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"In Strata the world is full of Compliance Issues.  We are constantly having to navigate our way through the never-ending mire of legislation and requirements on all sorts of things - from safety glass to smoke alarms to fire safety to occupational health & safety and to even pest inspections....and it doesn't stop there.  Below you'll find some details on a few of the main ones everyone has to contend with at some stage in their 'Strata' life - especially if you reside in NSW."

STRATA COMPLIANCE ISSUES

• Fire Safety
• Smoke Alarms
• Safety Glass
• Glass Audit
• Safety Audit or OH&S Audit
• Compliance for Common Property Pest Inspections

Fire Safety

Fire Safety is an extremely important part in the maintaining of a Strata or Community scheme but sadly is, in many instances, one of those matters that's put into the too hard and too expensive basket thereby possibly putting the lives of the scheme's lot owners at risk.

The NSW Environmental Planning & Assessment Regulation 2000 requires that "the owner of a building, to which an essential fire safety measure is applicable, is required to maintain each essential fire safety measure in the building".  Failure to comply with this legislation can lead to significant fines and possibly serious legal ramifications for those responsible.

The bottom-line is: everyone MUST comply with the fire safety legislation - no excuses

Fire Safety measures include (but are not limited to):

• fire mains and water supply services
• fire hydrants
• fire shutters & windows
• fire doors
• fire dampers
• fire hose reels
• fire extinguishers
• smoke detectors and alarms
• automatic sprinkler systems
• emergency lighting
• stand-by power systems
• exit lighting & signs

Fire Safety Installation Certificate

An appropriately qualified person, such as a Fire Engineer or Building Surveyor, must inspect the fire safety measures and provide a Fire Safety Installation Certificate to the owners.  This certificate must then be provided to the local council and Fire Brigade each year and a copy displayed in a prominent location within the strata building.  Complete details on all the requirements for fire safety compliance can be found on the following websites.

Three great "information" links

• The Leichhardt City council's website provides a truly excellent and quite comprehensive guide to all aspects of Fire Safety.  This whole section dedicated to Fire Safety includes the who, what, when and why of Fire safety, what 'required' actions need to be taken, examples of the FS installation certificate, the annual fire safety statement and much more....so make sure you read this.
• The Penrith City council's website detailing requirements for Building Safety Essential Services is an excellent starting point for knowing what needs to checked and done to comply with the requirements and who is responsible for what.
• Another excellent website is the Blacktown City Council's site which has a 2-page section on all the requirements for Essential Fire Safety Measures.  There are even blank Annual Fire Safety Statement and Fire Safety Certificate forms which you can download.  This site is not quite as comprehensive as the Leichhardt Council's offering but is a good quick reference guide plus you can get some blank forms.

TIP - Most of the better Strata Management companies will have a dedicated essential services department to handle this increasingly important area so see if yours does.

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Smoke Alarms

In NSW, smoke alarms are already mandatory for all new buildings and for some renovated buildings.  However, since May 2006, owners of older home units have been required to instal smoke alarms (in the 'correct' locations) and keep them in good working order.  The official 'correct' locations for smoke alarms in a unit are:

• one alarm on each level of the unit
• one at the part of the unit containing the bedroom and the rest of the unit

Any smoke alarm that complies with the Australian Standards AS 3786-1993 Smoke Alarms (which should be stamped on the product packaging) will meet the new requirements.

Repair & Maintenance

Repair and maintenance of smoke alarms is an individual owner's (or landlord's) responsibility with the only exception to this requirement being if the smoke alarm was installed at the time the building was constructed.  Then the Owners Corporation repairs and maintains the systems, however the resident remains responsible for regular replacement of the batteries for all battery-powered alarms.

Other very helpful website links

The NSW Dept of Planning has an entire section dealing specifically with Smoke Alarms and also, back in 2006, produced a comprehensive document entitled Smoke Alarms - Requirements for existing buildings which outlines everything from A-Z on this topic.  It's been written in 'non-legislative' terms and makes an easy read but it is the original from back in 2006 so use it as a comprehensive reference guide to obtain the main requirements and issues regarding smoke alarms.

Other documents from the Planning Department you definitely should have a look at are:

• Fact sheet 1: owners of houses residential flats and units (PDF file)
• Fact sheet 2: shared accommodation buildings (PDF file)
• Implementation of the EP&A Amendment (Smoke Alarms) Regulation 2006 (PDF file)

Another really good reference is the NSW Office of Fair Trading's fact sheet titled Smoke Alarms - in Residential Premises.  Well worth a look at too and is right up-to-date.

And finally, I recently came across an interesting Government run site called Fire & Rescue NSW which contains heaps of really good stuff.  It seems quite easy to navigate (which is a bonus)and has a big section on Smoke Alarms too - along with lots of other Fire Safety related stuff - so keep this one in mind for later.  Make sure you visit the section on Smoke Alarms and go through what's there.  You might find it answers most of your questions.

TIP - You should read all of these thoroughly if you're trying to navigate your way through this important area.

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Safety Glass

Glass breakage in Strata is a daily threat, and it usually happens at the worst possible time and in the most inconvenient location.  Whether it's windows, patio doors, mirrors, shower screens or glass roofs, replacement should be carried out as soon as possible for security and, primarily, safety reasons.

