Changing flooring in a Western Australian strata home

A Perth apartment and a small coastal strata scheme may both have flooring rules, but their documents and proposed work can be quite different. Start with your own scheme rather than a retailer’s standard approval pack.

This guide follows Landgate’s published guidance for WA strata schemes. It helps you assemble the right questions and documents; disputed boundaries, approval powers or obligations may need advice on the actual scheme.

Which documents should you obtain first?

Ask for the registered strata plan, current scheme by-laws and any renovation policy relevant to flooring. Keep the written approval process with those documents. If an older sales pack contains different rules, establish which version now applies.

Use Landgate’s owner resources for background and your registered documents for the scheme itself. Landgate explains that default by-laws can depend on when a scheme was registered and that schemes can have their own registered by-laws. Copying a rule from an unrelated development is unreliable.

Give the manager a short description of the work: rooms affected, existing finish, proposed system, removal and preparation, and any alterations to skirting or thresholds. A clear scope makes the approval question easier to answer.

What does WA’s default floor-coverings by-law require?

Where it applies, Schedule 2 by-law 10 of the Strata Titles Act 1985 requires owners to cover or treat floors sufficiently to prevent noise travelling through them that would be likely to disturb another lot’s owner or occupier. It excludes kitchens, laundries, lavatories and bathrooms. The clause gives no decibel limit or star rating.

Confirm which wording applies before using that rule in an application. Landgate’s WA Strata Living Guide, pages 23 to 25, distinguishes current defaults from earlier by-laws retained by schemes registered before 1 May 2020 and from schemes’ registered rules. Section 39 and Schedule 5 clause 4 of the Act explain the default and transitional arrangements. Ask the strata company for the applicable wording and any registered changes.

The room exceptions concern this particular floor-coverings clause. Section 83 separately addresses unreasonable interference with others’ use or enjoyment. An exception is therefore not blanket permission for noise or renovation work. Check the actual flooring proposal against the scheme’s rules and any other requirements that apply.

Does the work affect the lot or common property?

Do not decide ownership from what you can see inside the apartment. The strata plan and applicable legislation determine boundaries. Ask how the proposed preparation, substrate work and junction details relate to those boundaries.

The WA Strata Living Guide explains why alterations and common-property work need careful consideration. A finish replacement and a structural alteration are not interchangeable descriptions. Ask the strata company to identify the decision needed for your scope, and seek advice if that is disputed.

Put any conditions in writing before removal starts. Clarify responsibility for damage, access, protection of shared areas and reinstatement where relevant to the works.

What acoustic evidence should you submit?

First identify the requirement. Does the by-law specify a measurement, refer to an existing construction or require an acoustic assessment? Ask for unclear wording to be resolved before choosing the report you will rely on.

Then provide evidence for the exact proposed system: board, backing or underlay, fixing method, substrate and known ceiling construction. Highlight differences between the tested construction and your building. Ask an acoustic consultant to assess those differences where necessary.

Use acoustic ratings explained to distinguish laboratory and field measurements. A higher IIC number and a lower impact sound-pressure level describe different rating systems; they cannot simply be swapped in the application.

What should a written approval resolve?

Check that the approval identifies the floor system and areas, any required installation details, and the evidence or test needed at completion. Ask what happens if the installer proposes a substitution or discovers an unsuitable substrate.

If a finished-floor test is required, agree the criterion and access arrangements before work. The acoustic testing guide explains what to establish with the consultant.

Keep the final specification, approval, photographs and report together. They give a future owner or manager a much clearer record than an email saying “flooring approved”.

Do the proposed WA reforms change your flooring approval?

As checked on 2 November 2026, Landgate’s Phase Two consultation runs from 15 October to 26 November 2026. Its discussion paper, topic 6, identifies replacing flooring as an example behind calls for clearer renovation approvals. It proposes matching the level of approval to the nature of the work.

These are consultation proposals. Use the current Act and your scheme documents for your application; the discussion paper does not authorise a floor change. If reform progresses before your work starts, check what has actually commenced before relying on a different process.

What if a flooring dispute develops?

Begin with the issue, the relevant documents and the outcome you are seeking. Record specific noise observations or the disputed installation detail without assuming the cause. Ask the strata manager or council to explain the scheme’s process.

Landgate’s owner guidance identifies the State Administrative Tribunal as a route for many strata disputes. Check the relevant procedure before applying; the correct next step depends on the dispute. A measured result, an approval condition and a neighbour’s experience are different kinds of evidence, and each needs to be understood in context.