Window Safety Devices in NSW Strata Buildings

Every year children are injured falling from apartment windows. Since 13 March 2018, NSW owners corporations have had to fit window safety devices to the openable windows in a residential strata building where a child could fall. This guide sets out what the rule covers, what a compliant device does, and why a window replacement project is the best time to deal with it. It is general information, not legal advice. Your strata manager or lawyer can confirm how it applies to your building.

Where the rule comes from

The duty sits in section 118 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 and regulations 30 and 31 of the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016. It applies to residential strata schemes. The owners corporation must install the devices on windows that are common property, and it carries the cost.

Which windows need a device

The rule targets windows a child could climb to and fall from. In broad terms, a window needs a safety device when both of these are true:

• the window can be opened, and the lowest part of the opening is less than 1.7m above the floor inside, and
• the floor inside is 2m or more above the ground or surface outside the window.

What a compliant device does

A compliant device stops the window opening wide enough for a 125mm sphere to pass through, which is roughly the size of a young child's head. It must hold against an outward force of 250 newtons. If it can be unlocked or removed so the window opens fully, the release must be child-resistant. Owners can open the window fully when they need to, for cleaning or in an emergency, and then put the restriction back.

Common devices are keyed or child-resistant window restrictors and locks fitted to the sash. Flyscreens do not count, because they are not designed to hold a child's weight.

Who pays, and what owners can do

Where the windows are common property, the owners corporation pays for the devices and for keeping them working. Owners must not remove or damage a device the owners corporation has fitted, although they can unlock it temporarily. The owners corporation can be fined for not complying, and the bigger risk is liability if a child is hurt at a window without a device.

Why it belongs in a window replacement project

Many buildings fitted restrictors in a hurry in 2017 and 2018, often to old aluminium sliders and awnings that were already worn. When those windows are replaced, the restrictors go with them. If the new windows are not specified with compliant devices from the start, the building is out of compliance the day the installers leave.

New windows also need to meet the National Construction Code requirements for openable windows. Specifying the devices at the design stage means the hardware is built into the window, looks tidy and works properly, rather than being screwed on afterwards.

How we handle it

• We note every opening that meets the height test during the site walk
• The proposal lists which windows get devices and which hardware is used
• Restrictors are fitted at manufacture or installation, not as a later add-on
• Handover documents record every device, so the strata roll shows what was installed and where