Having to replace balcony balustrades

It depends…….

Are the balustrades obviously unsafe, for example are there gaps large enough for a child to fall through?

Are there other works planned? If a development application is lodged with Council they take the opportunity to require certain upgrades by way of conditions placed on the development consent.

If you are doing something like a balcony remediation including waterproofing then you will need a design by an engineer before anything else. What is the reason for the upgrade?

Goldie wrote:

There is nothing wrong with them except they’re about 2 inches lower than the prescribed height.

Well, that’s what’s wrong with them.  But a rail or some security glass along the top would fix that.  You don’t have to replace the entire balustrades if they’re otherwise sound.

Goldie wrote:

would a strata be fined for NOT upgrading the balconies?

If the council ordered your scheme to replace the balustrades or make them safe, you could be fined for ignoring the order.  But the order would have to come first – you can’t be fined pre-emptively

CorLotte wrote:

There is a prescribed height. I understand that this is a rule that has to be observed even without an order. Or is it not?

So what happens if there is no order?  There are no StrataKops.

However, if someone tips over it and suffers serious injury or worse in a fall, and there is a record of your strata scheme having been told the balustrade was under height, you could be in trouble from the victim of the fall and insurance might walk away.

Or, if the council tells you it’s too low and orders you to fix it, then you could be fined for not doing so.

Those scenarios aside, no one is going to come around and measure your balustrades and fine you if they aren’t high enough.

CorLotte wrote:

Who would be responsible in this case?

Ah, that would be the bottle shop that supplied them with the alcohol, wouldn’t it?