years, to set out the proposed work or maintenance, when it is expected to be needed, the anticipated cost and how it will be funded, and it requires the owners corporation to implement the plan so far as practicable. The owners corporation may engage experts to help prepare it. The NSW Government's Strata Hub also states that all new and updated 10-year plans must be prepared using its standard form, and recommends reviewing the plan yearly as well as at the five-year mark.

Sandstone and travertine are well suited to this kind of planning because their maintenance is predictable once you know the building. A useful stone schedule in a 10-year plan might include:

Cyclical cleaning of shaded and coastal walls, entries and paths, at intervals based on how quickly growth returns.
Sealing and re-sealing of paving, steps and pool coping, with the product recorded and a re-seal interval based on exposure rather than a brochure figure.
Restoration items that are known but not urgent: failed coatings to strip, cement pointing to replace with softer mortar, eroded treads to repair.
Allowances for discovery, since cleaning sometimes reveals cracks, salt damage or rusting fixings that weren't visible under the grime.

Which fund a particular item is paid from is a question for the strata manager and the plan's author. What matters from a stone perspective is that the plan is based on an actual condition survey rather than a guess, and that it is updated with what each job finds. We can provide a written condition report with photos to support a plan review.

Access, notice and living with the works

Stone work in a strata building happens around people's front doors, cars and children. Good communication prevents most complaints.

Give residents clear notice. Tell them which areas are affected, on which days, what they need to do and who to contact. Check your by-laws and any building rules for notice or access requirements, and allow extra time for tenants to hear from their landlords or agents.
Stage the entries. Keep at least one safe path in and out of the building at all times, and plan around deliveries, waste collection and school runs.
Cars and bikes. Ask residents to move vehicles away from walls and paths being cleaned. Spray drift and slurry don't belong on paintwork.
Windows and balconies. Ground-floor and low-level residents should keep windows closed during cleaning and bring in washing and cushions. Arrange access to any private balcony or courtyard with the owner or occupier well in advance.
Pets and gardens. Keep pets inside until treated areas are rinsed and dry, and let the gardener know so plants can be protected.
Noise. Power equipment on residential premises is limited by the noise regulation. As summarised by Woollahra Council, the hours are 7am to 8pm on weekdays and 8am to 8pm on weekends and public holidays. Most contractors work well inside them.
Water. Sydney Water's Water Wise Guidelines limit hosing of hard surfaces to purposes such as safety, health or surface contamination. Treating mould, algae, lichen and staining falls into that category, but contractors should still use low-volume equipment.
Drying and curing. Sealed areas need time before foot traffic and rain. Cordon them off and put signs at each entry.

A checklist for strata managers

Confirm from the strata plan and by-laws which stone areas are common property and which belong to lots.
Check whether the building is a heritage item or in a heritage conservation area, and whether council needs to be contacted.
Decide whether any proposal is an alteration that may need a special resolution, rather than maintenance.
Commission or update a condition survey with photos of each stone area.
Prepare a written scope listing areas, problems, method expectations, access constraints and exclusions.
Invite at least two or three quotes against the same scope.
Check each contractor's licence on the NSW register where the job is over the threshold, and their insurance certificates.
Require test patches and sign off the result before the full job proceeds.
Agree a written contract, schedule and run-off plan.
Issue resident notices with dates, affected areas and a contact.
On completion, collect photos, the product record and recommended re-seal and re-clean intervals.
Feed those intervals and any defects found into the next review of the 10-year capital works fund plan.

When to bring in a specialist, and which one

Routine sweeping, leaf removal and rinsing salt from coping are tasks a building manager or cleaner can handle between professional visits. Anything involving chemicals, pressure, sealers or stain removal on stone is better left to a stone specialist, because the mistakes are permanent and the stone belongs to everyone.

Different problems need different trades. Our sandstone cleaning and sandstone sealing services cover the routine cycle. Sandstone restoration covers deep staining, salts, failed coatings and soft lime repointing. Shared pools are handled under pool coping, and travertine terraces under travertine sealing. Structural problems need an engineer and a stonemason or builder, and we'll say so if we see them.

We work with strata managers and committees across the Eastern Suburbs and Northern Beaches, and can provide a written scope, method statement and condition photos for committee meetings. Get in touch through our contact page.

Strata sandstone cleaning in NSW: a guide for committees and strata managers