Owners corporation flooring rules in Victoria

A Victorian apartment’s plan and registered rules are the starting point for a flooring change. They help separate the surface you want to replace from work that may affect common property.

Ask the owners corporation to identify the approval and acoustic requirements in writing. Then give the installer the same documents, so the floor is specified and installed against the arrangement that was approved.

Which laws control flooring in a Victorian owners corporation?

Victoria calls a strata body an owners corporation. Three layers apply to your floor.

The first is the Owners Corporations Act 2006. Part 8 covers rules, Part 10 covers complaints and breach notices, and Part 11 covers VCAT. Part 7 sets out owners’ duties and rights, including a right to install floor coverings (section 132).

The second is the Owners Corporations Regulations 2018. Schedule 2 holds the model rules. Under section 139 of the Act, the model rules apply if your owners corporation has no rules, and they fill any gap where its own rules say nothing on a matter.

The third is your owners corporation’s own registered rules. They bind owners, tenants and other occupiers (section 141). A rule has no effect if it is “oppressive to, unfairly prejudicial to or unfairly discriminates against” an owner or occupier, or if it is inconsistent with the Act or any other law (section 140).

Neither the Act nor the model rules set an acoustic rating for floors. If your building has one, it is in your registered rules or in the conditions attached to an approval.

Do the Victorian model rules say anything about hard floors?

No. We read all of Schedule 2. It does not mention floors, floor coverings, carpet, underlay or acoustic ratings. Four model rules come closest.

• Rule 6.2 Noise and other nuisance control. “An owner or occupier of a lot, or a guest of an owner or occupier, must not unreasonably create any noise likely to interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of any other person entitled to use the common property.” It does not apply to noise the owners corporation has given written permission for. The wording refers to people entitled to use common property. Do not assume it excludes a downstairs occupier; seek advice on its application to a disputed situation.
• Rule 1.1 Health, safety and security. “A lot owner or occupier must not use the lot, or permit it to be used, so as to cause a hazard to the health, safety and security of an owner, occupier, or user of another lot.”
• Rule 4.3 Damage to common property. An owner or occupier “must not damage or alter the common property without the written approval of the owners corporation”, and the same applies to “a structure that forms part of the common property”. An approval “may specify the works and conditions to which the approval is subject”.
• Rule 5.3 Notice of renovations. An owner or occupier “must notify the owners corporation when undertaking any renovations or other works that may affect the common property and/or other lot owners’ or occupiers’ enjoyment of the common property.”

Owners corporations can go further. CAV’s page on what rules can cover lists “restrictions on floor coverings in lots to reduce disturbance by noise”, rules on noise and nuisance, and rules that require prior written approval before alterations to the building structure.

Do I need owners corporation approval for a hard floor in Victoria?

It depends on your rules and your plan of subdivision. Victoria has no single law that says every hard floor needs approval.

Start with section 132 of the Act. If your lot boundary is shown on the plan as the “interior face” of the building, “the lot owner has the right to decorate or attach fixtures or chattels to that face”, and this “permits works such as curtaining, painting, wallpapering and installing floor coverings”. That is a real right, but it sits alongside your rules.

Then check four limits:

1. Your registered rules. If they restrict floor coverings or require approval for renovations, follow them. A rule binds you once it is recorded (section 142).
2. Common property. Section 47A, added in 2021, says a lot owner “must not repair, alter or maintain” the common property. In many buildings the slab is common property. If the work involves cutting, grinding, drilling or fixing into the slab, ask first. Model rule 4.3 requires written approval to alter common property where your rules do not cover it.
3. Notice of renovations. Model rule 5.3 asks you to notify the owners corporation of works that may affect the common property or other owners’ enjoyment of it.
4. Permits. If your work needs a building permit or planning permit, section 133 says you must give the owners corporation notice of the application.

What acoustic rating will the owners corporation ask for?

There is no Victorian state figure. The Act, its Schedule 1 and the model rules set none, and none of the CAV pages we read gives a typical number. If your owners corporation wants a standard, it writes it into its registered rules or into the conditions of your approval. Model rule 4.3 lets an approval “specify the works and conditions”.

When you ask, get four things in writing: the number, the rating scheme (AAAC stars, L’nT,w, Ln,w or IIC), whether it is a laboratory figure or a field test in your building, and which rooms it applies to. Our acoustic ratings explained guide shows how those numbers relate.

For new buildings the National Construction Code sets a floor. Victoria adopted NCC 2025 on 1 May 2026. Clause F7D5 in Part F7 requires a floor between sole-occupancy units in a Class 2 or 3 building to have “an Ln,w (impact) not more than 62”. That is a laboratory rating. The performance requirement F7P1 uses a field figure, LnT,w not more than 62. The NCC is a building standard for new work. It is not an owners corporation rule, and whether it applies to a floor change in an existing apartment is a question for a building surveyor.

How to get a hard floor approved in Victoria

1. Read your registered rules and plan

   Get the current registered rules from the manager or secretary. Look for a floor coverings, noise, renovation or structure rule. Check the plan of subdivision to see whether your boundary is the interior face and whether the slab is common property.

2. Choose the full floor system and get its evidence

   Pick the exact board, underlay and fixing method. Get the acoustic test report for that system and note whether it is a laboratory or a field result.

