Last updated: 14 July 2026
TL;DR — A window safety audit is the comprehensive, building-wide baseline: every openable window tested against the section 118 criteria, every device force-tested against 250 newtons, and the results delivered as a unit-by-unit register with photographs and a fixed remediation quote. It is how a building goes from ” we think we’re fine” to a documented position a committee can act on. Haven audits single buildings and whole management portfolios across Sydney. Call +61 2 8000 0287.
An audit answers three questions for every openable window in the building: does this window legally require a device (openable; floor 2m+ above outside ground; opening below 1.7m); is a device fitted; and does it actually comply — restricting to 125mm and holding 250 newtons under the AS 5203:2016 test method. Common property is covered alongside lot windows.
The deliverable is not an opinion, it is a register: window by window, pass or fail, photographed and dated — plus an itemised quote for whatever failed. From that document, a committee can resolve, budget and fix in one meeting.
Four triggers cover most audits we run. No records: the scheme cannot produce evidence of compliance — the audit establishes the baseline. New management: an incoming strata manager inherits a scheme with stale or missing records and needs a defensible position fast.
After building work: window replacements and renovations are the leading cause of silent non-compliance. Before a transaction: a committee wants the building’s position documented ahead of a sale period, insurance review or major works program.
If none of those apply because the building is already on an annual cycle with a live register — you don’t need an audit; you need this year’s reinspection.
Three documents. The photographic report — findings in plain English, written for committee members. The unit-by-unit compliance register — the building’s live record, formatted for the scheme’s section 180 files and reusable at every future cycle.
The remediation quote — fixed, itemised per window, using REMSAFE hardware, ready to attach to a committee motion.
Scope and starting point. The audit is the deep, whole-building baseline you run when the current position is unknown — it assumes nothing, tests everything, and builds the register from scratch.
A routine device inspection is the recurring check that keeps a known-good register current: faster, cheaper, and built on the audit’s foundation. Think of it as survey versus service.
Most buildings need one audit, then years of inspections — which is why we price the audit as a one-off project and the reinspection cycle as a program.
For managing agencies, we audit across a portfolio: one engagement, every scheme baselined to the same standard, one register format your team maintains everywhere. New acquisitions can be audited as they land, giving your agency a documented position within weeks of handover — the core of the due-diligence playbook for incoming managers.
Portfolio pricing is quoted per lot across the engagement.
After enough buildings, the findings form a pattern. The most frequent: windows with no device at all, concentrated in buildings that predate the 2018 deadline’s enforcement attention and never ran a program.
Close behind: devices removed during renovations and window replacements and never refitted — the silent killer of previously compliant schemes. Then hardware that looks compliant but fails the force test: aftermarket devices, fatigued fixings, corroded cables.
And in almost every building, at least one flyscreen being trusted to do a job it cannot do. The pattern is the point: failures cluster where buildings change, which is exactly what a baseline audit is designed to catch.
Our common failures guide covers each pattern in detail.
Four things, all of which the strata manager already holds: the unit count and address; the strata roll or a unit list so results log against correct lot numbers; the access arrangement — key register, building manager, or entry-notice schedule; and a note of any known renovations or window replacements, which tells the inspector where to look hardest. From there Haven handles the machinery: the resident notice template, the inspection sequence, and the follow-up.
The quote comes back fixed, the site visit is scheduled around your entry-notice lead time, and the committee receives the report, register and any remediation quote as one pack — one agenda item, one resolution, done.
Most small-to-medium buildings are audited in a single day; larger buildings are scheduled across consecutive days.
No. Access runs through the strata manager’s standard entry-notice process, with keys or escorted access for unoccupied units. The inspector needs a clear path to the windows, nothing more.
Pricing is per unit with a minimum for small schemes, quoted fixed before booking. Standard rates apply: 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.
The audit includes a fixed, per-window remediation quote. Once the committee approves it, installation is scheduled through the same access process, each fix is force-tested, and the register is updated to close the loop.
Once a proper baseline exists, you rarely need another full audit — an annual reinspection keeps the register current. Re-audit only after major works, a long gap in records, or a change of management.
Don’t know your building’s true position? One audit answers it — every window tested, everything documented, fixes quoted. Single buildings and portfolios across Sydney. Call +61 2 8000 0287 or email admin@havencompliance.com.au.
