How to Get Committee Approval for a New Garden Contractor in NSW — The Complete 2026 Guide
The garden isn’t being maintained properly. The committee knows it. But changing contractors feels complicated — committee motions, compliance documentation, tender processes, handover. This guide walks you through every step, including what the committee can approve without calling a general meeting, and how to make the transition seamless rather than stressful.
✓ 5-Step Process
✓ Resolution Template
✓ Real Handover Case Study
This guide explains the general process for engaging a new garden maintenance contractor in NSW strata. Every scheme has its own by-laws and spending limits set at the AGM. Check your scheme’s specific spending threshold with your strata manager before proceeding. This is not legal advice.
In most NSW strata schemes, the committee can approve a new garden maintenance contractor by committee resolution — without calling a general meeting — provided the contract cost stays within the committee’s approved spending limit. The default spending limit under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 is $200 × the number of lots per item (a 20-lot scheme = $4,000 default limit). Ongoing garden maintenance is a routine operational service — committees engage and change contractors regularly within this authority. The five steps are: build your case, get two or three written quotes, verify contractor documentation, pass the committee resolution, and manage the handover properly.
There is a particular frustration that builds slowly in strata committees. The garden maintenance isn’t quite right. Visits are irregular. The hedges are overdue. Resident complaints are accumulating. But changing the contractor feels like it requires a complicated process — meetings, motions, tenders — and nobody is quite sure where to start or whether the committee even has the authority to make the change without calling a general meeting.
The answer in most NSW strata schemes is that the committee absolutely has the authority. Engaging contractors for routine services like garden maintenance is squarely within the committee’s operational remit. The process is more straightforward than most committees expect — and when it is done properly, the transition from a poor contractor to a good one can be completed in a few weeks from the first quote to the first visit under the new arrangement.
This guide covers every step. It also explains, from our experience as the incoming contractor on these transitions, what makes them seamless and what causes unnecessary delays.
Can the Committee Approve This — Or Does It Need a General Meeting?
This is the question most committees ask first. The answer depends on your scheme’s spending limit — but for ongoing garden maintenance, a committee resolution is almost always sufficient.
Under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), the committee can approve expenditure on routine operational services — including garden maintenance — within the committee spending limit established at the AGM. If no specific limit was set at your AGM, the default is $200 multiplied by the number of lots in the scheme. For a 24-lot scheme that is $4,800.
For fortnightly garden maintenance at $380 per visit, each individual visit is well within any typical committee spending limit. The contract is an ongoing operational service — not a capital works decision — so it falls within the committee’s normal operational authority rather than requiring a general meeting resolution.
A general meeting is required if: (1) the total annual contract value exceeds your scheme’s AGM-approved administrative fund budget for garden maintenance, meaning there are no approved funds to cover the expenditure; or (2) your scheme’s by-laws specifically require a general meeting resolution for engaging external contractors. Neither of these situations is common for routine garden maintenance on a scheme that already has a garden maintenance budget line. Check the annual budget approved at your last AGM and confirm with your strata manager — in the majority of cases, a committee resolution is all you need.
The 5-Step Process — From Dissatisfied to Onboarded
Build the Case for Change
Before the committee can make a decision, there needs to be a documented basis for it. Gather: any written complaints received from residents about garden condition; photos of the current state compared to what a well-maintained property should look like; any site visit reports (or the absence of them) from the current contractor; and a summary of what is being paid versus what is being delivered. This is not about building a legal case against the current contractor — it is about giving the committee the information it needs to make a considered decision. A one-page summary with three or four photos is usually sufficient.
Get Written Quotes — At Least Two
The committee needs at least two written quotes to compare. Best practice is three. Each quote should include: a specific scope of works (what is done on each visit), visit frequency, fixed visit price or annual program cost, what is included and what is excluded, and what reporting the contractor will provide. A quote that arrives as a one-line email with a dollar figure is not a comparable quote — it gives the committee nothing to evaluate. Ask each provider for a written proposal, not just a price.
