Two units in our building have refused access for fire safety checks and repairs despite repeated requests for the past 3 months. We only have a few days left to submit the FSS to council or risk being fined $1,000 per week. Can you please advise on what we can do? – Cassie, NSW

Q: I am the main contact for an owner’s corp in Sydney. Two units in our building have refused access for fire safety checks and repairs despite repeated requests for the past 3 months. The fire safety company engaged via our strata manager has signed off on the annual fire safety statement. I refuse to countersign as I know our building is not compliant. We only have a few days left to submit the FSS to council or risk being fined $1,000 per week. Can you please advise on what we can do?

A: We’d suggest having a look at your by-laws as a first step. Your strata property may already have a by-law that holds the owners responsible for providing access in the case of fire safety inspections. If not, it may be worth putting one in place to help deter refusal of access during fire safety inspections in future.

In the short term however, you may not have many options other than talking with the owners and explain to them the importance of fire safety inspections as a legislative and safety requirement. Mention of fines for being late in future may also incentivise those refusing to cooperate in being more collaborative in future and their actions affect everyone in your strata property.

You could also try notifying your council of the situation, making them aware of why the annual fire safety statement will be late to try to extend your deadline.