This article discusses fire stair door alarms, explaining whether a body corporate can alarm fire stairs, restrict use, or issue fines under fire safety and strata laws.
Question: I regularly use our fire stairs to come and go. Our body corporate has alarmed the doors and will be issuing fines for activating the alarm. Is this legal?
I live in a 7-story residential apartment. For exercise, I use the staircase regularly to come and go. The staircase is also the emergency exit route in a fire.
Our body corporate has advised that the external doors will be alarmed and they will issue fines if the doors are opened. Is this legal?
Answer: A body corporate cannot issue fines.
Stefan Bauer, Fire Matters:
The fire legislation does not prevent the building owner/occupier from placing an alarm on doors as long as it does not restrict an occupier’s egress .
Chris Irons, Strata Solve:
You might like to have a look at the resources, provided by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services about building owners and occupiers. There is a fact sheet about fire doors.
Based on your reading of that, you might like to have a conversation with your body corporate about what is and is not possible. If you are an owner, you can submit motions to meetings. The body corporate is responsible for the management of common property – which these doors likely are – and also must act reasonably in everything they do. ‘Acting reasonably’ means taking into account their responsibilities under relevant fire safety legislation.
A body corporate itself cannot issue fines. Whether the body corporate can pass on a fine it receives to the person it considers responsible is another matter, potentially.
This is general information only and not legal advice.
This post appears in the November 2023 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.
Stefan Bauer
Fire Matters
E: sbauer@firematters.com.au
P: 07 3071 9088
Chris Irons
Strata Solve
E: chris@stratasolve.com.au
P: 0419 805 898
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