Don’t panic. There are a couple of issues to unpack here. I am assuming you are referring to wooden flooring being installed by the previous owner. Installing floating wooden floors is a “minor” type of renovation, under Strata law. Depending on your building’s by-laws, this can be approved by a normal resolution at a general meeting, or in some instances by your strata committee. So you need to check the agendas and minutes of general and strata committee meetings, to see if a motion was put for the owner of your Unit to install wooden floors, and if that motion passed (a majority of the owners at the meeting would need to approve it.) Talk to members on your strata committee to find out what happened, and don’t take the strata manager’s word, without corroboration.
The approval might have been done with some conditions, so you need to check the actual wording used, and if the owner complied, then that is all done and dusted, and can’t easily be revisited. But it sounds like the approval was not done? That means the minor renovation is an unauthorised renovation. One option in response is for the Owners Corporation to require you to reinstate the original type of flooring, which you (as owner) will need to do and pay for – but the OC will need to go and get an Order at NCAT to require this. A common alternative is for you to apply retrospectively to have the renovation approved. Make a fresh application, with all the supporting material, and the OC at the next general meeting can approve it, if at least half of the owners attending vote in favour.
If the owners at that meeting unfairly disapprove the application then you can go to the Tribunal and ask it to overrule the owners. So you need to get the majority of owners on your side – probably some of them have wooden floors or may want them, so they will probably side with you, or make sure the flooring is good, and not making too much noise. Of course, if your wooden floors are a problem then you should consider how to fix that – put down rugs, replace the underlay, carpet the worst affected room, etc?
The second issue is that strata law requires you not to create a nuisance, and disturb your neighbours. Noisy wooden floors can be a trigger for this action. Again, they need to go to NCAT to get an Order, which might involve you reinstating carpet, or perhaps using rugs etc. Again the other side will need to prove the nuisance, and you can dispute it.
Of course, you don’t want to get lawyers involved, or waste a lot of time representing yourself in these matters. It’s best to negotiate with the OC (and your neighbours). Is it just one, or is it a majority? If one, are they influential, or might the Strata Committee be on your side rather then theirs? Is the strata manager being fair, or are they biased to the complainant? Find out. They can’t force you to change your floors without taking action at NCAT – which takes time and money, which the OC would not want to waste unnecessarily, but hopefully you can find a solution that all parties accept. If you need help, talk with a strata lawyer, or your building’s strata manager if they are helpful, or else to another strata manager for some independent advice.