TL;DR — A window safety compliance register is the unit-by-unit record proving your scheme meets its section 118 duty: every qualifying window, the device fitted, the test result, the date and who inspected it. It belongs in the owners corporation’s section 180 records, kept for at least seven years, and it belongs to the scheme — not to the inspection provider who created it. A register older than a year is history, not evidence; annual re-inspection is what keeps it current. Haven Compliance builds and maintains registers for buildings across Sydney — call +61 2 8000 0287.
When something goes wrong — an incident, a Fair Trading enquiry, a dispute with a departing tenant — the first document anyone asks for is the register. Not the invoice, not the certificate frame in the foyer: the record showing which windows were checked, what was found, and when. Most schemes either don’t have one or hold a version so old it raises more questions than it answers. Here is what a proper one contains.
What is a window safety compliance register?
It is the unit-by-unit, window-by-window record of the scheme’s compliance position under section 118 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 — which windows qualify for protection, what device protects each one, whether it passed testing, and when. The register is what turns “we did the windows a while back” into documented evidence with dates and results attached.
Qualifying windows are the ones the law cares about: openable windows where the internal floor is two metres or more above the ground outside and the opening starts less than 1.7 metres above the floor inside. Each needs a device restricting the opening to 125mm or a robust screen, resisting 250 newtons of force.
What fields should every register entry record?
A register an inspector, committee or tribunal can actually use records, for every qualifying window: the lot and unit identifier; the window’s location within the unit; the device type fitted (restrictor, lock or screen); the test outcome — restriction to 125mm, resistance to 250 newtons, child-resistant release that re-engages; the inspection date; who carried out the test; and any defect found with its remediation status. Buildings with mixed hardware ages benefit from recording the device product where identifiable, since replacement parts and known-fault patterns follow the product.
The remediation trail matters as much as the pass list: a register that shows a defect found in March, quoted in April and cleared in May documents a committee doing its job. One that shows defects found and then silence documents the opposite.
How long must the records be kept, and by whom?
Section 180 of the Act requires owners corporations to keep their records for at least seven years, and inspection records belong in that file. In practice the strata manager holds them on the scheme’s behalf — but they are the scheme’s records. That has a practical consequence committees often miss: when you change strata managers or inspection providers, the register moves with the scheme. No provider can hold your compliance history hostage, a point covered in detail in our guide to switching providers.
Why does a register go stale, and what refreshes it?
A register describes the building on the day of inspection, and buildings change: owners renovate, windows get replaced, hardware wears and residents remove devices. A register dated three years ago describes a building that no longer exists. The refresh mechanism is annual re-inspection — every qualifying window re-tested, every entry updated, so the scheme’s file always holds a position dated within the last twelve months. That cycle is exactly what Haven’s Annual Re-Certification Program automates: re-test, in-visit maintenance, updated register, renewed certificate, every year, scheduled by Haven.
Schemes with no register at all, or one too old to trust, start with a full window safety audit to build the baseline the annual cycle then maintains.
How does the register relate to the compliance certificate?
The register is the evidence; the certificate is the summary. A window lock compliance certificate states that every qualifying window passed on a given date — useful for AGMs, sales, insurers’ questionnaires and managing agents. But its credibility rests entirely on the register behind it. NSW has no official certification scheme for window safety inspectors, so a certificate is exactly as good as the documented testing it summarises — which is why Haven issues both together, and why both renew each annual cycle.
What does a good register entry look like in practice?
Concretely, one row per window, readable by someone who has never visited the building. An illustrative entry: Lot 7, Unit 5 — bedroom 2, north window · qualifying (floor above 2m external, sill below 1.7m internal) · cable restrictor fitted · tested to 125mm restriction and 250N · pass · inspected 14 May, J. Citizen, Haven Compliance · no defects. A failing entry carries the extra trail: the defect found, the per-window quote issued, the approval date, the remediation date and the recheck result. Every field earns its place — the qualifying assessment shows why the window is in scope at all, and the tester’s name makes the record attributable rather than anonymous.
Two structural habits separate registers that survive scrutiny from ones that don’t. Entries are never overwritten — each cycle adds a dated result alongside the previous ones, so the register shows the building’s history, not just its latest state. And non-access is recorded explicitly: a unit the inspector couldn’t enter is a documented gap with a follow-up plan, not a silent omission that surfaces at the worst possible moment. Buildings with high tenant turnover often close those gaps by pairing the annual cycle with end-of-lease window safety checks, which catch the units that change hands between cycles.
Compliance register questions, answered
Is a register legally required in NSW?
The Act requires complying devices (section 118) and record-keeping (section 180) rather than a register in a prescribed format. A unit-by-unit register is simply the form of record that actually discharges both — it proves the devices and preserves the evidence.
Who owns the register — the scheme, the strata manager or the inspector?
The owners corporation. Strata managers and inspection providers hold and update it on the scheme’s behalf, and it transfers with the scheme when either relationship changes.
Do flyscreens belong in the register?
Only as non-compliant items to be remediated — ordinary flyscreens do not meet the 250-newton requirement and do not count as window safety devices. Only robust screens built to resist that force qualify.
How current does the register need to be?
Current enough to describe the building as it stands. Annual re-inspection is the accepted rhythm, with interim updates after renovations, window replacements or reported incidents in affected units.
No register, or one too old to trust? Haven builds the baseline and keeps it current every year after. Call +61 2 8000 0287 or email admin@havencompliance.com.au.
