Question: If an apartment doesn’t meet the requirements for building ventilation, is it mandatory to comply? If so, is this the responsibility of the lot owner or the strata? I’m concerned that in our building there are no opening windows and we are unable to create cross-flows of air.
If an apartment doesn’t meet the requirements for ventilation (BCA), is it mandatory to comply? If so, is this the responsibility of the lot owner or the strata?
Our building was built around 1940 and has been converted, possibly from a woolshed. The conversion may have been done around 2000. Over the years, there have been a number of changes such as entrances being moved and doors and windows being sealed. These changes have resulted in no opening windows and we are unable to create cross-flows of air.
Answer: You should raise your concerns about the lack of ventilation with the Strata Committee and the Strata Manager.
This is a really great question and quite a technical one at that.
The simple answer if you were to construct a building today is yes, all habitable rooms must have a ventilation opening. Habitable rooms under the national construction code include bedroom, living room, lounge room kitchen, dining room etc.
By today’s standards generally a room should have a ventilation opening (commonly termed a window) that is at least 10% of the rooms entire floor area.
The challenge though with your scheme is that your scheme was converted from quite an old building to a modern-day strata scheme ownership arrangement. Your building is also likely to be heritage listed which comes with a number of other covenants over the building particularly, around any changes of the façade.
We would recommend that you first check if your building is heritage listed and what changes if any could be made to the building façade.
Next, you should raise your concerns about the lack of ventilation with the Strata Committee and the Strata Manager. As the structure of the building is common property, including all windows/ doors etc any alterations or proposed alterations would need to be organised and approved by the Owners Corporation. If your building is indeed heritage listed, and the owners corporation does agree to the installation of windows, a number of conversations and parties will need to be involved to try and reach an agreement under the Heritage Act 1977 (S57) whilst meeting construction standards.
It is worth noting that the National Construction Code and the Building Code of Australia do not act retrospectively and therefore the inclusion of these ventilation requirements likely postdate the construction of this building. When this building was converted to strata, these codes should have been considered and if missed, the Owners Corporation should look into how these dwellings were certified.
This post appears in Strata News #547.
Dakota Panetta Solutions in Engineering E: dakotap@solutionsinengineering.com P: 1300 136 036