Mind the match: Why aesthetics matter in a sectional title scheme
23 July 2026 | Nicole Nel
With sectional title living becoming an increasingly popular choice for South Africans, it is natural that questions arise around what owners can and cannot do to their homes, particularly when those changes are visible to the rest of the community. One of the areas that tends to generate the most conflict, and the most confusion, in a sectional title scheme is the question of aesthetics: what the scheme looks like from the street, from the common property, and from neighbouring sections.
This article aims to unpack why aesthetics are so important in a body corporate, what the law says about it, and what a well-drafted set of conduct rules should be doing to protect every owner's investment in the scheme.
Why aesthetics are everyone's business
In a sectional title scheme, no owner lives in isolation. Your section shares walls, ceilings, balconies, and gardens with your neighbours, and everything visible from outside your front door is, in one way or another, part of everyone's home.
In this regard, in a scheme where one owner has bolted a rusting air conditioning unit to the facade, another has installed a brightly coloured pergola in the garden, and a third has hung mismatched curtains in floor-to-ceiling windows, the scheme looks neglected and poorly managed. That perceived neglect depresses the market value of every section in the scheme, including the units whose owners have done absolutely nothing wrong. This is precisely why the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011 (the STSMA), its Regulations and Prescribed Management and Conduct Rules made under it place obligations on owners in respect of the external appearance of their sections and the common property.
What prescribed rules say
The Prescribed Conduct Rules (PCRs) give trustees concrete tools to enforce aesthetic standards across the scheme.
PCR 4(1) provides that an owner or occupier must not, without the trustees' written consent, mark, paint, drive nails, screws, or other objects into, or otherwise damage or deface any structure forming part of the common property. This rule is the legal basis for requiring written consent before anything is attached to an exterior wall, a balcony structure, or any other part of the common property.
PCR 5(1) provides that an owner or occupier must not, without the trustees' written consent, make a change to the external appearance of their section or any exclusive use area allocated to it, unless the change is minor and does not detract from the appearance of the section or the common property.
Read together, these two rules mean that virtually anything an owner does that changes how their section, or its surroundings, look from the outside requires the trustees' prior written consent. This includes, but is not limited to, air conditioning units, satellite dishes, security gates, screen doors, trellis structures, and anything else visible from outside the section.
The specifics: What well-drafted conduct rules address
A good set of conduct rules goes far beyond the PCRs. As it sets out clear, specific standards for the most common aesthetic issues that arise in the specific residential scheme. In this regard, it is worth walking through some of the most frequent problem areas and what well-drafted rules typically provide for.
Curtains, blinds, and window coverings
This is one of the most frequently overlooked aesthetic issues in sectional title schemes, and yet it is one of the simplest to address. Every owner has the right to decorate the inside of their section as they please, but once a curtain or blind is visible from outside the building, it becomes a collective concern.
Rules can specify that only white or neutral-coloured curtain linings may be visible from the outside of a section, and that blinds must be in a natural wood, white, or neutral colour. From the street, a building where every window has different coloured curtains, printed fabrics, or makeshift coverings looks disordered and poorly managed. A simple neutral-colour requirement imposes almost no burden on the individual owner, while creating a coherent and well-maintained appearance for the scheme as a whole.
Air conditioning units
Air conditioning units are one of the most common points of conflict in schemes. They are heavy, they require attachment to exterior walls or balcony structures, they generate noise, and if installed without proper authorisation, they can cause water ingress, structural damage, and ongoing disputes between neighbours. Because an air conditioning unit must typically be attached to a structure forming part of the common property, such as an exterior wall, a balcony balustrade, or a roof, both PCR 4(1) and PCR 5(1) apply, and no owner may attend to this installation without the trustees' written consent.
In addition, a scheme’s conduct rules should specify that no owner or occupier may place or allow to be placed on any part of the common property any air conditioning equipment which requires attachment to the outer structure of the building, except with the prior written consent of the trustees. This requires a written application containing complete details of the proposed installation, and it makes explicit that the trustees, in giving their consent, may in their absolute discretion impose conditions as to the method of installation, the type and specification of the unit, its position, its colour, and the manner of its removal when no longer required.
