Getting your building off gas: a planning guide for committees

Why the timing matters

A gas network costs roughly the same to run whether it serves a million homes or half that. As households switch to electric appliances, the cost of maintaining the pipes is spread across the customers who remain. Regulators are already arguing over how to handle this: in 2026 the Australian Energy Regulator allowed the ACT network to recover its costs faster, before customers leave, and rejected a similar bid in Victoria. Energy Consumers Australia projects residential and commercial gas use to fall by around 72% by 2043.

Apartment buildings tend to be the last to move, because a shared building needs a shared decision. That makes them the most exposed to rising network charges, and to equipment that fails in a year when nobody has budgeted to replace it with anything but more gas.

None of this means you need to rip anything out tomorrow. It means the decision is coming, and a corporation that plans for it will pay less than one that meets it in emergency mode.

What uses gas in your building, and who owns it

Gas in a shared building usually falls into two groups, and the line between them decides who acts.

Inside a lot. Cooktops, ovens, instantaneous hot water units and space heaters that serve a single lot belong to that owner. An owner can replace them without the corporation's involvement, provided the work does not touch common property.

Shared plant. A central hot water system, pool or spa heater, or gas boiler feeding a building-wide heating system serves more than one lot. In every Australian jurisdiction that makes it common property, so replacing it is the corporation's decision and the corporation's cost. Our article on hot water systems sets out the service infrastructure test, state by state.

Not all shared plant is equally easy to replace. A central gas hot water system can usually be swapped for a bank of heat pumps. Gas boilers in a building-wide heating system are harder: they run at higher temperatures than heat pumps reach comfortably, and a tower with many lots and a small roof may struggle to find room for enough heat pumps. Those buildings need engineering advice early.

The gas pipes, meters and risers that serve more than one lot are common property too. That matters at the end, when the building leaves the network.

The constraint most buildings miss: electrical capacity

Electric equipment is more efficient than gas, but it still draws power, and older buildings were wired for a world where cooking and hot water ran on gas.

The pressure points are:

The supply to the building. The local substation needs headroom. Many have it; some do not, and a network upgrade is slow and expensive.
The main switchboard, which distributes power around the building.
The common equipment switchboard, which runs shared plant such as hot water.
The switchboard in each lot. Induction cooking often needs an upgrade at the lot level, particularly on older single-phase supplies.

An engineer working on a Melbourne apartment electrification program told Renew Economy that swapping a central gas hot water plant for heat pumps was technically simple in the first buildings assessed, and that the harder work sat in switchboards and supply.

This is why piecemeal change is risky. If owners swap cooktops one at a time and EV chargers go in without coordination, the building can run out of capacity before anyone has looked at the whole picture. The owner who installs last may find there is nothing left. A building that maps its load first can stage the upgrade and share the headroom fairly.

Rooftop solar can offset some of the extra load, and there is now equipment that shares one rooftop system between several lots. Our news piece on EV charging in strata covers how one large building planned its capacity.

Plan it like any other capital works

The technical answers are often easier than the governance. Not every owner is moved by emissions, and a proposal framed as an environmental cause can split a building into camps, especially a large one.

The more reliable path is to treat gas equipment like any other asset with a finite life: the lift, the roof membrane, the facade. It wears out on a schedule you can estimate. Put its replacement in the corporation's long-term maintenance plan and fund it through the sinking fund over the years before it fails.

Planning does three things for you:

It avoids the special levy. Owners resent sudden one-off charges far more than a contribution they voted for years earlier.
It avoids the like-for-like trap. When a central gas plant fails without warning, the quickest fix is another gas plant, which locks the building in for another 15 years.
It lets you sequence the work. Capacity upgrades can be timed to land before the equipment that needs them.

The payoff can be quick. The Guardian reported on an 18-lot block in Brunswick, Melbourne, that replaced its failing gas hot water system with heat pumps and solar. The installation took four days, removed a gas bill of $19,000 a year, and paid for itself in under two years. Results depend on the building, but a shared system is where the savings are largest.

Your forward plan may already require it

Most jurisdictions require some form of long-term plan, and gas plant belongs in it.

Victoria. A maintenance plan covers major capital items expected to need repair or replacement within 10 years. Heating and air conditioning plant are named as major capital items, and shared gas pipes are prescribed as well (Owners Corporations Act 2006, s 37; Owners Corporations Regulations 2018, reg 7).
New South Wales. A 10-year capital works fund plan, reviewed at least every five years (Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, s 80).
South Australia. Each annual general meeting must see proposed non-recurrent expenditure for the next three years (7 to 20 units or lots) or five years (more than 20), refreshed on the same cycle. Corporations of six or fewer units or lots, or with common property insured for $200,000 or less, are excluded. The rule is the same for strata corporations (Strata Titles Act 1988, s 33A; Strata Titles Regulations 2018, reg 16) and community corporations (Community Titles Act 1996, s 113(1)(aa); Community Titles Regulations 2026, reg 24).
Queensland and the ACT also require 10-year sinking fund estimates or plans. Our article on the corporation you didn't know you joined covers each jurisdiction.

