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The big day, July 1, came and went with the proposed changes to the strata Act still in abeyance until November 30, as was announced this week.
However, March 13, 2018 is another date you should write on your whiteboard. It may seem like a long way off but it’s the deadline for strata schemes to comply with NSW regulations on making all our windows child-safe.
Now, the owners corporation – that includes you, if you are a strata owner – owns the windows in all post 1974 buildings. So every apartment owner shares a duty to comply with this law aimed at ending the 50-plus deaths of children from window falls every year.
What that means is that windows a certain height above the ground outside and the floor inside, must have a device fitted that restricts their opening to 12.5 cm.
If the window sills are more than 86 cm off the floor the locking device can be temporarily disabled so that the windows can be fully opened.
Low windows must be permanently restricted but if the sills are more than 1.7 metres off the floor, no locking device is needed. Windows on to balconies aren’t affected.
NSW Fair Trading is pushing hard to get unit blocks compliant as soon as possible and some strata professionals are recommending that you have a by-law in place not least to make sure the cost of replacing locks removed by recalcitrant residents falls back on the individual unit owners.
Yes, the sadly predictable ‘Nanny State’ comments are out there. Most blithely ignore the fact that similar laws in New York resulted in a 96 percent reduction in deaths from window falls.
The fines for non-compliance are relatively paltry – the real penalty is the needless death of a child. That’s why Fair Trading is ramping up its “Kids Don’t Fly” campaign.
If you’ve had your AGM since March this year, you have only one more meeting before you bump up against that deadline. Don’t wait to the last minute; the installations require a pressure test which your handyman probably won’t be able to conduct.
If you need more information, Strata Choice, one of the leading strata management companies in the country, as well as our major sponsors, has an easy to follow and informative video on their website stratachoice.com.au. Or you try this link to Fair Trading fact sheets HERE.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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With regard to Jimmy’s comment about low level windows requiring permanent restriction it should be noted that the Building Code of Australia (BCA) does require some openings to be permanently restricted but the BCA only applies to new builds, renovations requiring a DA or a change in usage. It is not retrospective.
The NSW Strata Schemes Management Amendment (Child Window Safety Devices) Regulation 2013 [NSW] Schedule 1 Amendment of Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2010 ONLY requires child resistance with no mention of permanent restriction at all in that document.
For our strata we had a safety audit done at the end of 2012 and restrictors were recommended for children’s bedroom windows. We investigated the possibilities for our sliding windows and, knowing the content of the upcoming 2013 BCA (containing the first requirements for restricted window openings for new buildings, we made the decision to restrict all windows. This was completed in April 2013 – a couple of weeks before the release of the BCA.
The window restrictors have been very well accepted by both owners and tenants (particularly as they can be overridden to open windows more fully if required). They are checked and tested each April during the annual inspection of apartment fire doors and smoke alarms so records are available to prove our compliance.
Jocko said….. The window restrictors have been very well accepted by both owners and tenants.
….and that’s good because the requirement as shown in both the 2010 and public consultation version of the 2016 Regulation is that locking devices must be:
“capable of restricting (my emphasis) the opening of a window so that a sphere having a diameter of 125mm or more cannot pass through the window opening..“
So while all complying devices that allow the window to be fully opened, fully closed, or locked at 12.5cm complies strictly with the wording of the Legislation, I think you’re splitting straws by suggesting that its practical application was for anything other than a permanent restriction as per Jimmy’s conclusion.
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