@SnOwl said:
I have heard that with the installation of these new locks an OC is required to have a certificate retained on file (issued by the locksmith installing the locks) that the lock is compliant to the 125mm opening and has been pressure tested.Does anyone know if this is a requirement (especially in relation to the pressure testing) in order to comply with the legislation and perhaps for insurance purposes or is it a nice to have?
There is no requirement under the law fro you to have the locks “pressure tested” just that they are “capable of resisting an outward horizontal action of 250 newtons”.
What’s the difference? If you have standard windows that comply already and you add locks that the manufacturer says are compliant, then you would be fine.
But if someone, say, fitted a lock to a flyscreen, that would cut no mustard.
The Act requires you to have window locks that comply with the regulations. The regulations do not require you to have certification but they do require locks to be compliant.
However, how are you supposed to know if they comply?
The easiest answer is you get a competent and qualified tradie to do it and provide you with certification to show that it has been done. It may well be that your insurers will have their own criteria since they are the ones who will have to pay out if something goes horribly wrong because of a failure by the Owners Corp to do this properly.
118 Window safety devices—child safety
(1) An owners corporation for a strata scheme to which this section applies must ensure that there are complying window safety devices for all windows of each building in the strata scheme that are windows to which this section applies.
Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.
(2) An owners corporation is to carry out work related to its functions under this section at its own expense and may, for the purposes of this section, carry out work on any part of the parcel.
(3) An owner of a lot in a strata scheme to which this section applies may install a complying window safety device on a window to which this section applies (other than a window on another owner’s lot).
(4) An owner of a lot who installs a window safety device under this section must:
(a) repair any damage caused to any part of the common property by the
installation of the device, and
(b) ensure that the device is installed in a competent and proper manner and has an appearance, after it has been installed, in keeping with the appearance of the building.
(5) An owners corporation or an owner of a lot may carry out work authorised by this section despite any other provision of this Act, the regulations or any by-law of the scheme.
(6) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the following:
(a) the strata schemes and windows to which this section applies,
(b) the devices or other things that are complying window safety devices for the purposes of this section,
(c) notification to the owners corporation by owners who install window safety devices.
(7) A regulation may apply this section to a window located on any part of a parcel.