Enter your email Address

LookUpStrata

Australia's Strata Title Information Site

  • Advert: Strata Guardian
  • Whitbread Insurance Brokers
Australia's Top Property Blog Dedicated to Strata Living
  • Home
  • What is strata?
    • Strata Legislation – Rules and ByLaws
    • What is Strata?
    • Glossary of NSW Strata Terms and Jargon
    • Understand Strata Management with this Five-Minute Guide
    • Cracking the Strata Fees Code
    • Strata Finance
  • Strata Topics
    • Strata Information By State
      • New South Wales
      • Queensland
      • Victoria
      • Australian Capital Territory
      • South Australia
      • Tasmania
      • Western Australia
      • Northern Territory
    • Strata Information By Topic
      • COVID-19
      • By-Laws & Legislation
      • Smoking
      • Parking
      • Noise & Neighbours
      • Insurance
      • Pets
      • Your Levies
      • New Law Reform
      • Maintenance & Common Property
      • Committee Concerns
      • NBN & Telecommunications
      • Building Defects
      • Renting / Selling / Buying Property
      • Strata Managers
      • Building Managers & Caretakers
      • Strata Plan / Strata Inspection Report
      • Apartment Living Sustainability
    • Strata Webinars
      • NSW Strata Webinars
      • QLD Strata Webinars
      • VIC Strata Webinars
      • ACT Strata Webinars
      • SA Strata Webinars
      • WA Strata Webinars
  • Blog
    • Newsletter Archives
  • The Strata Magazine
    • The NSW Strata Magazine
    • The QLD Strata Magazine
    • The VIC Strata Magazine
    • The WA Strata Magazine
  • Advertise With Us
    • Site Sponsors
    • LookUpStrata Site Advertising
  • About Us
    • Testimonials for LookUpStrata
  • Help
    • Ask A Strata Question
    • Q&As – about the LookUpStrata site
    • Sitemap
Home » Maintenance & Common Property » Maintenance & Common Property QLD » QLD: Q&A Resident Managers Cleaning Common Areas – COVID-19

QLD: Q&A Resident Managers Cleaning Common Areas – COVID-19

Published March 29, 2020 By Chris Irons, Strata Solve 3 Comments Last Updated April 20, 2020

Sharing is caring!

30 shares

Qld Resident Managers are concerned about the requirements for cleaning of common areas during the Coronavirus crisis. Chris Irons, Hynes Legal provides the following responses.

Question: We normally clean all common areas weekly. Should this cleaning continue or will we be potentially spreading the coronavirus around the building?

GET NOTIFIED WHEN WE PUBLISH NEW Q&AS, NEWS AND ARTICLES TO THE SITE

Our complex comprises of 88 units spread across 4 blocks on 2650 sq. metres.

Normally we would clean all floors and common areas, lifts etc weekly. However, we have been receiving advice that this should cease due to the fact that, not only are we both in the high-risk category, but we also stand a very good chance of spreading the virus throughout the complex.

What is the consensus during this period?

Answer: You need to rely upon firstly the terms of your contract and then, discussions with your committee.

Hopefully whomever you’ve received advice from is qualified to give it. As I’m sure everyone would know by now, there are plenty of people giving plenty of opinions about what should and shouldn’t happen during this pandemic. Many of them are simply not qualified to do so.

I can’t comment on the health or science behind your query – that’s a matter that Queensland Health might have to comment on. What I can say, though, is that there are no clear guidelines in body corporate legislation about what should happen in a pandemic. In which case, you need to rely upon your best practice processes. A committee in Queensland always has to act reasonably in everything it does. Acting reasonably is always different from case to case, invariably though it means making decisions on an informed basis, for the benefit of all occupiers of a scheme and within their defined decision-making limits, such as financial or other limitations.

If you as a committee feel as though you have a reasonable basis on which to make a decision like this, then you may decide to do so but I’d be urging you to ensure your record-keeping about it is detailed and that you clearly communicate your decision to all. On this last point, you might like to put yourself in the shoes of other owners or tenants in the building: how are they going to feel if their regular cleaning ceases? I’m confident at least some of them might feel not great about that, particularly at the moment. So perhaps before deciding to do anything you might like to engage with occupiers about your plans.

If you’re a caretaker, you need to rely upon firstly the terms of your contract and then, discussions with your committee. You’d need to seek legal advice if you are proposing to not carry out a function of your contract, as this may see you ending up in breach of the contract. By all means, put your concerns to the committee and talk with them about it. The committee is responsible for maintenance of common property so it would be their responsibility to decide to cease cleaning if that’s what they want.

Chris Irons
E: [email protected]
P: 07 3193 0500
W: Hynes Legal

This post appears in Strata News #333.

Have a question about cleaning of common areas during the Coronavirus crisis or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.

Embed

Read Next:

  • NAT: Q&A Closing Strata Pool & Gym Because of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
  • NAT: Coronavirus & Strata – What Does the Legislation Say? Not Much!
  • Environmental cleaning and disinfection principles for COVID-19
  • How long does coronavirus last on surfaces?

Visit our COVID-19 and Strata, Maintenance and Common Property OR Strata Legislation QLD pages.

Looking for strata information concerning your state? For state-specific strata information, take a look here.

After a free PDF of this article? Log into your existing LookUpStrata Account to download the printable file. Not a member? Simple – join for free on our Registration page.

