Question: Is the Building Manager authorised to give tradies a master key and unsupervised access to apartments?
We believe that the Building Manager has been giving the master key to tradies so that they can access unattended units to carry out work. Recently, during pest control at the building, a number of lot owners came home to find unsupervised works in their apartment, that someone has been in the apartment or were in the apartment when a pest controller walked in. In all cases, no notice of the work or request to access the lot had been provided.
There is an obvious security issue here. Is the Building Manager authorised to give tradies a master key and unsupervised access to apartments?
Answer: The only instance in which the body corporate may enter a lot without permission is in the event of an emergency.
Unauthorised access to a lot is a significant concern and may even be a criminal matter. If you feel strongly enough about the situation you, could report it to the police. At the least, I would engage the Committee and your body corporate manager and move to have the practice stopped. You could also write directly to the building manager advising that they are not permitted to enter your lot.
The only instance in which the body corporate may enter a lot without permission is in the event of an emergency. Those occasions should be rare, and it should be clear why the body corporate has acted when it did.
Otherwise, the conditions under which the body corporate may seek entry to a lot are well-regulated. As a minimum, a notice of entry would usually be required. Even if provided it is unusual to seek entry without owners granting permission and in most circumstances this wouldn’t be a recommended practice.
You can read more about the regulations here: Entering a lot or exclusive use area
Your by-laws might also contain information about circumstances about when the body corporate can enter your lot.
If a lot is refusing access for some reason the body corporate can seek a forced entry, but there is a legal process around this and due notification has to be supplied.
Is there a reason why the manager is extending their authority in this way? Perhaps it is an ongoing practice that has never been challenged? Maybe they are misinterpreting the law? Or are they just used to overstepping and pushing people around? It would probably be helpful to find out why they think it is OK.
This post appears in Strata News #619.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924