Our strata committee wishes to put a motion to our upcoming AGM that OC annually engage a fire protection service company to service our smoke detectors. However, as a class 1a building, NSW regulations brought in 2017 do not require us to have a fire safety schedule or annual fire safety certification so we seem to have no legislation to rely on for OC to assume responsibility from owners or their property managers. Is there any legislation preventing OC from assuming responsibility?
First of all, for the benefit of our high-rise dwelling readers, a Class 1a building is, according to government websites, “a single dwelling being a detached house, or one of a group of two or more attached dwellings, each being a building, separated by a fire-resisting wall, including a row house, terrace house, town house or villa unit.”
The simple answer to the inspection question is to pass a by-law (requiring 75 per cent of votes cast at a general meeting) that says every lot should allow access once a year for inspection by an accredited fire safety professional.
The by-law should include provisions such as the minimum number of days’ notice to lot owners and allowance for a “call-back fee” payable by owners who don’t allow or arrange access.
Owners who refuse to ever allow or arrange access would be subject to standard Notices To Comply and potential fines from the Tribunal for breaching the by-law.