Question: Can an owners corporation give a contractor access to a locked common property laundry without granting a formal licence?
I own an apartment in a mixed-use scheme with residential and holiday lets. We recently engaged a contractor to carry out daily maintenance tasks, including sweeping, moving bins, cleaning the BBQ and pool. The contractor works on site about 5 to 12 hours per week, depending on the season.
One owner passed a motion at an EGM to have the common property laundry locked, and the contractor doesn’t have access. The laundry does not have a washer or dryer, but it has a sink. The contractor needs hot water to carry out their duties and a secure place to store the pool-testing equipment.
We want to reverse the EGM motion at our upcoming AGM so the contractor can access the laundry. One owner says we cannot do this without passing a special resolution to grant a licence under section 112 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.
Can the owners corporation (OC) resolve to give the contractor access to this common property area for maintenance purposes, or does it need a formal licence and special resolution?
Answer: It may not be necessary to repeal the motion, but simply to resolve to provide the contractor with a key to the locked door.
I’m assuming the laundry is common property and that there are no exclusive use by-laws over this area. In which case, there are several issues here. Let’s break them down.
The first issue relates to the contractor. I suggest looking at the terms of their contract, as it should clearly set out their tasks (which you have indicated require access to hot water). By preventing the OC’s contractor from accessing hot water to enable them to complete their duties, the OC may have breached their contract. Depending on the terms of the contract, it may allow the contractor to terminate the agreement and seek damages from the OC. If the contract also specified where the contractor is to store items on the common property, e.g., in the now locked laundry, then this too could be a breach of contract.
The second issue relates to the repeal of the door locking motion. There may be another reason for locking the door unrelated to the contractor using the area. It may not be necessary to repeal the motion, but simply to resolve to provide the contractor with a key to the locked door.
The third issue is the potential need for a licence to use the laundry. Section 112 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 requires a special resolution to be passed to authorise a licence. The key question is whether it is needed. A contractor carrying out work on behalf of the OC does not need a licence to enter an area of common property to conduct their work. To put it in context, if a licence was required just to access the common property, then every time a contractor attended to change a light bulb, they would need a licence authorised by a special resolution. A licence would potentially be needed if the contractor needs the area to store items.
The first question I’d ask is who owns the pool equipment? I suspect the OC likely pays for it and that it is the OC’s personal property. If this is correct, a licence would not be required. If the equipment were the contractor’s personal property, they would need a licence to store it on the common property, and I suggest looking at their contract. Why? The right to use the area for storage may have been provided for in the contract. In this case, you need to review the motion to appoint the contractor. If it did provide for storage rights for the contractor’s property, were those rights granted by a special resolution and a licence?
This post appears in the May 2026 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Allison Benson Kerin Benson Lawyers E: allison@kerinbensonlawyers.com.au P: 02 4032 7990
