Must Pre-2016 Sectional Title Rules Be Submitted to CSOS?
By Jennifer Paddock
When the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act No. 8 of 2011 (STSMA) came into operation on 7 October 2016, it fundamentally changed the legal landscape for sectional title scheme rules. Many trustees still ask the same question:
If our scheme’s rules were registered in the Deeds Office before October 2016 and have never been amended since, do we need to submit them to the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS)?
The short answer is:
No, there is generally no legal requirement to re-submit pre-STSMA rules to the CSOS simply because they were never filed there. But that does not mean all of those rules are still valid or enforceable.
This distinction is critically important.
What Happened on 7 October 2016?
Before the STSMA came into force and effect, amended and additional sectional title rules were filed in the Deeds Office.
From 7 October 2016 onward, new and amended management and conduct rules must be approved and certified by the CSOS before they become effective.
The STSMA also introduced entirely new prescribed management and conduct rules, replacing the old prescribed rules that had existed under the Sectional Titles Act No. 95 of 1986 (ST Act).
The Meaning of “Deemed Rules”
Section 10(12) of the STSMA provides that rules that were validly made before 7 October 2016 are “deemed” to have been made under the STSMA.
This means they continue to apply without needing to be re-adopted or approved by the CSOS, provided they satisfy two important requirements:
- They do not conflict with the STSMA or the newly prescribed rules; and
- They could validly have been made under the STSMA.
As Prof. Graham Paddock explains in his June 2019 article, The Effect of the STSMA on Existing Rules, these surviving historical rules “do not need to be adopted by new body corporate resolutions or to be approved by the chief ombud of the CSOS.”
Unchanged Rules Were Replaced Automatically
Many people overlook this important point.
If, prior to 7 October 2016, neither the developer nor the body corporate amended a particular prescribed rule, that unchanged rule did not continue in force after 7 October 2016. Instead, it was automatically replaced by the corresponding prescribed rule under the STSMA.
For example, if a scheme had never amended the prescribed conduct rule dealing with pets under the Regulations to the ST Act, that old prescribed rule fell away automatically and was replaced by Prescribed Conduct Rule 1 under the STSMA Regulations. The new prescribed pet rule deals with the same topic but introduces an important additional protection: it provides that a disabled owner or occupier who reasonably requires a guide, hearing, or assistance dog, automatically has consent to keep it in their section and accompany it on the common property.
Essentially, unchanged prescribed rules were not “carried over” into the new legislative regime. They were replaced by the new prescribed management and conduct rules under the STSMA.
It is only rules that had been amended before 7 October 2016 and/or additional rules created before that date that could potentially survive under sections 10(11) and 10(12) of the STSMA.
Why Old Rules May Still Be Invalid
The fact that a rule was stamped by the Deeds Office does not guarantee that it remains enforceable today.
Before October 2016, the Deeds Office largely performed an administrative filing function and did not scrutinise rules for substantive legality. By contrast, the CSOS now reviews new and amended sectional title rules to ensure that they comply with the STSMA and other applicable law.
Many historical rules that were accepted for filing by the Deeds Office would now be unenforceable because they:
- Conflict with provisions of the STSMA;
- Are unreasonable;
- Apply unequally to owners; or
- Infringe constitutional rights.
Should Bodies Corporate Submit Their Historic Rules to the CSOS?
Although not legally required, it is prudent for schemes to review and regularise their rules.
Submitting amended and consolidated rules to the CSOS can:
- Identify outdated or unenforceable provisions;
- Improve legal certainty;
- Reduce disputes;
- Modernise governance; and
- Ensure that the scheme’s rules align with current legislation and best practice.
Conclusion
A scheme rule adopted before 7 October 2016 may be:
- old and still enforceable;
- old and partially invalid; or
- old and entirely unenforceable.
For that reason, trustees should not assume that “because the rules were stamped by the Deeds Office, they must still be lawful.”
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Article reference: Paddocks Press: April 2026, Volume 21, Issue 4
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
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