Short answer
You generally can’t put a lock or gate on common property on your own, even where it adjoins your lot — it needs the owners corporation’s approval first. A lock or gate both alters common property and can affect other people’s access and fire safety, so under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) it’s a matter for the owners corporation, typically by resolution or by-law, not for an individual owner. Where your lot ends and common property begins is set by the registered strata plan.
Why approval is needed
Two things make a lock or gate more than a private decision. First, fixing it to a wall, fence or floor is a change to common property, which the Act treats as an owners corporation matter. Second, restricting access to a shared area can affect other owners’ rights and — importantly — emergency egress and fire safety, which is why controlling access to common areas can’t be done unilaterally. If the gate effectively gives you sole use of an area, that crosses into exclusive use, which needs a common property rights by-law. Because of the safety dimension, this is one to get right rather than assume.
Getting it approved
The pathway depends on what you’re doing. A shared security gate the whole scheme benefits from is usually decided by the owners corporation at a meeting. A lock or gate that gives one owner private use of part of the common property generally needs a common property rights by-law (passed by special resolution, with the benefiting owner’s consent) that also fixes maintenance and any fire-safety conditions. Confirm the exact approval and any compliance requirements with your committee before installing anything — putting it up without approval can lead to being ordered to remove it.
Handling access requests as a committee
A self-managed committee decides lock and gate requests itself, weighing access, security and fire safety. Straita helps a committee keep that orderly: recording the request, tracking the resolution or by-law that approved it, and holding the conditions attached — so the decision, its safety conditions and who maintains the fixture are all documented rather than remembered.
Primary sources
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) — s 108 (changes to common property) and ss 142–143 (common property rights by-laws).
- NSW Government — Strata schemes (Fair Trading) — common property and by-laws.
- NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) — disputes about common property and access.