This NSW article is about entrance lighting in strata buildings and improving safety in the car park.
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- QUESTION: Our strata complex has common property roads that are extremely dark at night. Are there Australian standards and/or Australian building codes that inform when lights should be on at night within these areas.
- QUESTION: I live in a strata complex of 17 townhouses. If there are exterior lights and they are turned off at midnight and a resident or visitor has an accident will we be covered under our insurance public liability?
- QUESTION: Are there any rules about the lighting of driveways or entrance lighting in strata buildings? Does the lighting have to stay on all night?
- ARTICLE: Car Park Lighting: Get Compliant & Improve Safety
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Question: Our strata complex has common property roads that are extremely dark at night. Are there Australian standards and/or Australian building codes that inform when lights should be on at night within these areas.
Our strata complex of seventeen townhouses has common property road and driveways and gardens that are extremely dark at night.
Our current night lighting runs from dusk to midnight. Some residents feel that this lighting should run from dusk to dawn.
Are there Australian standards and/or Australian building codes that cover this?
Answer: If the lighting is original, it would be assumed it should be on during the night (dusk to dawn), if the Owners decide on any other lighting schedule they will need to justify same and would assume any liability that may arise if an incident occurs.
Without having been to the property we are only able to provide some general advice as follows:
- I assume that the current lighting runs along the driveway
- If the lighting was installed at the time of construction by the builder, we would assume it is part of the building approval and was intended to operate at night.
- If the above is correct then the safest option is that the lights run from dusk till dawn and we would assume this is what was intended at the time of construction.
- There are outdoor lighting standards for Public Roads and Public Spaces, Sports areas etc
- The Public Road and Other public Areas Lighting Standard is AS/NZS 1158.3.1
- Lighting along a road in a complex is generally considered Private and therefore lies outside the scope of this standard.
Unfortunately lighting requirements are a somewhat complex task to calculate and the Standard itself is a complex and very technical one.
If we assumed that the best fit was for the lighting category associated with ‘forecourts associated with cluster housing’ as per AS/NZS 1158.3.1, we would find that the lighting is assumed to be ‘maintained’ (on) at night.
I think the best way to proceed, if the lighting is original, is to assume it should be on during the night (dusk to dawn), if the Owners decide on any other lighting schedule they will need to justify same and would assume any liability that may arise if an incident occurs.
Moving forward the Owners should:
- maintain the light fittings
- ensure that vegetation does not cover them
- if possible change the light bulbs to LED, to save power
- consider installing a PE cell (photo-electric cell) which will automatically detect when dusk and dawn are and switch the lights on and off accordingly.
- speak to an electrician or lighting sales company to see if there are individual sensor light fittings suitable for what is currently installed.
QIA Group
E: [email protected]
P: 1300 309 201
W: http://www.qiagroup.com.au/
This post appears in Strata News #393.
Question: I live in a strata complex of 17 townhouses. If there are exterior lights and they are turned off at midnight and a resident or visitor has an accident will we be covered under our insurance public liability?
I live in a strata complex of 17 townhouses. If there are exterior lights and they are turned off at midnight and a resident or visitor has an accident will we be covered under our insurance public liability?
When looking at liability, do they take into account the residents in the building? So if you had a building that had the majority of elderly residents who might be more inclined to trip, is that taken into account at all or?
Answer: The short answer is yes
The short answer is yes. But I’ll expand on that a little bit further. So you’ve got two things to consider.
- What are the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy? Right, so the answer to that question is that there is no term, condition or exclusion around lighting in Australia policy. So there wouldn’t necessarily be an exclusion that would apply to that claim.
- You need to consider risk management. If you think that turning the lights off is creating a hazard then you should consider whether, from a risk management perspective, looking at the risks versus the cost benefit, whether it’s worth keeping the lights on. If you have a claim, and that’s been brought to the committee’s attention, that increases your negligence at the time of the claim if someone is injured.
You can’t just look at it from ‘is it covered?’, but you also need to consider what the implications are if we don’t address this risk issue. Often it can mean a higher cost of a claim, and also subsequently, a more adverse claims history.
When it comes to a legal claim, obviously lawyers will put their arguments forward as to how much someone knows and did you breach your duty of care and so on? All of those things are factored into a claim and settlements and how solicitors run their arguments if they are suing the body corporate so definitely, every building is individual its own nature and you should consider what’s appropriate for your specific building.
Tyrone Shandiman
Strata Insurance Solutions
T: 07 3899 5129
E: [email protected]
This post appears in the August 2020 edition of the NSW Strata Magazine.
Question: Are there any rules about the lighting of driveways or entrance lighting in strata buildings? Does the lighting have to stay on all night?
Answer: There are rules as set out in AS 1680 regarding car park driveways and entries that help transition the lighting level upon entry and reduces the effects of blinding.
In basic terms, Australian Standards: AS 1680 specifies 800 lux for the first 15 meters of a car park entrance during the day and 160 lux at night, followed by 160 lux for the next 4 meters at all times. This helps transition the lighting level upon entry and reduces the effects of blinding.
Tracey Wyber
E: [email protected]
W: Trackie Industries
This post appears in Strata News #276.
Car Park Lighting: Get Compliant & Improve Safety
Make your car park entry compliant
Smart controls and good car park design plays a vital role in protecting vehicles and more importantly their human cargo. Most people don’t link road safety issues and good car park lighting together. One of the most common design failures can be seen in the entry and circulation lanes near the front entrance.
Temporary blinding due to strata building’s car park entrance lighting
When entering a car park, a driver’s eye must adjust quickly, adapting from the bright daylight conditions to the darker car park environment. This transition can lead to temporary blinding, making it difficult for the driver to react to obstacles or pedestrians. Car park entrances can often be located in high pedestrian areas, this temporary loss of clear vision is enough to create serious injuries.
