Why strata jobs stall
Five things a committee says, and what Spark gives you.
“These are the seller's numbers.”
Every published business plan, priced on the building's own meter file, demand charges included. Every assumption on the page. Nothing you can edit.
“The tenants get the benefit, not me.”
The saving comes off the common-property bill, so it lowers every owner's levies, including owners who rent their units out.
“What do we actually vote on?”
The resolution the rebate needs, and the payback after the rebates you enter, each named with its closing date.
“Send it to the manager first.”
A private link for the strata manager, with the same answer and the one-page proposal. You can switch it off.
“The building's too big for that.”
Spark says so. With the owners corporation's permission it goes to SMEInspect for sealed offers from retailers. Nobody pays anyone for it, and the system sale stays yours.
Why now
NSW's Solar for Apartment Residents grant closes on 4 Dec 2026, or sooner if the money runs out. The NSW apartment battery incentive is open, and Victoria's Solar for Apartments runs to 30 Jun 2027. The money is there. What's missing is a proposal a committee will vote for.
What you bring
The building's meter file (NEM12: the strata manager can ask the retailer for it, using the meter number on the bill), the owners corporation's name and ABN, and your quote, with any rebate it relies on.
What the committee gets
One page: the building's electricity cost now, the cost with your system on the plan that suits it, the yearly saving and payback, who benefits, the resolution, and what it all assumes, with the full comparison behind it. Every building is different, so every figure is an estimate until it shows on a bill.
Questions
- Do I need the meter file?
- Yes. Common property is usually on demand charges, and a bill alone can't price those.
- Does it change residents' bills?
- No. It prices the owners corporation's common-property account only. Residents inside an embedded network aren't affected.
- Is it advice?
- No. It's prices from every retailer's published plans, the same data behind Energy Made Easy. The resolution is the one you enter; it isn't legal advice.
- What does it cost?
- A$149 a building, ex GST, on every plan. Not taken from your included checks, and your first building is free. It covers six months of re-runs for the same building and meter as the committee asks for changes. No answer, no charge, and a building too big for published plans isn't charged. An optional yearly re-check is A$49 a building, and free if the building is already with SMEInspect. Spark is paid the same whatever the committee decides.