Last updated: 14 July 2026
TL;DR — Compliance is not an event, it is a state — and buildings drift out of it quietly. Devices loosen with use, corrode near the coast, vanish during renovations and get painted into uselessness. Haven’s reinspection and maintenance program keeps a building continuously compliant: an annual recheck of every device against the 125mm and 250 newton requirements, on-the-spot maintenance of fixable hardware, and a register that stays current instead of becoming history. Call +61 2 8000 0287.
Never through one dramatic failure — always through quiet ones. An owner renovates and the restrictor doesn’t go back on. A window is replaced under warranty and arrives bare. Salt air seizes a cable restrictor; a hundred openings loosen a screw; a painter unscrews a device and leaves it in a drawer.
None of these get reported, because none of them look like a problem. That is the case for a cycle rather than a one-off: the building that was perfect at its audit is only as compliant as its last recheck.
Each cycle, every qualifying window is retested — restriction to 125mm, force to 250 newtons, fixings, condition and re-engagement — exactly as at a full device inspection. The difference is what happens next: maintenance-grade issues are fixed during the same visit where possible: fixings retightened, mechanisms adjusted and lubricated, worn components swapped.
Anything beyond maintenance — missing devices, failed hardware needing replacement — is quoted fixed per window from the same visit. The register updates either way, so the committee’s picture is always this year’s, not the audit year’s.
The Act sets no statutory interval; the sensible default is annual, aligned with the scheme’s other yearly compliance activities so it becomes routine rather than a decision. Buildings with specific risk factors — coastal exposure, high tenant turnover, active renovation cycles — sometimes warrant more frequent checks of the affected areas.
The trigger-based additions matter as much as the calendar: recheck affected units after any window replacement or renovation, and after any reported incident or near-miss, without waiting for the anniversary. Our annual inspections guide covers how schemes fold this into their compliance calendar.
Less — predictably less. A maintenance cycle catches a loosening fixing for the cost of a screwdriver turn; left two years, the same window is a failed device, a quoted replacement and a non-compliant interval nobody can retrospectively erase.
Program pricing is per unit per cycle, fixed in advance. Annual reinspection runs at Haven’s standard rates — 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.
For committees, the budgeting argument is the clincher: a known annual line item versus irregular remediation spikes — same duty, calmer levies.
Haven schedules each cycle with the strata manager in advance — same access process, same register, same report format, so year two costs less friction than year one and year five is routine. Each cycle’s report highlights what changed since last time: new failures, completed maintenance, renovation-affected units, anything the committee should resolve on.
The scheme ends every cycle holding three things current: working devices, an updated register for its section 180 records, and — where wanted — a compliance certificate dated within the year. That is what continuous compliance looks like from the committee table: one agenda item, once a year, no surprises.
Some buildings chew through hardware faster than the calendar assumes. Coastal and harbourside buildings live with salt air: cable restrictors corrode, springs fatigue and fixings seize noticeably faster than inland — worth a mid-cycle look at weather-exposed elevations.
High-turnover rental buildings compound wear with end-of-lease churn: every changeover is hands on hardware, and pairing the annual cycle with end-of-lease audits keeps the gaps covered. Buildings in renovation waves — new owners, kitchen and window upgrades — should trigger per-unit rechecks as works complete rather than waiting for the anniversary.
None of this means paying for the whole building twice a year. It means the program flexes: full cycle annually, targeted rechecks where the building’s actual life says so. The register tells us — and the committee — exactly where those targets are.
As a fixed annual line item, which is precisely its charm. The administrative fund carries the cycle at Haven’s standard rates — $250 + GST for a single property, $490 + GST for 2–10 units, larger buildings on quote — with in-visit maintenance included; replacement hardware, when needed, arrives as a small itemised quote rather than a special levy shock.
Treasurers can put a number in the budget in November and be right in June. Compare the alternative pattern we see in unmanaged buildings: nothing for four years, then an audit, a four-figure remediation, a levy conversation and a compliance gap on the record — all for the same windows that a maintenance cycle would have kept passing for the cost of coffee per lot per month.
Continuous compliance is not just safer; over any five-year window it is usually the cheaper program.
No fixed interval is legislated — but the section 118 duty is continuous, and annual reinspection is the prudent best practice that keeps a building provably compliant between audits.
Each device is re-tested against the 125mm and 250-newton requirements; worn, corroded or loosened hardware is adjusted or replaced on the spot where possible, and any device that fails is quoted for replacement. The register is updated with the result for every window.
Yes — that is half its point. Each cycle’s results roll into the same unit-by-unit register, so the scheme always holds a current position for its section 180 records rather than an ageing snapshot.
Yes. Most schemes time the cycle so the updated register and any remediation recommendations land just before the AGM, making window safety a five-minute standing agenda item.
If the register is old or the building has seen works, restart with a full audit to re-baseline, then move onto the annual cycle. If the gap is short and the register credible, a reinspection usually suffices.
Stop re-earning compliance from scratch. Put your building on Haven’s annual reinspection and maintenance program — fixed per-unit pricing, current register, no surprises. Call +61 2 8000 0287 or email admin@havencompliance.com.au.
