Madame_Chaire: The Strata Manager would not be an ‘expert’ on either fire safety or on what the council would require. I would not take the SM’s ‘advice’ as ‘gospel’.
I would have thought that if you are installing an attic conversion in your Lot that any additional fire security measures would probably be for the internals of the Lot and therefore should not be a cost that the OC or their insurance should be responsible for. A smoke alarm, at the very least, will need to be installed on the new level that you are creating.
Perhaps you could contact a structural engineer (which you will probably need for your renovation, in any case) or your building inspector or your council first to ask their opinion on what additional fire safety measures will need to be taken (if any), rather than relying on the ‘advice’ provided by the SM.
Is your attic conversion for use as a storage room or as a living space?
In NSW the regulations are:
- for a storage room with access via a ladder you do not need council approval.
- for a living space with a fixed staircase you will need council approval.
The conversion of attic space in an existing house into a room may be carried out as complying development if the proposal meets the relevant standards set out in the State Policy.
All attic rooms must be contained within the existing roof space and the pitch of the existing roof cannot be changed.