Queensland body corporate law and published adjudicator guidance distinguish between a body corporate’s role in managing certain apartment entrance doors and a lot owner’s rights concerning access to their private lot.
Apartment entrance locks and body corporate approval
In a building format plan, Queensland Government guidance says doors, windows and associated fittings in a boundary wall between a lot and common property are usually maintained by the body corporate. An owner will therefore usually need body corporate approval before altering that hardware.
Queensland Government – Building format plan maintenance responsibilities
Approval and master-keying are different questions
The Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management has published guidance stating that adjudicators have concluded owners cannot be prevented from having a lot-door lock that is not master-keyed. The same publication says adjudicators have found that a body corporate cannot master-key a lot-door lock without the lot owner’s written agreement, even where a general meeting resolution exists.
The publication refers to Hedges 252 [2014] QBCCMCmr 210, Burleigh Beach Tower [2009] QBCCMCmr 163, Trafalgar Towers and Mercantile-Dalgety Place.
Queensland Government – Keys and security access
The Commissioner’s publication notes that adjudicators’ orders are guides rather than binding precedents. Each scheme’s circumstances and by-laws still matter.
Reasonable conditions and fire safety
Queensland Government guidance says a body corporate can impose reasonable conditions when authorising an owner’s improvement. Compliance with fire-safety requirements is specifically identified as a relevant condition for replacement locking hardware.
Queensland Government – Improving common property and lots
Onsite managers and private lot access
Queensland Government guidance states that body corporate legislation does not create an explicit entitlement or right to keys, fobs or swipe cards. Owners can choose who they provide access devices to, subject to statutory rights of access.
An onsite manager or caretaking contractor may still be lawfully authorised to enter a lot in particular circumstances. They do not gain a general right to enter every lot merely because they are the onsite manager.
Body corporate entry rights
Queensland Government guidance on section 163 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act explains that an authorised person can enter a lot where the body corporate needs to inspect for, or carry out, work it is authorised or required to perform.
For non-emergency entry, the body corporate must generally give at least 7 days’ written notice, and entry must occur at a reasonable time. Only a person authorised by the body corporate may exercise that power.
Queensland Government – Entering a lot or exclusive use area
Emergency access
In an emergency, an authorised person may enter a lot at any time, with or without notice. The Commissioner’s published guidance also records an adjudicator’s finding that there is no statutory requirement for a caretaker to have access to all units through a master-key system simply for emergency or fire-safety purposes.
The important distinction
A body corporate may have a legitimate role in approving changes to a boundary-door lock. That approval process is separate from whether the owner consents to the lock being part of a building master-key system.
Owners should check their registered survey plan, community management statement and by-laws, and obtain body corporate approval where required.
Queensland Government references
- Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management – Keys and security access
- Building format plan maintenance responsibilities
- Improving common property and lots
- Entering a lot or exclusive use area
- Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997
This is general information, not legal advice. The legal position for a particular scheme can depend on its survey plan, regulation module, community management statement, by-laws and the circumstances of the dispute.