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We have reached a bit of a dilemma in our block. We are looking to develop a COVID risk management plan, part of which involves service providers working on our common property and in individual apartments. A member of our strata committee feels that we should only use service providers where all their employees are fully vaccinated. Being the person who usually engages service providers to do works on our common property (and I have developed a really good team over the years), this concerns me because I feel that we will never find companies where this will be the case.
What do you recommend is a reasonable way forward?
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Firstly I think that you would have difficulty enforcing these requirements on individual lots if they are engaging people to do their private work.
In any case you would need to vet every cleaner, plumber, electrician, ironing person,dog walker . It’s just not practical let alone reasonable and dare I say legal. (The OC does not have jurisdiction of people’s private property).You could make a bylaw requiring wearing masks on common property, but every person in the block would need to comply( bylaws can’t be discriminatory).
For the common property, who’s going to vet the contractors? As you say, it’s likely that if the conditions are too onerous, your strata will find it hard to get timely repairs.
Since most businesses are conscious of keeping COVID safe, how about asking them if they have a COVID plan. Don’t use the ones without a plan but let the ones who do self regulate.
If you are still concerned ask for their COVID plan, and then do a short audit when they attend.
You could make a bylaw requiring wearing masks on common property, but every person in the block would need to comply( bylaws can’t be discriminatory).
FYI: Masks are mandatory on common property in Greater Sydney. This from the NSW Health website
Requirements around face masks
Face masks must now be worn by persons over 12 years in all indoor and outdoor areas of non-residential premises across all of NSW, except when engaging in physical exercise. A person must carry a mask, even when they are exercising.
There are certain exemptions to this requirement.
In areas subject to stay at home rules, masks must be worn in additional locations including:
- indoor common property areas of residential premises (e.g. lifts and lobbies of apartment blocks)
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The Medicare Express app has a copy of my “COVID-19 digital certificate”.
Vaccination status should be a selling point for contractors. If I had to choose between two contractors, who were otherwise equivalent, I would choose the vaccinated one.
You could ask the contractor to show you their certificate before they begin work at the site. Unfortunately, there will be people seeking fake proof of vaccination. So masks and social distancing should always prevail.