Required Standards

All glazing undertaken should comply with Australian Standard AS1288-2006 for the selection and installation of glass in buildings and Australian Standard AS2047 for the selection and installation of windows in buildings.  AS2047 is a performance standard that requires windows to be tested for strength, water penetration, air infiltration and operating force, regardless of the type of material used to make the windows.

As Building Codes are upgraded regularly, original glazing that may have seemed adequate several years ago could well be considered extremely hazardous by today's Australian Standards.

Warning:  Failure by building owners and occupiers to comply with these Standards could result in substantial damages claims should an injury occur.

Getting the details....

Now finding exact details about the latest standards that apply is not that easy let alone trying to get hold of a copy (without having to pay for them).  The AS1288-2006 Glass in buildings section on the Valiant Glass website provides some basic information about the latest standards.  It also has an excellent synopsis of AS1288-2006 which goes into a bit more detail.  Just in case you were wondering, Valiant Glass specialises in glazing for Strata Schemes.

Get yourself a copy....

If you really have to have an actual copy of the Standard (or ANY Australian Standard for that matter) go to the Standards Australia webshop and use the search facility to find what your looking for.  Typing in glass will take you directly to AS1288-2006 and all its variants.  Just remember - these are not free but can be purchased by anyone.

Tip  - It's a lot easier (and much safer) to leave it to the professionals and rely on their advice and expertise for complicated and important areas such as this.

Glass Audit

A Glass Audit can be carried out by a glass specialist to determine if your premises are glazed in accordance with current Australian Standards.  Shop around as some companies will do a FREE Safety Glass report and only charge if a compliance certificate is issued.  Others will take the cost of the report off any work they end up doing at the building.

Should you spend the money?  Well, it's much better to find out earlier (and get anything fixed that needs fixing) rather than finding out later (the hard way), courtesy of a letter of demand from the council or, worse still, if an accident happens and you discover then that the glass in your building no longer complies leaving the Owners Corporation liable for any litigation claims that may surface.  You might just be lucky and get away with it...but then again, you may not.  Is it really worth the risk? Top

Safety Audit or OH&S Audit

The provisions of the Occupational Health & Safety legislation require that the Owners Corporation provide and maintain the common property to

• ensure it's safe and without risk to the health of contractors and others who may use it
• agree to undertake ongoing risk management assessment to identify and eliminate any such risks

One way to undertake such risk management is to have an independent expert inspect the common property and report to the Owners Corporation any identified risks.  This is known as a Safety Audit.  Once notified, the Owners Corporation should address the risk(s) and repair the common property as required.

Insurance requirement

A regular and ongoing assessment of risk is also necessary to provide evidence to public liability insurers of the proper management of the common property in the event of a claim.

Some more information

NSW Workcover have a huge section on Health and Safety (OH&S) which offers helpful summaries, information pages and even a link to the legislation.  If you need to know about Health & Safety and all it entails, this is the place to go.

TIP - If you go onto the Workcover website using the link above, don't forget to have a look in the navigational menu in the top left corner and also the Related Publications box in right column towards the bottom of the page for some very relevant information links.

Should you spend the money?  Again, it's much better to find out earlier (and get anything fixed that needs fixing) rather than finding out the hard way, courtesy of a letter from a friendly litigation lawyer, if an accident happens.  Only then do you discover that the scheme violated one or more OH&S requirements thereby leaving the Owners Corporation liable for any litigation claims (and fines) that may surface.  Now, you may be lucky and get away with it....but then again you may not.  Is it really worth the risk?

Compliance for Common Property Pest Inspections

The NSW Pesticides Regulations 2009 replaced the 1995 version in Sep 2009 but the changes were only 'minor' to help streamline the Regulation's operation and improve its wording and layout to simplify compliance.  However, if this is something you need to know about then make sure you follow the links below.  Just about everything you need to know can be found on these sites.

TIP - You should always consult a professional pest management technician concerning compliance with the regulations for your scheme.  Don't risk doing it the wrong way - it's simply not worth it.

Even though this is for the 1995 version of the Regulations, details of the main changes can be found in the document titled Pesticides Notification: Owners, Strata Managers and Property Managers.  This NSW Dept of Environment & Climate Change (DECC) fact sheet does a great job of summarising the new laws and even covers a few 'what if' examples.  More importantly, as the changes done in the 2009 version are 'minor', this document is still vaild.

The DECC did bring out a 'Frequently Asked Questions' paper on the 2009 changes so it might be worth having a quick look at that.  Just follow the link above.

Another great reference page from the DECC site is the Notification of pesticide use when pest management technicians treat multiple occupancy residential complexes information page.  This document goes into a bit more detail than the fact sheet mentioned previously and provides the who, what, when, where and why on the requirements.  It also has some other useful links to some sample notices and templates for use by those affected by this legislation.

Some Final Words of Advice

The best solution for all of these compliance issues is usually to have all consultants and contractors involved in the project working together as a team to find the best solution for your building.  A number of experts all working separately can result in a lot of overlap and much 're-inventing of the wheel' causing a lot of duplication of effort involving extra cost and much wasting of time.  A little bit of planning can go a long way.

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