QLD: Q&A Can the body corporate committee enter a deceased owner’s lot?

This article is about whether a body corporate committee can enter a deceased owner’s lot.

Question: Can the body corporate enter a deceased owner’s lot? A resident unit owner died months ago. No one has contacted the committee. We’d like to enter the lot to carry out cleaning and find a relative’s contact details.

A resident unit owner died months ago. The committee has not been contact by a legal representative or anyone else concerning the estate. The car is untouched, and no one appears to have entered the unit.

To our knowledge, there are no relatives. Can we enter the unit under Section 163 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 to:

1. Ascertain whether any perishable items are spoiling and take remedial action, such as cleaning out the fridge, disinfecting mould, etc.
2. Find contact details for anyone who knows whether they have relatives, maybe from Christmas cards or letters.

Otherwise, what are the options? The police are unwilling to help.

Answer: The body corporate may authorise access to the lot to assess if any necessary remedial action is required.

Section 163 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld) permits the body corporate to, upon the provision of seven days written notice, authorise a person to access a lot within the scheme to:

1. inspect the lot to determine whether work the body corporate is authorised or required to carry out is necessary; or
2. carry out work the body corporate is authorised or required to carry out.

Accordingly, the body corporate may authorise access to the lot on the first of these bases, so as to determine whether any remedial action the body corporate is required to carry out is necessary (and may authorise access on the second basis to then carry out this work, if required). For example, this could be due to the lot owner’s obligation to keep the lot in good condition.

This access would not, however, necessarily authorise the body corporate to interfere with any personal effects within the lot. In due course, we would expect the executor of the will or public trustee to deal with the ongoing administration of the ownership issues.

Connor Mahoney
Mahoneys
E: tgarsden@mahoneys.com.au
P: 07 3007 3753

This post appears in the November 2024 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.

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