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Live in a building Pre 1974 registered Strata.
The units do not have fire doors.
One ground floor unit door that opens to the outside air(no hallways/stairwells) needs replacement.
Must it be replaced with a Fire door as seems standard today? It would be the only unit in the block with a fire door.
The quote received by the OC from the owner was $2100. Is that the typical cost for one door?
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This is an opinion by Peter Berney, National Business Development Manager, Solutions in Engineering:
“There are no differential standards for buildings on the basis of when they were constructed, or how many units they contain. However, compliance with the Building Code of Australia is not retrospective. Under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, a building only has to comply with the Building Code of Australia at the time of construction. As a result, the Building Code of Australia does not require you to continually update your windows, balcony railings and fire doors etc.”
However, the writer goes on to explain that common sense should prevail and safety should be a priority. https://www.lookupstrata.com.au/nsw-older-building-safety-maintenance/#comments
A council may address a perceived fire safety problem in an existing building with a fire upgrading order, which is served under Section 121B Order No. 6 of the EP&A Act. Has your building received such an order?
The price of the fire door that you provided seems a bit expensive; however, does the door need to be custom made? Does the price include labour to install it? Does the frame need to be replaced? Does the sill have to be changed? Do the hinges need to be replaced to make it self closing? Does the door hardware need to be changed?
See this link to page that contains door prices …including fire doors.
@Lady Penelope said:
” … compliance with the Building Code of Australia is not retrospective. Under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, a building only has to comply with the Building Code of Australia at the time of construction. As a result, the Building Code of Australia does not require you to continually update your windows, balcony railings and fire doors etc.”I think that means you don’t have to replace and upgrade whenever you discover that something in the building is non-compliant. However, I think whenever you have to replace something that’s non-compliant for some other reason – such as, it’s broken – it must be with something that is compliant with the new standards.
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Hi
Just in relation to this thread, I am an owner/occupier in a block of 18 units that was built in 1963.
I was advised by a builder a little while ago, that the internal banisters in our common stairwells are non compliant (do not meet with height regulations). He advised me that are required to be 900mm in height but are less than this. Given the above, would it be that they do not need to be replaced until a point where they break and then are replaced with banisters compliant with current standards?
Many thanks…
supersleuth – In my opinion you would be correct in your assessment.