Verify Contractor Documentation
Before the committee approves any contractor for common property work, verify these four documents and keep copies on file with the strata manager. A contractor who cannot produce all four promptly should not be engaged on common property. See the documentation checklist below for exactly what to ask for and what to check.
Pass the Committee Resolution
The committee formally resolves to engage the new contractor. This can happen at a scheduled committee meeting or — for routine operational decisions — by circular resolution (a written resolution signed or agreed to by the required number of committee members without holding a meeting). Your strata manager can advise which method is appropriate for your scheme. The resolution should be specific: contractor name, scope, frequency and price. See the resolution template below.
Manage the Handover Properly
The handover is where most committee-driven contractor changes go wrong. See the handover section below for exactly what to do — including what information to request from the outgoing contractor and what the new contractor needs before their first visit. A well-managed handover means the new contractor arrives informed rather than starting from scratch. A poorly managed handover means the new contractor spends their first visit discovering problems the previous contractor already knew about.
The Contractor Documentation Checklist — Four Documents, No Exceptions
Under the July 2025 amendments to Section 37 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, strata committee members must act with due care and diligence. Engaging a contractor for common property work without verifying their insurance and compliance status is not consistent with that standard. These four documents are mandatory before any contractor starts work on common property.
Garden Managers has all four documents ready — request them today
We provide insurance certificates, workers compensation, ABN verification and written scope of works as part of every new strata engagement. No chasing, no delays.
The Committee Resolution — Template Wording
Your strata manager will have standard resolution templates for your scheme. The following is a plain-English template that covers the key elements a garden maintenance contractor resolution needs. Give it to your strata manager to format in your scheme’s standard resolution document.
📋 Committee Resolution Template — Garden Maintenance Contractor
Motion: That the Owners Corporation engage [Contractor Name] (ABN [ABN]) to provide garden maintenance services to the common property of Strata Plan No. [SP Number] in accordance with the written scope of works dated [Date], at a cost of [$X per visit / $X per month], commencing [Date], funded from the administrative fund.
Resolved that the Owners Corporation engage [Contractor Name] on the terms set out above, and that the strata manager be authorised to execute any service agreement and issue work orders on behalf of the Owners Corporation accordingly.
Note: Public liability insurance certificate ($20M+) and workers compensation certificate for [Contractor Name] to be filed with the strata manager prior to commencement.
Keep the resolution specific — contractor name, ABN, scope reference and price. A vague resolution (“engage a new garden contractor”) gives the strata manager nothing to action and creates ambiguity about what was actually approved.
From Enquiry to First Visit in Under Three Weeks — What Seamless Looks Like
A strata committee in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs contacted us after receiving multiple resident complaints about their current garden maintenance contractor. The garden had become progressively more neglected — visits were irregular, hedges were overdue for a structural cut, and the committee had received no visit reports or communication from the contractor for months despite paying invoices consistently.
The committee reached out to us and two other providers for quotes. We attended a site visit within 48 hours of the initial enquiry. Our written proposal — scope, pricing, reporting inclusions, insurance certificates — was with the strata manager within two days of the site visit.
The committee resolved at their next scheduled meeting to engage Garden Managers. When the strata manager contacted us to proceed, the onboarding took less than 24 hours:
- All compliance documentation was already prepared and ready — public liability certificate, workers compensation certificate, ABN confirmation and written scope of works were submitted as a single package the same day we were contacted. No back-and-forth, no chasing of documents.
- We are registered on SMATA — the strata management platform the managing agent used. Our contractor profile, insurance documents and compliance records were already verified in the system. The strata manager issued our first work order digitally through SMATA within hours of the committee resolution. No paper forms, no manual document processing.
- Site briefing before first visit — we requested any available maintenance history or irrigation documentation from the outgoing contractor through the strata manager. What was available was limited, but we used our own site assessment to document baseline conditions before the first visit.
Our first visit included a full site assessment identifying existing conditions, irrigation faults that had been developing without attention, and a restoration program for the overgrown hedges. A written report with photos went to the strata manager the same day.