A five-step plan

Get an energy audit. Find out how much energy the building uses, for what, from which source and at what times. It is the baseline for every later decision, and some councils and state programs fund or subsidise it.
Check electrical capacity. Ask a licensed electrician or engineer to assess the supply to the building, the main and common switchboards, and a typical lot. This is where the real cost of electrification usually sits.
List the gas assets and their ages. For each shared item, record its expected replacement year and an indicative electric alternative. Note which items are inside lots, so owners know what is theirs.
Write it into the long-term plan. Fold the replacements and capacity work into the capital works or sinking fund plan, and adjust contributions to suit. Put the plan to a general meeting so owners approve it in advance.
Agree a load policy. Set out how the building's spare capacity will be allocated to induction cooktops, heat pumps and EV chargers, so individual upgrades follow the plan rather than consume it.

Which resolution do you need?

Replacing a failed gas system with an electric one, or adding new plant to the common property, usually needs more than a committee decision. The threshold is set by your own Act, so check it before you set an agenda. Some jurisdictions have lowered the bar for sustainability work.

New South Wales. A resolution marked as a sustainability infrastructure resolution, covering changes to common property to reduce energy use or emissions, passes unless 50% or more of the votes cast are against it, against the usual 25% for a special resolution (Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, s 5(1)(b)(ii)). Before approving one, the owners corporation must consider the cost (including running and maintenance), who will own and maintain the infrastructure, and how far it will be available to all lots (s 132B).
ACT. Sustainability infrastructure on common property can be approved by ordinary resolution, once the owners corporation is satisfied the long-term benefit exceeds the cost of installing and maintaining it, having considered a site plan, a maintenance plan, the costs and any third-party financing terms (Unit Titles (Management) Act 2011, s 23).
Queensland. Improvements to common property are tiered by cost: up to $300 per lot needs no resolution, up to $2,000 per lot an ordinary resolution (no more than one such resolution a financial year), and above that a special resolution. An associated series of works is costed as one project (Body Corporate and Community Management (Standard Module) Regulation 2020, s 186; check your own module). Replacing failed plant may count as maintenance rather than an improvement, so get advice on which applies.
South Australia. There is no dedicated sustainability threshold. Work that alters or improves the common property typically calls for a special resolution: at least 14 days' written notice setting out the motion, failing if the votes against exceed 25% of the votes that could be cast (Strata Titles Act 1988, s 3). Our resolution checklist covers the detail.
Other jurisdictions use their own labels and percentages. Approving the long-term plan is usually a simpler vote than approving the works themselves, which is another reason to plan early.

What the rules already require

Rules are tightening, unevenly, and it pays to know where your state sits.

Victoria has gone furthest. From 1 January 2027 new homes must be built all-electric. From 1 March 2027, when a gas hot water system in an existing home reaches the end of its life and cannot be repaired, it must be replaced with an electric one. Guidance from the Victorian Government and the gas distributor AusNet Services says the rule does not apply to apartment buildings with centralised hot water systems, and that exemptions also apply where an electric system will not fit or would need a switchboard upgrade for reasons other than safety. The rule can still catch individual gas hot water units inside lots. Rental properties face stricter rules that also cover gas heaters.
The City of Sydney requires new residential buildings to be all-electric, with outdoor gas appliances such as water heaters added from 1 January 2027.
Elsewhere, rules for existing buildings vary. Check your state's current position before relying on any of the above, as it is moving quickly.

Leaving the gas network properly

There is a difference between turning gas off and leaving the network.

Disconnection stops the supply but leaves the meter and pipes in place. It can be reversed, and depending on your contract you may keep paying supply charges.

Abolishment removes the meter and permanently cuts and caps the service pipe. It is the clean exit. A plumber capping a pipe after the meter is not an abolishment.

In 2026 the Australian Energy Market Commission set the first national rules for abolishment. Distributors have had to publish plain-English information on the process since 1 October 2026, retailers follow by January 2027, and new cost-reflective pricing takes effect as each network starts its next regulatory period. Fees vary by network, so ask for a quote.

When the building's last gas appliance goes:

Start with your gas retailer, who must explain the options and direct you to the distributor.
Request abolishment for each meter, shared and individual, and confirm every account is closed.
Keep written confirmation. Buildings have been billed for gas years after the last appliance was removed.
If the building's gas runs through an embedded network, check the contract's exit terms before you plan the timeline.

Rebates and help

Federal. Eligible heat pump hot water systems create small-scale technology certificates, which the installer usually applies as a discount at purchase. Larger central plant may fall outside the small-scale scheme, so ask your installer what applies to your system.
State schemes offer further discounts in several jurisdictions, including the Victorian Energy Upgrades program and Solar Victoria's hot water rebate, the NSW Energy Savings Scheme and South Australia's Retailer Energy Productivity Scheme. Eligibility for shared systems varies.
Councils sometimes fund electrification assessments for apartment buildings. Ask yours.

For owners, buyers and renters

If you own a lot, ask your committee how it plans to replace the building's gas assets before they reach the end of their life, and tell the committee before you upgrade your own cooktop or add a charger, so the building's load picture stays accurate. If you are buying or renting, ask whether the building is electric already or could be made so without major works, and whether the sinking fund reflects it.

Get in touch

If your committee is working out when and how to get off gas, we're happy to help you scope the audit, build it into your long-term plan and set the agenda for the meeting that approves it.

Call us on 1300 79 2255 or email hello@acaciacollective.com.au.