About Chris Irons, Strata Solve

With an unmatched perspective on the strata sector, Chris Irons is a thought leader for strata issues and dispute resolution. For over 5 years Chris was Queensland’s Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management, the only role of its type in the world. After working for well-known strata law firm Hynes Legal, Chris is now an independent strata consultant, working under the banner of Strata Solve and helping clients to untangle their strata issues with tailored solutions.

Chris brings to the table over 2 decades of leadership in public policy development and is a nationally accredited mediator. He is a frequent media and content contributor on strata issues. Chris is well-known for his ability to get to the heart of strata problems, focussing on cause rather than effect, and also for his mantra of inform and educate. In strata, Chris firmly believes knowledge is power. Strata Solve combines Chris’s one-of-a-kind perspective, skillset and knowledge to help his clients save time, money and emotional toil.

In his capacity as independent consultant, Chris is Senior Vice-President of the Board of Strata Community Association (Qld), which is the strata peak body. Chris is also the President of Northside Connect, a not-for-profit community and legal services provider based on Brisbane’s northside. Chris is the human slave to a happily-retired former racing greyhound, which has all necessary strata approvals.

Comments

  1. b gleeson says

    April 24, 2020 at 1:19 pm

    clean is clean and dirty is filthy. if you clean a common area use the appropriate disinfectants and dispose of all cleaning paper towels area by area this will limit the chance of spread of any contaminants and the place will be cleaner. Simply just not cleaning it week after week is plan stupid.

    Reply
  2. Ann says

    March 30, 2020 at 5:58 am

    Firstly Chris Irons and Hynes Legal, congratulations on this initiative, Thanks. Reference earlier question about NSW regarding Levies and The BC’s with the Covid 19 affecting payments. As the legislation is different in Qld, can you please provide information for Qld Committees, thanks

    Reply
    • Nikki Jovicic says

      March 30, 2020 at 2:39 pm

      The response from Chris Irons, Hynes Legal:

      Hi Ann

      The information would be the same, as we wrote it based upon our experience working with Queensland legislation.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search For Strata Articles

  • Advert Stratabox
  • StrataBox Advert
  • Advert: StrataLoans
  • Advert: StrataLoans
  • Advert: StrataLoans
Subscribe Newsletter

TESTIMONIALS

"LookUpStrata should be compulsory reading for every member of a Body Corporate Committee. It provides the most understandable answers to all the common (and uncommon) questions that vex Body Corporates everywhere. Too often Committee members do not understand what Body Corporates are legally able to do and not do. LookUpStrata helps educate everybody living in a Body Corporate environment for free." John, Lot Owner

"It's the best and most professional body corporate information source a strata manager could have! Thanks to the whole team!" MQ, Strata Manager

"I like reading all the relevant articles on important issues on Strata living that the LookUpStrata Newsletter always effectively successfully covers"
Carole, Lot Owner

"Strata is so confusing and your newsletters and website are my go-to to get my questions answered. It has helped me out so many times and is a fabulous knowledge hub." Izzy, Lot Owner

Quick Login

Log In
Register Lost Password

Categories

  • COVID-19
  • Ask Us A Strata Question
  • New South Wales
  • Queensland
  • Victoria
  • Australian Capital Territory
  • South Australia
  • Tasmania
  • Western Australia
  • Northern Territory
  • ByLaws & Legislation
  • Smoking
  • Parking
  • Noise & Neighbours
  • Insurance
  • Pets
  • Levies
  • Law Reform
  • Maintenance & Common Property
  • Committee Concerns
  • NBN & Telecommunications
  • Building Defects
  • Renting / Selling / Buying
  • Strata Managers
  • Building Managers and Caretakers
  • Strata Reports / Plans
  • Sustainability

Recent Comments

  • A. C. on VIC: Who Can Best Calculate Replacement and Reinstatement Values?
  • Len Chapman on QLD: Q&As Keys, fobs, swipe cards, security access and issues
  • Liza Admin on QLD: Q&A Levy Increases – As Lot Owners, Can We Refuse?
  • Bruce on QLD: Q&As Keys, fobs, swipe cards, security access and issues
  • Kelly Partington on NSW: Q&A Noise Complaints to Strata
  • Stephen on NSW: Q&A Can we get a better return on our Capital Works Fund?
  • Liza Admin on VIC: How Can an Owners Corporation Handle Incorrect Parking?
  • Liza Admin on QLD: Caretakers and maintenance responsibilities
  • Ben on QLD: Q&A Levy Increases – As Lot Owners, Can We Refuse?
  • William Marquand on QLD: Q&As Keys, fobs, swipe cards, security access and issues

WEBSITE INFORMATION

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions of Use
  • Terms of Use for Comments and Community Discussion
  • Advertising Disclosure
  • Sitemap

SCA Membership

SCA WA Membership

ASK A STRATA QUESTION

Disclaimer

The opinions and/or views expressed on the LookUpStrata site, including, but not limited to, our blogs and comments, represent the thoughts of individual bloggers and our online communities, and not those necessarily of LookUpStrata Pty Ltd. In all instances, information should not be taken as advice and independent legal advice should be consulted.

CONTACT US VIA EMAIL

Copyright © 2022 · LookUpStrata ® Pty Ltd · All rights reserved