Question: Is the front door common property or the responsibility of the owner? Do lot owners need to seek permission to install deadlocks?
Answer: Subject to any notations on the strata plan and applicable by-laws, a front entrance door is common property.
As front doors are “fire-doors” for fire safety, the installation of additional deadlocks, peep-holes etc can adversely affect the fire safety of the door and result in the Owners Corporation not being able to obtain annual fire certification. Any work which detrimentally affects the fire safety of a building requires the passing of a by-law under the new strata legislation.
In relation to an owners corporation imposing a type of locking system, generally, this would require the passing of a by-law.
If you refer to the common property memorandum on the NSW Fair Trading website (which must be adopted to apply to any particular scheme), original and replacement locks and any automatic closers etc form part of the common property.
For the full question and our detailed response, visit the original publication at Look Up Strata. Do you have a question relating to your property or development? Contact us!
Please note that this article is provided for information purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal advice.