Resident Services

This page is general information about how shared services work in apartment buildings. It does not describe the services at any particular building, and this site has no role in managing one.

In New Zealand, most apartment buildings are held under unit titles. Each owner owns their unit, and all owners together form the body corporate, which owns and looks after the common property: lobbies, lifts, corridors, the roof, the structure and, in a wharf building, a good deal of what sits over and under the water.

What shared services usually cover. Cleaning of common areas, lift maintenance, building insurance, exterior window cleaning, fire safety systems, security and access control, rubbish collection and gardens or planted areas. Larger buildings may also have a building manager or concierge. All of this is paid for through levies set by the body corporate.

Operational rules. Every body corporate has operational rules. Default rules in the Unit Titles Regulations 2011 cover basics such as noise, rubbish and damage to common property, and a body corporate can add its own rules on matters like pets, balcony use, moving in and out, renovations and floor finishes. Rules bind owners and occupiers, including tenants.

Long-term maintenance. Every body corporate must have a long-term maintenance plan covering at least ten years; larger developments of ten or more principal units need a 30-year plan. On the waterfront, that plan carries extra weight, since salt and wind shorten the life of exterior elements. Our post on body corporate long-term maintenance covers this in more depth.

The government’s unit titles site explains rights and responsibilities in plain language, and its page on unit title maintenance sets out who looks after what.