Can you smoke in your apartment or on common property?
Smoking in strata is often a major point of dispute amongst tenants and it can be a very contentious topic.
NSW is the only state in Australia which addresses this issue in law, with the NSW Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 introducing Model By-law 9 (smoke penetration) in November 2016 to address smoking in strata buildings.
If you don’t already have bylaws relating to smoking in your strata building or if you want to change your smoking bylaws, these are the two model by-law options.
Option 1 – No smoking on common property, but you can smoke in your own apartment.
Smoking in your apartment is only permitted as long as it does not penetrate to the common property or any other lot. This bylaw applies to the owner or occupier of the strata lot, as well as any visitors to the strata building.
Option 2 – You can smoke in designated areas of common property and in your own apartment.
NOTE: You can ONLY smoke in the common property area that has been designated as a smoking area by the owners corporation, or with the written approval of the owners corporation.
You can smoke in your own apartment as long as it does not penetrate to the common property or any other lot.
Owners or occupiers of the strata lot, as well as any visitors to the strata building, must ensure that when smoking in an area designated as a smoking area the smoke does not penetrate to any other lot.