Your building has water coming in. You have a report. You have a number. That number has probably made you feel sick.

Before your committee approves a special levy or signs off on a scope of work, there is something you should know: the number in front of you is very likely higher than it needs to be. Not occasionally. As a pattern.

On Thursday 4 June 2026, Michael Teys, founder of The Strata Professionals Australia and incoming doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford, will present a free 40-minute keynote at the Holiday Inn Sydney in Potts Point. The subject is waterproofing and building remediation: why the costs are so often inflated, how the industry is structured to keep them that way, and what committees can do about it right now.

This is not a sales pitch. It is a structured, evidence-based explanation of how the remediation sector works, and a practical toolkit you can take back to your next committee meeting.

What the keynote covers

The session draws on documented patterns across buildings in NSW and internationally, including New Zealand's leaky homes crisis and Vancouver's leaky condo epidemic, to show how genuine defects, genuine legislation, and a ready group of professionals can combine to charge owners far more than their buildings actually need.

Michael will explain the structural conflict built into the standard consultant arrangement, where a single firm writes the condition report, designs the scope, and manages the works. He will cover the 10-to-1 rule, the consistent finding that buildings receiving proper diagnostic testing before any scope is written cost around one tenth of those that skip that step. He will walk through what the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) actually requires, and what it does not. And he will give committees the specific questions they are entitled to ask before any scope or special levy is approved.

As Ross Taylor of Ross Taylor Associates has put it: "Jobs that get proper analysis cost about a tenth of the price of ones that don't. I see that every week. It is not occasional, it is the norm."

Who should be there

This keynote is designed for committee members whose buildings have water penetration, leaking balconies, roof failures, or defective waterproofing membranes. It is for lot owners facing a special levy for remediation works who want to understand what they are actually paying for. It is for any chair, treasurer, or committee member who has received a thick report and felt unable to question it.

Academic research is clear on this point: strata committees are structurally vulnerable to approving decisions that benefit professionals more than owners. Understanding that vulnerability is the first step to protecting against it.

The event

Thursday 4 June 2026 | 4:00 PM – 6:00 PMHoliday Inn Sydney – Potts Point, 203 Victoria StreetFree | Seats are limited

The keynote will be followed by a Q&A session, then drinks and canapés.

Click here to learn more and reserve your seat.

Enquiries: admin@thestrata.com.au

Presented by The Strata Professionals Australia. Strata Management, Professionalised.