How Much Do Strata Managers Charge? Management Fees by State (2026)

The management fee is one of the few lines in your body corporate budget that the owners fully control. Insurance premiums follow the market and utility bills follow usage, but what you pay your strata manager is a contract your building negotiated - and can renegotiate. Most buildings never check it.

This guide covers what strata, body corporate and owners corporation managers typically charge in 2026, the extra charges that sit on top of the headline fee, and how to tell whether your building is paying too much.

Related Guides

• How to Change Your Strata Manager
• How to Choose a Body Corporate Manager
• Strata Manager Secret Commissions

How Strata Managers Charge

Almost every management contract has two parts:

• The base fee (often called Schedule A or the standard management fee) - a fixed annual amount, usually priced per lot, covering the routine work: issuing levy notices, keeping the books, arranging insurance renewals, running the AGM, and handling day-to-day correspondence and maintenance requests.
• Additional charges (often called Schedule B) - everything outside that list, charged by the hour or per item. Extra meetings, insurance claims, debt recovery, by-law work, tribunal matters, and disbursements such as printing, postage, software and archiving.

The base fee is what managers quote to win the contract. The additional charges are where the total cost is decided.

Typical Base Fees by State

These are indicative ranges from industry benchmarks published in 2025-26, for a standard residential building. Your building's size and complexity will move you within - or outside - them.

An analysis of NSW strata reports by StrataClear found the typical standard management fee was about $275 per lot per year - roughly $23 a month.

Size matters more than state. Much of a manager's work is fixed - one AGM, one budget, one insurance renewal - regardless of how many lots share the cost. So:

• Small schemes pay the most per lot. Many managers charge a minimum annual fee - often $3,000 to $5,000 for a small building in NSW, and $2,000 to $4,500 in WA and SA - which can work out to several hundred dollars per lot or more.
• Large schemes pay the least per lot, because the fixed work is shared across many owners. Very large towers can pay well under $100 per lot for the base fee, though they usually buy extra services on top.

These are industry figures, not our own data - we don't yet have enough contributed budgets to publish a management-fee benchmark. If you add your building's fees, you help build one.

The Charges on Top

In a normal year, additional charges add roughly 20-50% to the base fee - more in a year with an insurance claim, a dispute or major works. One published NSW example: a 15-lot scheme whose Schedule B charges came to $6,200 over twelve months, taking its real management cost to $713 per lot, well above the headline fee.

Typical additional charges quoted in the industry:

Two more costs don't appear as fees at all:

• Commissions. Some managers receive commissions from the insurer or broker, or from contractors, on top of what your building pays them. Ask about them directly - see strata manager secret commissions.
• Certificate and records fees paid by individual owners and buyers - for example the section 184 certificate in NSW, which is set by regulation - go to the manager but aren't paid from your levies.

How to Check What Your Building Pays

You can work this out from your building's budget and last year's financial statements, which every owner is entitled to see.

1. Find the management fee line in the administrative fund budget.
2. Add every related line - "additional services", "Schedule B", "disbursements", "sundry management", "software", "postage and printing", meeting fees. They're often spread across the statement.
3. Divide the total by the number of lots. That's your real management cost per lot.
4. Compare it to the base fee in the contract and the ranges above. If additional charges are more than half the base fee in an ordinary year, ask why.

Is Cheap Body Corporate Management a Good Idea?

A low base fee is only a saving if the total stays low. Watch for three patterns:

• A low headline fee with expensive extras - a thin base package that pushes routine work into hourly charges.
• Base fees that rise after insurance commissions are banned or disclosed - where a manager recovers lost commission income through the management fee.
• Under-resourcing - a manager carrying too many buildings to answer your emails or chase contractors. A slow manager costs more in delayed maintenance than you save on the fee.

The right comparison is total annual cost for the service you actually need. For very small buildings, self-management can be an option where the law and your owners allow it.

How to Get a Better Deal

• Go to market at the end of each term. Contracts are capped at three years in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and WA - use the end of the term to get at least three proposals.
• Ask for a quote on your actual usage - how many meetings you really hold, how many claims and renovation applications you had last year - rather than comparing base fees alone.
• Negotiate the schedule, not just the fee. Moving your common extras (a second meeting, portal access) into the base fee often saves more than haggling over the per-lot rate.
• Ask for commissions to be disclosed or refused, and compare total costs with and without them.

If it's time for a change, our guide to changing your strata manager walks through the steps and the rules in each state.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average strata management fee per lot?

Industry benchmarks put typical base fees at roughly $250 to $550 per lot per year in NSW and $300 to $500 in Victoria, with Queensland's base fees lower but its additional charges higher. Small buildings pay more per lot and large towers less. Additional charges typically add 20-50% on top.

What's included in the base management fee?

Usually the routine work: levy notices, bookkeeping and financial statements, arranging insurance renewals, preparing and attending the AGM, and handling ordinary correspondence and maintenance requests. The contract's schedule lists exactly what's included - anything not listed is charged extra.

Are strata management fees paid from the admin fund?

Yes. Management fees and most additional charges are paid from the administrative fund, which your levies fund. Some project-related charges can be paid from the sinking (capital works) fund.

How much do body corporate managers charge in Queensland?

Queensland base fees are often lower than NSW and Victoria - industry benchmarks put them around $120 to $350 per lot per year - but additional charges tend to make up a bigger share of the total. Compare total annual cost, not the base fee.

Fee ranges in this article are indicative industry benchmarks, not quotes. What your building should pay depends on its size, complexity and the services it needs. This article is general information, not financial or legal advice.