The committee’s experience of the transition: they resolved at a meeting, the strata manager issued a work order, and the new contractor arrived for the first visit within two weeks. No paperwork pile-up, no delays waiting for insurance certificates, no first visit where the new contractor didn’t know what they were looking at.
That is what a well-prepared contractor transition looks like. The speed was not luck — it was the result of having documentation ready before being asked for it and being registered on the platform the strata manager was already using.
Managing the Handover — What to Ask the Outgoing Contractor
The handover from old contractor to new is the most neglected part of a garden maintenance transition — and the part that most affects how quickly the new arrangement starts delivering good results.
When terminating the existing contractor, the committee or strata manager should formally request the following from the outgoing provider:
- Irrigation system documentation — the current controller schedule, zone map, any known faults and the service history. The incoming contractor should not have to discover this from scratch on their first visit. If there are existing irrigation faults, knowing about them immediately means they can be assessed and quoted on the first visit rather than discovered weeks later.
- Plant maintenance notes — any species-specific care requirements, recently installed plants still in their establishment period, pest or disease issues being managed.
- Any outstanding issues or works in progress — quotes approved but not yet completed, works that were scheduled for the next visit, ongoing treatment programs.
- Visit records and photos — ideally a record of the last 12 months of maintenance visits. Many outgoing contractors will not have these in a shareable format, which is itself a finding about the previous management standard.
In practice, the depth of handover documentation you receive will reflect the quality of the outgoing contractor. A contractor who has been providing photo reports and written records will have something useful to hand over. A contractor who has been maintaining informally with no documentation will have nothing — which is both frustrating and instructive.
“When we take over a property with no maintenance history — no visit records, no irrigation documentation, no notes on known issues — our first visit is a comprehensive site assessment rather than a standard maintenance visit. We document everything: current garden condition, irrigation system status and any faults, hedge condition and what structural cuts are needed, any WHS hazards in garden areas. That assessment goes to the strata manager as a written report with photos. It becomes the baseline documentation for the new program and replaces the handover documentation that should have existed but didn’t. It takes longer than a standard visit, but it means the committee has a clear picture of exactly what condition the property was in at the point of transition — which protects everyone.”
Terminating the Current Contractor — Notice Requirements
Check your current maintenance agreement before communicating any change to the outgoing contractor. Most professional garden maintenance agreements have a notice period — typically 30 days — that applies to either party ending the arrangement. If the existing arrangement is informal (no written agreement), best practice is still to give 30 days written notice before the last visit date.
Key points on termination:
- Give written notice — email is sufficient but keep a copy
- Specify the last visit date clearly
- Request handover documentation at the same time as the notice
- Do not withhold payment for services properly rendered up to the termination date — disputes over final invoices create unnecessary complication and occasionally escalate
- If the outgoing contractor is not meeting their contracted obligations during the notice period, document this in writing with the strata manager rather than unilaterally ending the arrangement early without notice
Garden Managers — Ready to Onboard Before You Ask
The most common delay in a contractor transition is waiting for the new contractor to produce compliance documents. We have eliminated that delay entirely.
When a strata committee or strata manager contacts Garden Managers for a new engagement, here is what happens:
- Site assessment within 48 hours of initial enquiry
- Written proposal with scope, pricing and insurance certificates within 2 business days of the site visit
- All compliance documentation in a single package — public liability ($20M+), workers compensation, ABN confirmation and written scope
- Registered on SMATA — work orders can be issued digitally on the same day as the committee resolution
- Photo report from the first visit, regardless of visit type — restoration or standard maintenance
- Baseline site assessment on first visit where no handover documentation exists
- Irrigation compliance documented from day one — irrigation service and compliance included in all strata programs
Read more about what our strata garden maintenance programs include — and what we ask of the committee to make the relationship work from both sides.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a strata committee change garden contractors without a general meeting?
