Last updated: 14 July 2026
TL;DR — NSW’s window safety laws exist for one reason: young children fall from unprotected windows, and those falls are preventable with a device that costs less than a dinner out. Section 118 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 requires safety devices on qualifying windows in every residential strata building — restricting the opening to 125mm or less and withstanding 250 newtons of force. Haven Compliance assesses buildings and individual homes across Sydney, installs compliant REMSAFE hardware, and provides the records that prove your windows are child-safe. Call +61 2 8000 0287.
Because toddlers climb, windows open, and flyscreens don’t hold. Young children — typically one to five years old — are naturally curious, have a high centre of gravity, and no sense of height.
A bed, couch or chest of drawers under an openable window is all it takes. NSW responded with mandatory window safety devices for strata buildings, fully in force since 13 March 2018.
The law is deliberately practical: it doesn’t ban opening windows, it limits how far they can open where a fall would be serious. A window restricted to 125mm still ventilates a room — a child cannot fit through it.
Under section 118, a window needs a safety device when all three apply: the window is openable; the internal floor is two metres or more above the ground outside; and the lowest part of the window opening is less than 1.7 metres above that internal floor. That captures most bedroom and living-room windows from the second storey up.
The duty applies to the whole strata building — every lot and the common property — not just apartments where children live today. Children visit grandparents, tenants change, and the law protects the child who arrives next year as much as the one in residence now.
A compliant device limits the window opening to 125mm or less, or is a robust screen covering the opening — and either way it must resist 250 newtons of outward force, verified against the AS 5203:2016 test method. Ordinary flyscreens do not qualify: they keep insects out, not children in, and fail the force test.
Devices may be unlockable by adults so windows can be fully opened for cleaning — but they must re-engage so the protection can be restored. Haven installs REMSAFE restrictors and locks matched to your window types, and force-tests every device after installation.
Owners corporations carry the legal duty for the whole strata building, and most of our child-safety work is delivered as building-wide compliance programs. Landlords and property managers should verify devices at every tenancy change — especially when the incoming household has young children.
Owner-occupiers and parents in houses and townhouses are outside s118, but the same hardware protects the same children; we regularly fit devices in private homes on request. If you manage a building and want the compliance picture in one document, start with our guide to child window safety for strata managers.
Three steps, one visit where possible. We assess every openable window against the s118 criteria and force-test existing devices. We install compliant REMSAFE hardware wherever a qualifying window is unprotected or its device fails.
And we hand over the paperwork — a photographic report and unit-by-unit register the owners corporation keeps for its records, plus practical child-safety guidance for residents, like keeping climbable furniture away from windows. Assessment pricing is simple: a single property is $250 + GST, buildings of 2 to 10 units are $490 + GST, and buildings of 11 or more units are quoted on request — fixed before booking, with the digital compliance certificate delivered the same day.
Device supply and installation is quoted fixed per window on top, using REMSAFE hardware.
Before anyone books anything, walk your home or building with this quick parent’s check: Stand at each openable window above ground level. Can it open more than the width of your palm plus a bit — roughly 125mm?
If yes, and there is no device limiting it, that window is unprotected. Push firmly on any fitted device or screen. If it flexes, pops or shifts, it will not hold a child. Look under the window.
A bed, sofa, toy box or chest of drawers is a ladder — move it now, whatever the hardware situation. Check the release. If a device can be disengaged, can it also be re-engaged — and is it currently engaged?
This self-check does not replace a professional inspection — the 250 newton test in particular needs proper verification — but it finds the urgent problems today, and it tells you exactly what to describe when you call.
Sydney’s housing stock spans 1960s walk-ups with original timber double-hungs to new towers with awning windows and integrated hardware — and the child-safety failure points differ. Older buildings most often have no devices at all, or aftermarket hardware fitted piecemeal by individual owners over the years.
Newer buildings usually have devices, but ones that were never force-tested, or that stopped complying after a builder’s warranty window replacement. The consistent lesson: age of building predicts the type of problem, not the presence of one.
Every building deserves the check.
Young children, particularly toddlers, face the highest risk: they can climb onto furniture and lean into an opening but have no awareness of the danger. That is why the 125mm restriction is designed around the size of a small child’s body.
Yes. A compliant restrictor allows the window to open 125mm — enough for ventilation. Adults can disengage the device to open the window fully, provided it can be re-engaged afterwards.
No. A standard insect screen pops out under a fraction of the 250 newton requirement. Only a robust screen built to resist 250N, or a device restricting the opening to 125mm, counts as protection.
Section 118 applies to strata scheme buildings. Freestanding homes are not legally required to fit devices, but the same hardware works and Haven installs it in private homes across Sydney on request.
Keep beds, sofas and climbable furniture away from windows, open windows from the top where the design allows, and never rely on a flyscreen. Devices plus habits is the combination that keeps children safe.
Want every window in your building child-safe and provably compliant? Haven Compliance assesses, installs REMSAFE hardware and documents the result — buildings and private homes across Sydney. Call +61 2 8000 0287 or email admin@havencompliance.com.au.
