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Assuming you are in NSW, here is some info about where to locate smoke detectors: https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/page.php?id=443
As per the link, it might well be the case that only one is needed for each storey. And the recommendation says “it is better not to install them in kitchens, bathrooms, laundries and garages”.
I have a two floor apartment in a fairly new complex and we only have one per floor. The detectors inside each apartment are mains powered (with battery back-up) and are not connected to the building's Fire Panel (meaning that the alarm is local – but it is loud enough inside the apartment). We also have detectors in the Common Areas of our building that are also mains powered but have a central battery back-up. These are connected to our building's Fire Panel which will ring bells/alarms everywhere if one goes off.
We also have water sprinklers in each apartment and in common areas. Only if one of these triggers will a call will be automatically made to our monitoring service who in turn will call the fire brigade.
Are your internal apartment detectors connected to your building's central Fire Panel? If so then it would be an OC matter to maintain them. Ours are not, probably because of the number of false alarms that would happen.
Perhaps it not a law that your manager refers to but a recommendation? But if you really wanted to install more detectors, you could of course buy stand-alone ones even from your supermarket. These are battery powered only, so you need to check/change the battery often.
I once lived in a building that had 2 working bees/year. The bees were only only for an hour or two. At the end of the bee, drinks and snacks were provided at OC expense. It sort-of worked I suppose and for those that participated it was a bit of a neighbour social. But I stress these bees were for relatively minor things – garden clean-ups, minor painting (with paint and brushes supplied by the OC) and similar.
I suspect the local council would only be interested if the renovation changed the exterior of the building in any way.
In VIC at least, it seems that any interior renovations (i.e. that do not change a lot's boundary) can be approved by just the Manager or the Committee. This includes any interior renovation that affects Common Property inside the lot. VCAT decision C3990, stated that.
We have two building in our strata plan, a larger one with 8 apartments and a smaller with 4. The buildings have separate TV distribution systems. Two or 3 of the owners in the larger building wanted to get Foxtel. Rather than a satellite solution with separate cables somehow running to each apartment, we decided to integrate it into our (modern) TV distribution system. It was expensive to do this but it meant that there would be no ugly cables and only 1 dish on the roof. And also Foxtel would go to every TV outlet in all the apartments. I didn't want Foxtel but voted for it. None of the owners in the smaller building wanted it at all. Eventually we decided to install Foxtel in the larger building only and strike a special levy to pay for it from just the 8 owners who would get the service. Since then a few residents in the smaller building have asked for Foxtel – which they can have if they pay for a similar installation.