One of the most common design failures can be seen in the entry and circulation lanes near the front entrance. The Australian standards AS 1680 specifies 800 lux for the first 15 meters of a car park entrance during the day and 160 lux at night, followed by 160 lux for the next 4 meters.
The Solution
Install a car park entry system that uses a twilight sensor to assess the outside light levels to communicate with a smart control lighting system that automatically adjusts the lighting levels to 800 lux in the day time and 160 lux at night.
Tracey Wyber
E: [email protected]
W: Trackie Industries
This post appears in Strata News #255.
Have a question about entrance lighting in strata buildings or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.
Read next:
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- NSW: Q&A Light Shining Into the Apartment Causing Nuisance
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We are a complex of five townhouses in Brisbane,Queensland. Our lighting goes off at 10pm at night, leaving our complex in darkness until dawn. I am concerned if someone has a fall coming into our complex when the lighting is turned offafter 10pm. The area to the car park dips down and I know someone has hada stumble in that area. I have mentioned about this to others who don’t seem bothered. They want the lights off after 10 pm. Who would be responsible and be liable if there were an accident and would this be Body Corporate Owners due to lighting being turned off after 10pm. I haven’t been able to get information from our Insurance Company whom I have emailed and rang with no reply. With thanks for any information. Doris Bramwell.
A general question about strata buildings and compliance with Australian standards – do body corporates only have to comply with whatever standards applied when the building was built or do they have to comply with current standards?
Hi Annette
We have received the following from Tracey Wyber, Trackie Industries:
When it comes to lighting it is about the safety of the occupants and their visitors so it is important to comply with current standards for lighting levels. When conducting an LED upgrade you must comply with not only the lighting output standard but also electrical safety standards like residual current devices on lighting circuits.
Hello, who can be held responsible for accidents and injuries sustained as a result of car park entrances not complying? The body corporate committee, the building manager or the body corporate manager? What ANZ standards, apart from the lighting issue you mentioned above, must body corporates comply with?
I am renting in a circa 1996 large, high rise apartment block in Brisbane and my car was damaged when the heavy basement carpark garage door came down on my vehicle.
The only anti-entrapment measure in operation, was the reversing of the door when it came into contact with my vehicle’s roof. Unfortunately, once in reverse mode, the garage door captured my SUV’s roof racks and partially dislodged them from my vehicle.
Two other entrapment measures are installed but are definitely not operating ie. a pair of sensor beams fitted either side of the garage opening and a flashing/beeping siren fitted on the exterior side, above the garage door opening. I have been told that the siren has not worked for a long time and it appears that the sensor beams may have been deliberately switched off.
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This is an extremely difficult car park to exit from, the lighting is poor, the fob swipe is situated on the far right hand side, which means that entering and exiting traffic has to switch sides. Further complicating the arrangement is the location of 4 visitors car spaces, two each side, located immediately on the other side of the garage door and just before the exterior boom gates. In the short time that I have been there, I have almost been backed into twice as drivers that have parked nose-in cannot easily see that the garage door is about to open. An operating flashing/beeping light is imperative here.
The body corporate has not responded to my concerns about the safety issues, instead fobbing me off to their insurer who offered the following advice:… “We have reviewed your comments regarding our garage doors compliance with building codes. Noting that a building is only required to comply with building codes applicable at the time the building is constructed – we are of the view the door is operational in accordance with the building codes”.
Hi Nikki I have been in communication with the BCCM countless times and have lodged another Form 15 with them over a month ago that is still awaiting case management. Meanwhile nothing changes. I find the BCCM does not follow up once an adjudication has been made and the body corporate simply calls a meeting and the weight of the other four owners votes overturns any compliance issues moving forward. Then we start the process again of paying to lodge a Form 15 and await the outcome. It really is very frustrating being part of this self managed strata scheme. Thanks Di
Hi Di,
I have just emailed you some facts and statistics regarding carpark compliance. Have a look and if more information is required, I’m happy to help.
Regards,
Tracey
Hi Tracey thanks for your response. The complex is on the central coast in Queensland of only 5 lots. The scheme is and has never been compliant as we do not have a sinking fund forecast. The problem I have is that the self managed committee refuses to spend any money. At every AGM I submit motions for exactly this type of thing, but the motions never pass, as the other four lot owners are apparently friends and also share the same view as the 2 committee members about not spending any money. I am at my wits end in regard to maintenance and safety at the complex as sadly for us, the property is deteriorating rapidly, and with it the value of our investment. We live interstate but thankfully have a very proactive property manager. Hope this helps? Cheers Di
Hi Di
Thanks Tracey! We’ve also received this comment from Todd Garsden, Hynes Legal about the committee’s statutory obligations:
The body corporate has a number of statutory obligations that it must comply with irrespective of the cost of the compliance. This extends to maintenance and sinking fund forecasts. If the body corporate refuses to meet these obligations, the owner could make an application in the Commissioner’s Office seeking an order that the body corporate does certain acts to meets those obligations.
Hi Di,
Thankyou for commenting and one solar light certainly does not sound like it would provide sufficient lighting. Can I ask which state you live in? We have people who can help in Sydney, Melbourne and QLD. If not one of those states, I can send you some compliance information once I know a little more about the site.
Regards,
Tracey
This is very interesting as I believe the lighting in our complex is not sufficient only one solar light. However the committee is not interested in hearing anything about it. I have tried to find ways to have this assessed, only to hit a brick wall. Any companies that come out to check on safety issues only do so during the day and therefore cannot check the lighting. What options can we undertake?