Strata power outages are rarely a single, neat problem. They are usually the result of a fault chain, one issue creates stress, stress creates heat or corrosion, and then a protective device trips or something fails outright.
The fastest way to reduce downtime is to understand the most common causes, what they look like in real life, and where to start checking. It would also help to have an emergency strata electrician on-call.
External Supply Issues That Look Like Building Faults
Sometimes the building’s electrical infrastructure is fine, but the supply feeding it is interrupted. This is common during storms, vehicle impacts on poles or pits, planned works, and network faults that cascade across a suburb.
Main Switchboard Problems and Protection Device Trips
A large share of strata outages start at the main switchboard. That does not always mean the board is “bad”, it often means the board is doing its job by tripping to protect people and equipment. The problem is what forced it to trip in the first place, or whether the board itself has degraded.
Overload and Demand Growth Over Time
Many strata buildings were designed for a different era of electrical demand. Over time, the building quietly takes on extra load, more air conditioners, larger appliances, more electronics, more lighting, and increasingly, EV charging. The infrastructure might cope for years, then trip repeatedly during peak periods, hot days, or when multiple high-load devices start at once.
Loose Neutrals and Phase Issues That Cause “Weird” Symptoms
Some faults do not present as a clean trip and blackout. Instead, residents report flickering lights, lights going bright then dim, appliances behaving oddly, or a mix of partial outages across different areas. Loose neutrals and phase-related problems can create these symptoms and they can escalate quickly.
Water Ingress, Corrosion, and Condensation
Water is one of the most reliable ways to trigger faults in strata environments, especially in basements, car parks, external meter rooms, and coastal locations. Even small leaks can create tracking paths, corrosion, and intermittent faults that come and go depending on humidity and weather.
Cabling Failures in Risers, Submains, and Common Pathways
Strata buildings rely on cabling routes that are easy to forget about until something fails: risers, conduits, pits, ceiling voids, and plant rooms. Over time, insulation can degrade, mechanical damage can occur, and cable joints can loosen or corrode.
Faults Inside Lots That Trip Shared Circuits
Not every outage is caused by common property infrastructure. Sometimes a fault in a single lot triggers a shared protective device, especially where circuits are configured in a way that links multiple areas, or where common services are downstream of a shared RCD or breaker.
Common Property Plant and Motor Starting Problems
Building plant can cause outages in two ways: it can be the thing that fails, or it can be the thing that triggers trips. Pumps, fans, gates, and ventilation systems often have high inrush currents on start-up, and they may be exposed to harsh environments.
Power Quality Events, Surges, and Lightning
Some outages are triggered by fast electrical events rather than slow degradation. Surges can be caused by lightning, network switching, or faults elsewhere on the supply. Even if the main power stays on, surges can damage control systems and cause building services to fail, which can feel like a partial outage.
Heat, Age, and “End of Life” Failures
Electrical equipment ages. Breakers weaken, contacts wear, insulation becomes brittle, and heat cycles accelerate degradation. Older strata buildings often carry decades of incremental modifications, which can make outages more likely because the system becomes harder to understand and harder to maintain consistently.
Human Factors That Turn Small Faults Into Big Outages
Some outages are caused, or made worse, by process issues rather than equipment failures. Delayed response, unclear access, missing documentation, or repeated resetting without investigation can all convert a minor defect into a longer, more expensive outage.
Early Warning Signs That Often Precede an Outage
Outages often give clues before the lights go out completely. The more consistently those clues are captured and acted on, the less likely the building is to experience a major interruption.
When It Is Time to Call an Emergency Electrician
There are moments where the cause is less important than safety and speed. If there is smoke, arcing, burning smell, or water entering electrical equipment, it is no longer a routine fault. It is an emergency. Repeatedly resetting breakers in these conditions can make things worse and increase risk.
Key Takeaways
Strata power outages usually come from a handful of root causes: external supply interruptions, switchboard degradation, overload and demand growth, loose neutrals or phase issues, water ingress and corrosion, cabling failures in risers and submains, faults inside lots that trip shared protection, plant equipment failures, and surge or power quality events.
