Maintenance: Doors
In this chapter we explain doors and related building terms, along with common problems and preventative maintenance. We also look at locks and fire doors.
Legislation – Strata Titles Act
Click on Legislation above, to view strata title legislation and hints.
Lesgislation – Community Titles Act
Click on Legislation above, to view community title legislation and hints.
Door types and components
The picture below is a view of a typical external door.
Click on picture for more information
Internal Doors: Internal doors are the owner’s responsibility. The coating on the inside of the external doors are also the owner’s responsibility.
The picture below is a view of a typical internal hollow cored door.
Click on picture for more information
Common Problems
Varnish on exterior door.
- Varnish is subject to deterioration in sunlight and weather.
- This door is subject to a great deal of foot traffic exacerbating both wear and tear.
Best Practice
Revarnish – Solver specify: Sand thoroughly and dust down before applying two (2) coats of “Solver 4842 Polysol Exterior Gloss Clear”
External door – veneer peeling
- This is an example of the inappropriate use of a hollow core veneered door on the exterior of a unit.
- The door is unprotected and the weather has caused the loss of varnish, leaving the timber finish vulnerable to water damage. The veneer peels off in layers.
- A door in this state needs to be replaced with an exterior door to suit.
External door – hardboard and paint peeling
- This is an example of hardboard covered hollow core door on the exterior of a unit.
- The door is unprotected and the weather has caused the hardboard to peel away at the bottom of the door.
- The damp hardboard has then caused the paint to peel.
- A door in this state needs to be replaced with an exterior door to suit.
Best Practice
Replace the hollow core door with a solid core door suited to the purpose.
Energy saving – doors have gaps that can lead to drafts. This can make a room or house uncomfortable. The picture below illustrates the use of a weather seal on the bottom of this external door. These can be purchased at local hardware stores or supplied and installed by a tradesperson.
Best Practice
Install weather seals and stripping on all external doors.
Other door types
Screen doors. The picture below is of a typical screen door installed at a unit. This one is a lockable security door. If not already installed owners need approval to install such a door – see meeting approvals.
Maintenance: generally screen doors have been considered the respective owner’s to maintain.
Best Practice
Ensure your group has a policy on installation and maintenance.
Fire doors (asbestos). The picture below is of a typical fire door installed before 1990. This one has been opened up to reveal its fire retardant core. This one contains asbestos.
Fire doors have been used for a long time in buildings as a safety precaution. The thinking is that with a fire door you can block a fire before it spreads to another room. A fire door is on a wall that is also fire safe. This helps prevent fire from spreading from one area of a building to another, giving firefighters ample time to control a fire should one erupt.
Fire doors installed before 1990 should be assumed to contain asbestos. Any works undertaken should be by tradespeople qualified to work with asbestos, this includes the replacement of locks.
If a fire door is found to contain asbestos a warning notice should be attached to the door
Hint
To assess if a door has an asbestos core a tradesperson can temporarily remove a couple of the door-hinge screws and look for the core material within the the screws’ threadings; oftentimes enough core material is stuck in the threads to recover a sufficient lab sample as well.
Further, sometimes the core is exposed along the top or bottom door edge from when the door was previously cut and being sized to fit, thereby exposing the inner core for sampling as well.
Best Practice
If your group has asbestos fire doors ensure they are all labeled as such and that the group has an up to date Asbestos Register.
Door locks. Click on the image below to access our door locks page.
Tools
The following tools may assist in the maintenance of your group’s doors.
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Varnishing |
Door care |
Asbestos – fire door procedures |
Click on picture for printable version
Strata Titles Act (plan number less than 20,000)
External doors are common property under Section 5 of the Act as they are not within a unit. Section 25 explains the Corporations responsibility to maintain the windows.
Section 5: Boundaries
(5) Subject to any explicit statement to the contrary in a strata plan, the following principles apply to the definition of a unit by strata plan:
(a) where a boundary is defined by reference to a wall or fence—the boundary is the inner surface of the wall or fence
Section 25. The functions of the strata corporation are as follows:
(a) to administer and maintain the common property for the benefit of the unit holders and, to such extent as may be appropriate, other members of the strata community
What does this mean?
The owner owns the inner surface of external doors. As such doors are common property in the same way that external walls are common property – see Boundaries
Community Titles Act
Strata Division (one lot above another)
External doors are common property under Section 19 & 28 of the Act as they are not within a unit. Section 75 explains the Corporations responsibility to maintain the doors.
Section 19—Special provisions relating to strata plans
(4) Subject to any explicit statement to the contrary in a strata plan, the following principles apply to the definition of a lot by strata plan:
(a) where a boundary is defined by reference to a wall or fence—the boundary is the inner surface of the wall or fence;
Section 28—Common property
(1) The common property created by a community plan comprises:
(c) in the case of a strata plan—those parts of the building that are not part of a lot;
Section 75—Functions and powers of corporations
(1) The functions of a corporation are
(a) to administer, manage and control the common property for the benefit of the owners of the community lots; and
(b) to maintain the common property and the property of the corporation in good order and condition
What does this mean?
External doors on community titled Strata Divisions (1 lot above another see Boundaries) are treated the same as a Strata Titled group. The corporation owns the external doors and is responsible for their maintenance under Section 75. The treatment (paint or seal) on the inner surface of an external door is the lot owner’s to maintain.
For regular lot by lot Community Corporations each lot owner has ownership of all doors within their lot
