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Smoking in Strata Schemes

In April 2011, the owner’s corporation of an apartment block in Ashfield introduced a by-law prohibiting anyone from smoking inside their flat or on their balcony. At the time, the chairman of the owner’s corporation, Alex Antic told the Sydney Morning Herald, “We asked our managers if we could have a by-law to ban all smoking in units as well as on common property and two weeks later they came back with a draft of a by-law to make the building a smoke-free zone in its entirety.”

The debate to prohibit smoking within strata schemes is an emotional one. As we are all aware, smoke has the propensity to drift through buildings and in doing so affect the health of others.

There are no statutory laws preventing individuals from smoking in their own apartment. There are, however, laws prohibiting smoking on common property. The Smoke-Free Environment Act 2000 has the relevant clause. Section 6 states, “smoke-free area means any enclosed public place.”

The NSW Department of Health issued a brochure explaining the implications of the law. The key requirements include, “a person cannot smoke in a smoke-free area, an occupier must not allow smoking in a smoke-free area, occupiers must prominently display No Smoking signs in smoke-free areas, all ashtrays, matches, lighters and other items used in smoking should be removed from smoke-free areas, and the ban covers the consumption of all types of cigarettes, cigars, pipes and non-tobacco smoking products.”

So where does this leave non-smokers who prefer not to become passive smokers of others secondary smoke? At this stage, cigarettes are legal and there are no government laws preventing smoking on one’s lot.
At The Strata Agency, if cigarette smoke does effect the enjoyment of your apartment we recommend the following steps. The first step is always to speak calmly and rationally to the smoker about the issue. Most of the time, the individual will only be too happy to find a solution. If you don’t feel comfortable raising the issue with the smoker or if a compromise can’t be reached, the next step is to discuss the situation with the owner’s corporation. Hopefully as a collective, a resolution can be found.

As a last resort, the block in Ashfield has now set a precedent to ban smoking in its entirety and if owner’s corporations feel passionately about the issue, your Strata Manager is happy to investigate similar by-laws for your scheme.

If you have any further questions regarding smoking, don’t hesitate to contact your Strata Manager at The Strata Agency.