TL;DR — Switching window safety inspection providers is simpler than most strata managers expect: your compliance register belongs to the scheme, not the provider, so it moves with you. Request your records, check what state they’re in, and the new provider either continues the annual cycle from your register or re-baselines with a fresh audit if the records don’t hold up. No lock-in applies in either direction. Haven Compliance onboards buildings from other providers routinely — call +61 2 8000 0287 to talk through your building’s position.
Strata managers change window safety providers for predictable reasons: pricing that crept up or was never transparent to begin with, reports that arrive late or in a format committees can’t use, inspectors who won’t coordinate access properly, or a provider who did the installation years ago and has treated the building as captive ever since. Whatever the trigger, the mechanics of moving are straightforward — and knowing them puts you in a stronger position even if you stay.
Who owns your building’s compliance records?
The owners corporation does — always. Inspection records form part of the scheme’s records under section 180 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, kept for at least seven years, and a provider holds them on the scheme’s behalf, not as leverage. When you switch, request the full register: every qualifying window, device types, test results, dates and any outstanding defects. A professional provider hands it over without friction; reluctance to release records tells you the switch was the right call.
What a complete register should contain — and what to check yours for — is covered in our guide to the window safety compliance register.
What should you ask for before you move?
Four things, all reasonable requests of the outgoing provider: the current register in a usable format; copies of the most recent compliance certificate and inspection reports; any outstanding remediation quotes with their per-window pricing; and confirmation of which units, if any, could not be accessed at the last cycle. That last item matters more than it looks — unaccessed units are the most common hole in a building’s compliance position, and the incoming provider needs to know where they are.
How does the new provider take over?
Two paths, depending on the state of the records. If the register is recent and credible, the new provider continues the cycle from it — the next annual re-inspection re-tests every qualifying window against the 125mm and 250-newton requirements and the register simply gains a new dated column. If the records are old, incomplete or missing, the honest move is a full baseline audit that rebuilds the register from scratch, after which the annual cycle keeps it current.
Under Haven’s Annual Re-Certification Program, onboarding a switching building includes both options quoted fixed in advance, so the committee knows before deciding whether it is buying a cycle or a re-baseline.
What should the new provider’s pricing look like?
Fixed, banded and public. Haven’s rates are fixed and banded by building size, starting from $250 + GST per annual cycle, quoted before booking — the full tier structure is on the pricing page. Whoever you choose, insist on the same shape: a known cycle price agreed before booking, in-visit maintenance included, and remediation quoted per window rather than as open-ended hourly work. Opaque pricing is the single most common reason schemes end up switching again.
What are the red flags when choosing the replacement?
Watch for a provider who won’t commit to a price before seeing “what they find”; who issues certificates without a unit-by-unit register behind them; who claims a government accreditation — NSW has no official certification scheme for window safety inspectors, so that claim is a fabrication; or who bundles compliance with an obligation to buy their hardware at unquoted rates. A fuller checklist of vetting questions is in our guide on how to choose a window safety inspector.
Does switching create a compliance gap?
Not if it is sequenced properly. The scheme’s section 118 duty runs continuously through the handover, so the practical rule is: line up the incoming provider’s first cycle before the outgoing arrangement lapses, and prioritise any outstanding defects from the old register in that first visit. A switch is also the natural moment to fix the schedule itself — most schemes time the new annual cycle to land just before the AGM, so the renewed register and certificate arrive when the committee actually meets.
A clean handover checklist for strata managers
For a portfolio manager moving one building — or twenty — the sequence that avoids gaps looks like this:
- Request the records first — register, latest reports, certificate copies and outstanding quotes — before giving the outgoing provider notice. Documents move faster while the relationship is still commercial.
- Have the incoming provider review the register and state in writing whether it supports continuing the cycle or the building needs a baseline audit — with both priced fixed.
- Book the first cycle before the old arrangement lapses, so the section 118 duty never runs uncovered between providers.
- Front-load the known defects — anything open on the old register gets prioritised in the first visit, closing the previous provider’s loose ends under the new one’s documentation.
- Reset the calendar — time the new annual cycle to land before each building’s AGM, and stagger cycles across the portfolio so renewals arrive on a manageable schedule.
- File everything — old register, handover correspondence and the new baseline all go into the scheme’s section 180 records.
Managers running this sequence across a portfolio usually find the hardest step is the first one — extracting usable records — which is itself the strongest argument for choosing a replacement provider whose register practice is transparent from day one.
Switching questions, answered
Can our old provider refuse to hand over the register?
The records belong to the owners corporation under section 180, and the strata manager can require their return on the scheme’s behalf. A provider may withhold documents it never delivered under its contract terms, which is why requesting the register annually — not just at switching time — is good practice.
Do we have to re-audit the whole building when we switch?
Only if the records don’t support continuing. A recent, complete register lets the new provider pick up the annual cycle directly; a stale or missing one makes a baseline audit the safer investment.
Will the certificate from our old provider still count?
It remains evidence of the building’s position on its date — certificates are independent documentation, not government-issued credentials, so they don’t expire on switching. They simply age, which is why the incoming annual cycle issues a fresh one.
Is there a best time of year to switch?
Just before the building’s next cycle would fall due — the incoming provider’s first visit then doubles as the annual re-inspection, and nothing is paid for twice. Failing that, far enough ahead of the AGM for the first report to land before it.
Thinking about moving your building — or your whole portfolio? Haven quotes the takeover fixed, works from your existing register where it holds up, and puts every building on a scheduled annual cycle. Call +61 2 8000 0287 or email admin@havencompliance.com.au.