3. Write to the owners corporation

   Describe the work, the product and underlay, the rooms, the dates and working hours, and the installer. Attach the acoustic evidence. This covers model rule 5.3 and any notice rule in your own rules.

4. Ask the right body to decide

   The committee holds the owners corporation's powers by default under section 11(5) of the Act, unless the matter needs a general meeting or a special resolution. If your owners corporation has no committee, ask the manager or secretary how the decision will be made.

5. Get the approval and every condition in writing

   Model rule 4.3 lets an approval state a period, the works and the conditions. Check for a required rating, a post-installation test, and who arranges and pays for it.

6. Install exactly what was approved

   Use the approved product, underlay and fixing. Do not fix into or cut the slab unless the approval allows it, because section 47A bars owners from altering common property.

7. If there is a dispute, use the grievance procedure first

   Follow the grievance procedure in your rules, or model rule 7. CAV points owners to the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria, which is optional. VCAT is the last step.

How long does owners corporation approval take?

The Act sets no deadline for a decision on a flooring request. What it does set are notice periods:

• A committee meeting needs at least 3 business days’ notice to members (section 109).
• An annual general meeting or special general meeting needs at least 14 days’ written notice to every lot owner (sections 72 and 76).
• If your request needs a new or changed rule, that takes a special resolution: 75% of the votes for all lots, or 75% of lot entitlements on a ballot or poll (section 96). An interim special resolution, passed with at least 50% in favour and no more than 25% against, becomes final only after 29 days, and a petition from owners with more than 25% of the votes stops it (section 97).
• A new rule takes effect when the Registrar records it, or on a later date the rule states (section 142).

An owners corporation with 10 or more lots must elect a committee at each annual general meeting. One with fewer lots may elect a committee but does not have to (section 100).

What happens if a floor breaks the rules?

The Act sets out a fixed path. Each step has to be followed, and VCAT can dismiss an owners corporation’s application if it skipped the complaint steps (section 164).

At VCAT, section 165 lets the Tribunal make “any order it considers fair”, including “an order requiring a party to do or refrain from doing something” and an order to comply with the rules. It can award damages and declare what a rule means. Section 166 allows a civil penalty of up to $1,100, paid to the owners corporation, for breaching a rule. Before it orders anything, VCAT must consider the conduct of the parties and whether a resolution is oppressive or unfairly prejudicial (section 167).

A neighbour does not need the owners corporation’s help to go to VCAT. Section 163 lets a lot owner or occupier apply directly, and VCAT’s owners corporation page lists noise among the disputes it hears.

What have VCAT decisions said about floors?

VCAT publishes its decisions with written reasons on AustLII (VCAT decisions and orders). We only summarise decisions we have read in full. At 25 September 2026 we had not confirmed a published VCAT decision on hard floor noise between lots, so this guide does not name one.

One decision we did read explains who owns the floor. In Owners Corporation PS508732B v Fisher [2014] VCAT 1358, a North Melbourne owners corporation and the owners of an upper lot disagreed about who had to repair leaking balcony tiles and the waterproof membrane under them. The plan set lot boundaries at the interior face and made “the structure of the building” common property. The Tribunal held that “the interior face of the building means, the interior face of the structure of the building rather than the top surface of whatever is fixed to the structure”. The tiles and membrane were part of the lot, so the owners had to fix them.

The Member linked this to section 132, saying it “gives the lot owner the right to fix anything to the interior face of the lot”. For flooring, the practical lesson is this: on a plan like that one, your floor finish is yours and the slab under it is common property. The decision was about leaks, not noise, and it turned on that plan’s wording. Check your own plan.

Post-installation acoustic testing

No Victorian law requires a test after every new floor. The Act and the model rules have no testing provision. A test is required when your registered rules or your approval conditions say so, and those documents should also say who books it, who pays and which room pair is measured.

If a dispute reaches the grievance procedure, model rule 7(6A) lets the grievance committee get expert evidence, such as an acoustic report. Under rule 7(6B) it can do so only if the owners corporation or the parties “agree in writing to pay for the cost of obtaining that expert evidence”. At VCAT, who bears the cost depends on the orders made.

If you are asked for a test, check that it is a field test (L’nT,w) between your floor and the room below, done by a qualified acoustic consultant. The acoustic ratings explained guide covers how field and laboratory figures differ.

What changed for owners corporations in December 2021?

The Owners Corporations and Other Acts Amendment Act 2021 commenced on 1 December 2021. The changes that matter for floors:

• Five tiers. Owners corporations are now tier 1 (more than 100 occupiable lots) to tier 5 (a 2-lot subdivision or services only). Tier affects committees, finances and maintenance plans, not flooring rules (CAV tiers factsheet).
• Common property. New section 47A bars owners from altering common property.
• Rules. New section 138B lets rules protect quiet enjoyment, structural integrity and other lots’ value during works that alter a lot’s external appearance. Occupiers must make sure their guests follow the rules (section 141A).
• Penalties. The maximum VCAT civil penalty for a rule breach rose from $250 to $1,100 (CAV rules factsheet).

Before you choose a floor

Get the rules, the plan and the committee’s requirement in writing before you pay a deposit. Then compare floor systems by tested results, not marketing labels. Our guide to the best flooring for apartments compares floor types for noise, and the strata flooring checker lists what to ask your committee.