City of Cockburn, PO Box 1215, Bibra Lake DC, Western Australia, 6965
Telephone: (08) 9411 3444

Strata Title Applications

What is a Strata Title?

A strata title is a means of dividing up a property title to allow for multiple ownership. 

The Local Authority, in this instance the City of Cockburn, only forms a part of the approval process for having a Strata Plan lodged with Landgate for their endorsement and issue of the Strata Titles.

A property owner seeking to strata title a property would need to determine if a property meets all requirements to allow it to be strata titled.  If so a Licenced Land Surveyor would need to assist with the preparation of the Strata Title documents.  Licenced Land Surveyors can be found in the phone book (yellow pages).

Prior to commencing the strata process the City recommends that the property owner establishes that all existing buildings and alterations are authorised and any required occupancy approval for existing occupied buildings has been issued. If approvals do not exist then retrospective applications for approval will need to be applied for and issued before the strata approval process can proceed.

There are two main types of Strata Title these being:

Built Strata Title:
Generally this type of strata title is relevant to a building/s on a lot/s.  The Strata Plan demonstrates the area of the building/s (i.e. square meters).  The City of Cockburn's Building Service deals with these types of Strata Title Applications.

Survey Strata Title:
This type of strata would normally be relevant to the land only, as such a building need not be on the land.  A building may be on the land however, the building if shown on the Survey Strata Plan would not generally include the floor area of the buildings. The City of Cockburn's Statutory Planning Service deals with Survey Strata Title Applications as a seperate process.

The City's Statutory Planning Service may be contacted on 9411 3444.

Effect of unauthorised works or no occupancy permit

Should a proposed strata property be found to include unauthorised building works or an occupancy approval (Class 2-9 buildings) has never been issued by the City then separate occupancy and building approval certificate applications will need to be submitted and approved prior to the City being able to approve the strata application.

An owner may request copies of previous approvals issued by the City to confirm if the correct approvals are in place. (Refer to the application form in the download documents on the above page link.

Fees and standard inspections

Fees are applicable at the time of submitting an application. A maximum of two inspections are covered by the application fee. If further inspections are required then additional fees will apply per inspection. Fees include:

  • $10 per stata unit but not less than $100 and
  • Building Services Levy of $40.50 per application
  • Additional inspections charged at $80 - $100 per hour.

Assessment timeframes

  • 10 business days for the City to initially assess and inspect.
  • 21 calendar days for the applicant to provide any further information or carry out any required works.
  • 10 business days for the City to issue an approval once requested further information is received and/or required works comple.

For application forms and further information, please refer to the download documents on the right hand side of this page.