Rules should also provide that air conditioning units must not make excessive noise, that condensation drainage must be directed into a drain rather than allowed to drip onto common property or neighbouring sections, and that the owner remains responsible for the ongoing maintenance, repair, and any damage the installation causes.
Balconies, patios, and outdoor spaces
Items placed on balconies, patios, and in gardens that are visible from outside the scheme fall squarely within the trustees' governance jurisdiction. In this regard, the rules should provide that no owner or occupier shall place or do anything on any part of their section or the common property, including windows, balconies, and patios, which in the discretion of the trustees is aesthetically displeasing or undesirable when viewed from outside. This is a broad but deliberate grant of authority, designed to allow trustees to address issues that no rule could exhaustively anticipate in advance.
Signs, notices, and other visible items
No sign, notice, billboard, or advertisement of any kind should be visible from outside a section without the trustees' written consent. This includes "For Sale" boards placed in windows and any business signage placed on doors, windows, or balconies. In a residential scheme, commercial signage visible from outside the building undermines the residential character of the development and, in most instances, will be in breach of the scheme's conduct rules.
Exclusive use areas: An important distinction
This is where many owners, and even some trustees, get the approval process wrong, and where the consequences of getting it wrong can be significant.
Where an owner wants to install something on common property adjacent to their section, such as an air conditioning unit on an exterior wall, a satellite dish on the roof, or a trellis attached to a boundary wall, that is a matter for the trustees. Their written consent is sufficient, and they have full authority to approve, reject, or impose conditions on such installations.
This is materially different when what an owner is proposing constitutes a structural or building improvement within an exclusive use area, such as a private garden allocated to that owner.
Prescribed Management Rule 30(g) of Annexure 1 to the Regulations made under the STSMA draws a very clear line in this regard. Where an owner proposes to make a structural or building improvement to their exclusive use area, for example, erecting a pergola, a carport, a permanent awning structure, or a similar construction, and that improvement does not constitute an extension of the section itself, the trustees alone do not have the authority to approve it.
In this instance, an ordinary resolution of the members of the body corporate is required, to be passed at a general meeting called for that purpose. The ordinary resolution may prescribe reasonable conditions regarding the use or appearance of the improvement, and it may provide for the withdrawal of consent should the owner breach any of those conditions.
Trustees who approve exclusive use area building improvements unilaterally, without the required ordinary resolution, are acting outside the scope of their authority. Equally, owners who proceed with such improvements without the resolution are in breach of the STSMA and the scheme's rules, regardless of any informal approval that may have been given by the trustees.
The importance of getting the rules right
If a scheme's conduct rules are vague about aesthetics, trustees can often find themselves in disputes that are difficult to enforce, and even more difficult to win.
It must be highlighted that the prescribed conduct rules under the STSMA provide a floor, not a ceiling. Schemes can and should adopt more detailed, scheme-specific conduct rules that close the gaps, set clear standards, and give trustees the specific enforcement authority they need. Those rules, once properly adopted, are binding on every owner and occupier in the scheme, including future owners who were not present when the rules were passed.
A scheme without detailed aesthetic conduct rules is not a scheme without rules, it is a scheme where enforcement is difficult, disputes are frequent, and the visual coherence of the development degrades over time, to the detriment of every owner's investment.
The bottom line
Aesthetics in a body corporate are not a vanity exercise. They are a governance obligation, a property value issue, and a matter of fairness to every owner who has invested in the scheme.
The STSMA and its prescribed conduct rules give trustees the authority to require written consent for exterior changes, to regulate what is visible from outside sections, and to govern everything from curtain colours to the placement of air conditioning units and satellite dishes on common property. Well-drafted scheme-specific conduct rules go further, giving trustees the comprehensive authority to approve not only whether something is installed, but how, where, in what design, and in what materials.
Get the rules right, apply them consistently, and understand which decisions rest with the trustees and which rest with the membership as a whole. That is what protects the community, the property values, and the investment every owner has made in the scheme. If you need assistance with your scheme's rules, please contact info@tvdmconsultants.com or call 061 536 3138.
About Nicole Nel
Nicole Nel is a Senior Community Schemes Consultant at TVDM Consultants.
