Why Owners Corporations Change Strata Managers – Poor Communication

Poor communication is the single most common reason owners corporations change strata managers in Australia, and the gap between it and every other reason is significant.

We wanted to test that assumption, so we posed the question to our LinkedIn community. The result was clear. Poor Communication claimed almost half the votes at 48%, leaving Price and Transparency tied at 24% each, with lack of Actioning Items trailing at just 5%.

The comments reinforced the point. “It comes down to communication and trust,” wrote one respondent. “When those break down, everything else tends to follow.” Another noted that frustration often arises when maintenance issues sit unresolved, and that when owners or committees don’t see action, trust erodes quickly.

It’s a pattern we recognise. And it’s one that deserves a proper conversation.

In this article, we explore why strata manager communication so often breaks down, what good communication looks like in practice, and how the right management firm should be structured to get it right.

Why Poor Strata Manager Communication Breaks Down Trust

Here’s a scenario that will sound familiar to many strata committee members: a maintenance issue is reported. An email is sent to the strata manager. A day passes. Then two. A follow-up is sent. A few more days pass. Eventually a reply arrives, vague, non-committal, signed off by “The Team.” Nothing is resolved. The cycle begins again.

What happens in that silence isn’t just inconvenience. It’s the slow erosion of trust.

Strata committees are unpaid stewards of a significant shared asset, often balancing budgeting, maintenance, and levy responsibilities, as discussed in this related strata article. They volunteer their time, take on real responsibility, and put their name to decisions that affect every owner in the building. When their strata manager goes quiet, it doesn’t just feel like bad service, it feels like being abandoned. Committee members start to wonder whether anything is actually being actioned, whether their concerns are even being read, and whether they’ve made the right choice in their management company.

The relationship breaks down. And once it does, it’s very difficult to rebuild.

The cause is often structural rather than personal. Many firms delivering strata management services carry excessive portfolios, leaving individual managers stretched too thin to give any single building the attention it deserves. Emails pile up. Calls go unanswered. Owners who follow up get bounced around. And committees end up doing the follow-up work themselves, which rather defeats the purpose of having a strata manager at all.

What Does Good Strata Manager Communication Actually Look Like?

It’s tempting to think that good communication simply means fast replies. But speed alone isn’t the answer. What owners corporations and committees really need is predictability, knowing that when they reach out, there is a defined process and a clear timeframe for what comes next. As one commenter put it: “Communication isn’t about instant replies, it’s about clarity, consistency and follow-through.“

Here are the questions strata committees should be asking, and what good answers look like:

What happens when my strata manager goes on leave?

A well-structured firm has a dedicated relief management team, senior strata managers who are already familiar with your building and can step in without missing a beat, rather than handing you off to someone who has never heard of your scheme before.

What if something urgent happens after hours?

Burst pipes, fire alarms, security breaches, these don’t wait until Monday morning. A quality strata manager should have a dedicated after-hours emergency service staffed by real people, with guaranteed callback times, not just a voicemail box.

Who do I actually contact, and will they know my building?

You should have direct access to both your strata manager and their assistant, not a call centre, not a generic email address, but named people who know your building and your scheme.

Beyond reactive communication, good strata managers are proactive: raising issues before they become problems, delivering timely meeting minutes, conducting regular site visits, and checking in consistently, rather than waiting to be asked.

As one industry professional noted in the comments on our poll: poor communication is often a symptom of operational gaps. When the right structure is in place, defined standards, direct contacts, after-hours support, and a relief team, communication tends to improve with it.

How Strata Choice Prioritises Communication for Owners Corporations

We recognise that communication failures are the single biggest reason owners corporations change strata managers. So, we’ve built our service model around removing that frustration entirely.

Every client has direct access to their named Strata Manager and their assistant, a real, accountable team, not a shared inbox. Our clearly defined response standards give committees the confidence that they will receive a response within a set timeframe. These aren’t aspirational promises, they’re formal commitments embedded in our Service Level Agreement, shared transparently with every client from day one.

For situations that can’t wait, our dedicated After Hours Emergency Service is available seven days a week, including NSW public holidays. Calls not answered immediately are returned within 15 minutes, and our team has the authority to engage emergency contractors on the spot, no waiting, no uncertainty.

And when your strata manager is on leave, our Relief Strata Management Team steps in seamlessly. These are Senior Strata Managers already active across our portfolio, they know your building before they ever need to cover it. No scrambled handovers, no learning curves, just continuity of service.