The Cracks are Showing – Structural Fatigue

24 November 2025
By Chris Jackovljevic

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Why Structural Fatigue Is Australia’s Next Urban Challenge

As far back as February 2022, the Australian Financial Review reported that around 60% of strata buildings in New South Wales — roughly 50,000 of them — were more than 25 years old. Fast forward to today, and it’s safe to assume that a significant portion are now well into their third decade. While very few are at risk of collapse, the reality is clear: our ageing apartment buildings represent a silent but expensive dilemma if we don’t act soon.

Part of the challenge lies in the shifting demographics of strata living. According to the ABS, more than half of strata residents are aged between 20 and 39, and a further 15% are over 60. Many in the younger group are renters, not owners — and while they don’t pay levies, this dynamic still matters. It influences how strata committees make decisions, how much can reasonably be raised through rents or levies, and how much financial pressure owners can absorb before delaying maintenance.

 

The Cost of Living Crisis Affects Everyone

Cost of living pressures have dominated headlines all year. Many assume this affects only lower-income earners, but the reality — at least in strata settings — is more complex.

As with most things, there are two sides to every coin: On the one face, owners face rising repair costs. On the other, renters face rising living costs, with 68% of Australians aged 18–34 citing cost of living as a major concern. Understandably, owners want to pass on their increased costs, but if tenants can’t absorb rent increases, landlords may hesitate to approve large maintenance works or special levies because it affects their returns. The result? Deferred maintenance, declining building quality and, eventually, far higher long-term costs.

The result is an ageing strata landscape where deferred maintenance is the norm, sinking funds run thin, and critical repairs are postponed. It’s not that owners don’t care — it’s that the financial structure of the market makes timely action increasingly difficult. Unless addressed, today’s minor cracks and leaks could become tomorrow’s multimillion-dollar remediation projects.

From Awareness to Action: Proactive Lifecycle Management

If ageing buildings are a silent crisis, then proactive lifecycle management is the antidote most people don’t realise they need.

At its core, it means monitoring, maintaining and upgrading a building’s structural and waterproofing elements before they fail, not after. That requires education — owners, tenants and strata managers need to understand that concrete, steel and protective coatings aren’t static. They age, fatigue and respond to weather, moisture and use. They’re not immune to time or neglect.

The most effective strata committees treat buildings like good mechanics treat engines: through scheduled maintenance and early diagnostics, not emergency breakdown repairs.

The challenge is psychological. What many people do not see is that prevention is better than the cure. Owners often fall victim to the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” fallacy, thinking that spending money to “Find” problems is counterintuitive. But this could not be further from the truth, because the hard truth is that proactive care requires investment — and that can feel painful in the short term. But those costs are almost always dwarfed by the long-term expense of reactive repair.

A façade crack caused by a small waterproofing failure may cost $150,000 to investigate, seal and repaint today — but if ignored (and we have many case studies to prove it), this can escalate to a $500,000 structural remediation within a few years. Waterproofing failures, corrosion and concrete spalling don’t stay contained. They spread, and they accelerate with time.

Shared Responsibility: What Strata Committees Can Do Now

If you are a strata manager (or even a concerned owner of an apartment) the core consideration is that strata committees need to know more, and they need to understand that early intervention starts with information.

Regular condition assessments, water ingress inspections, and façade audits create a factual baseline that informs smart budgeting and risk planning. Committees can also encourage residents — tenants as well as owners — to report small issues early: leaks around windows, flaking paint, rust staining, or balcony puddling. These small observations often signal larger structural or waterproofing concerns beneath the surface.

Establishing a proactive culture pays dividends. Where reporting these issues has often lead to people being labelled as needy/complainers/annoying, they now need to be thanked and their issue looked into. When residents understand that maintenance reports protect both their comfort and their property value, engagement improves and future special levies are reduced. In essence, they need to understand that transparency and vigilance lower everyone’s long-term cost burden.

Extending the Life of Australia’s Buildings: How Remedial Can Help

This is where Remedial Building Services’ expertise matters most.

For more than five decades, our team has specialised in extending the useful life of buildings — from façade upgrades and waterproofing remediation, to carbon-fibre strengthening, corrosion management, and intumescent coatings. We don’t just repair the symptom; we identify the cause, strengthen the structure, and future-proof the asset. Proof of this lies most importantly in the work we have done across NSW and Queensland, but it is verified through the Awards we win, most recently through ACRA, who awarded us 3 times in the 2025 awards.

Our engineers and technicians combine diagnostic precision with practical craftsmanship — giving strata managers, committees and owners a clear, staged plan to restore performance, ensure compliance and manage costs predictably.

Together, we can reduce long-term financial pressure and improve the quality of living for every resident in strata housing. To learn more, contact our team today.

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