Yes — in most NSW strata schemes, the committee can engage a new garden maintenance contractor by committee resolution without calling a general meeting. Garden maintenance is a routine operational service within the committee’s authority, provided the cost stays within the committee’s approved spending limit. The default spending limit is $200 multiplied by the number of lots in the scheme (a 20-lot scheme = $4,000 default per item). Ongoing garden maintenance visits typically fall within this limit individually. Check your scheme’s specific spending limit with your strata manager — if a limit was set at the AGM, it overrides the default. A general meeting is generally only required if the total expenditure exceeds the approved administrative fund budget, or if your scheme’s by-laws specifically require a general meeting resolution for contractor engagement.
How many quotes does a strata committee need for a new garden contractor?
For routine garden maintenance contracts, there is no specific legislative requirement for a minimum number of quotes in NSW strata — unlike capital works above $30,000 where specific tendering requirements apply. However, best practice and good governance under the due care and diligence standard in Section 37 of the SSMA means the committee should obtain at least two written quotes before approving any new contractor. Three quotes give a stronger basis for comparison. The quotes should be like-for-like — each specifying the same scope, visit frequency and inclusions — so the committee is comparing actual value rather than just price. A quote that appears cheaper because it excludes waste removal or reporting is not comparable to a comprehensive quote.
What documentation does a new garden contractor need to provide before starting work on strata common property?
Before starting work on common property, a new garden maintenance contractor must provide: (1) a current public liability insurance certificate — minimum $20M, issued by the insurer not just summarised by the contractor; (2) workers compensation insurance certificate covering all crew members who will attend the property; (3) ABN verification — confirm the ABN is active and matches the business entity on the contract; and (4) a written scope of works specifying what is included in each visit, visit frequency, price and reporting format. These documents should be filed with the strata manager — not just kept in the committee chair’s email. Under the due care and diligence standard codified in Section 37 of the SSMA from July 2025, engaging an unverified contractor on common property is a documented governance gap.
How much notice do you need to give a garden contractor when terminating in strata?
The required notice period depends on your maintenance agreement. If a written agreement exists, the notice period specified in that agreement applies — commonly 30 days. If the arrangement is informal with no written agreement, best practice is still to give 30 days written notice. Notice should be in writing (email is acceptable) specifying the last visit date clearly. Pay any outstanding invoices for services properly rendered to that date. Request handover documentation — irrigation records, maintenance history, outstanding issues — at the time of giving notice. If the outgoing contractor is not performing during the notice period, document this in writing through the strata manager rather than ending the arrangement early without notice.
How long does it take to change garden contractors in a strata scheme?
A well-managed contractor transition in a NSW strata scheme typically takes 3–5 weeks from initial enquiry to first visit under the new arrangement. The timeline: week one — site assessments and quotes from two or three providers; week two — documentation verification and committee resolution preparation; week two or three — committee resolution passed (at a scheduled meeting or by circular resolution); week three or four — notice period ends with outgoing contractor, work order issued to new contractor; week three or five — first visit. The most common delays are: waiting for insurance documents from the new contractor (avoidable if the contractor is prepared), committee meeting timing, and notice period overlap. Where the incoming contractor has all compliance documents ready and is registered on the strata manager’s preferred platform, the administrative steps can compress significantly.
What is SMATA and why does it matter for strata contractor onboarding?
SMATA is a strata management platform used by strata management companies across Australia for contractor management, work order issuance and compliance document verification. When a contractor is registered on SMATA, their insurance certificates and compliance documents are pre-loaded and verified in the system. A strata manager using SMATA can issue a digital work order to a registered contractor on the same day as a committee resolution — without requesting, chasing or manually filing insurance documents. For strata committees, engaging a contractor already registered on their strata manager’s platform removes the most common source of onboarding delay. When evaluating new contractors, ask whether they are registered on your strata manager’s preferred platform.
Related Guides for Strata Committees
- How to choose a strata garden maintenance company — the committee checklist
- Who pays for garden maintenance in a strata scheme — NSW 2026
- NSW strata garden maintenance legal exposure — why it just tripled
- Landscaping and irrigation in the 10-year capital works fund plan
Ready to Get a Quote for Your Strata Property?
Garden Managers provides free site assessments across Greater Sydney — Eastern Suburbs, Inner West, North Shore and beyond. Written proposal within 48 hours. All compliance documentation ready to go. Registered on SMATA.
