Approval needed to maintain hardwood flooring?

I recently settled on my first home (owner occupied in VIC) and are planning to have the existing original hardwood floors sanded and resealed as they have not been maintained over the life of the property and are very worn and scratched.

It was my understanding that this work would be classified as cosmetic given no structural changes are being made, and as such, would not require body corporate approval. We are not replacing any floorboards and the sanding and coating will be complete within one day within approved noise hours. We are on the ground floor with direct access without the need for lift usage, and the building is double brick so we don’t hear much from our neighbours on either side or above.

We were about to go ahead with these works until today when our tradie arrived to complete a formal quote. One of the other residents spied him, asked what he was doing here, and then charged up to my door telling me I couldn’t touch the floors without body corp approval. I told her they were only here for a quote and she walked off pretty fast, but now I’m left wondering, is she right? Do we need approval?

The work is really no different to painting, which I know is allowed without any need for approval. I’ve read through the body corp rules and I don’t think it fits the definition of minor or major work, but there’s a bit of a grey area in who owns the very upper surface of the floors. We’re tempted to just go ahead. We know we aren’t at risk of damaging any common property so worst case scenario we end up copping the $88 fine for unapproved works.

Any advice or experience in this area would be greatly appreciated.