QLD: Is the body corporate responsible for damage to common property caused during a break-in?

Question: Who is responsible for repairing or replacing a lot boundary door and lock damaged during a break in?

In a Building Unit Plan under the Standard Module, our door on the boundary between a lot and common property was damaged during a break in. The locks only need to be replaced due to criminal damage.

Our strata manager says the lot owner must pay because the damage resulted from a crime rather than maintenance. Does the body corporate’s obligation to maintain common property extend to repair or replacement where damage is caused by a third party, such as a break in?

If we want the replacement locks or door upgraded to a higher standard, is this an improvement, and who would pay for the upgrade and be responsible for future maintenance?

Answer: The body corporate would remain obliged to repair the broken lock and door irrespective of the cause of any damage.

The body corporate’s statutory maintenance obligation over the lock and door is unaffected by a third party causing damage. The body corporate would remain obliged to repair the broken lock and door, irrespective of the cause of any damage. The body corporate may have rights of cost recovery against the person who caused the damage, but it does not derogate from the body corporate’s maintenance obligations.

Any upgrade of the door or lock would amount to an improvement. There is never an obligation to improve the doors and locks, but this can be done by obtaining the necessary approvals. In this regard, if the lot owner wanted the door and lock to be approved, it could either:

1. ask that the body corporate do this as part of the repair works it is obliged to carry out (on the basis that the lot owner bears the increased costs to achieve the improvement); or
2. seek permission to carry out these works themselves, with the body corporate contributing the cost of the repairs that would otherwise be required.

The main difference between the two options is who would ultimately be who will be responsible for future maintenance of the doors and locks (with the second option now falling to the lot owner).

This post appears in the May 2026 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.

Todd Garsden
Mahoneys
E: tgarsden@mahoneys.com.au
P: 07 3007 3753