Window Film in a Strata Apartment: By-laws and Approval

Whose glass it is

On a registered strata plan, walls drawn as a thick line mark the edge of a lot. The outside wall of your unit, and the windows set into it, are usually common property. That means the owners corporation looks after the glass: repairs it, and replaces it when a pane cracks or a seal fails.

The NSW Government's common property memorandum sets that out line by line, and a scheme can adopt it when its by-laws have no definition of their own. It gives balcony doors and windows to the owners corporation, and gives the owner the cleaning. It says nothing about window film, which is why the answer sits with your building.

Film goes on the room side of that glass. It is on your side of the pane, but on the building's glass, and the outside face of the building is what the committee sees from the street.

Common property memorandum, windows
Windows in common property walls	Owners corporation, including window furniture, sash cord and seals.
Balcony doors, windows and walls	Owners corporation, unless the plan was registered before 1 July 1974. For an older plan, the registered strata plan decides.
Window cleaning, inside and out	The lot owner, except glass that cannot be reached safely.
Locks an owner adds	The lot owner.
Window film	Not mentioned.

What to look up before you ask

Each one changes who you ask, or what you send them.

Your registered by-laws

Ask the strata committee secretary or your strata manager for a copy. If you rent, the agent or landlord has to give you one. Read for anything on the look of the building, windows, balconies, window coverings or renovations.

Who can say yes

Under the NSW rules a minor renovation goes to a vote at a strata meeting, and passes with more than half the votes cast. Your committee can decide it without a meeting only if a by-law allows it. Find out which applies before you write.

The strata plan

If you are not sure the glass is common property, the registered plan shows the lot boundaries. Copies come through an NSW Land Registry Services approved information broker. Check the registration date too: for a plan registered before 1 July 1974, the memorandum sends you back to the plan itself for balcony doors and windows.

What is already on the building

Stand across the street and look up. Note any units that already have film, which side they are on, and whether their glass reads darker, lighter or mirrored. A committee that has approved one look before can be asked for the same again.

Across Chatswood, North Sydney, Lane Cove and Hornsby, most homes are flats or apartments. Around Kirribilli and Lavender Bay many of them are older low-rise walk-ups, where the plan's date is the first thing worth checking.

How the rules sort the work

The NSW Government sorts work in a strata unit into cosmetic work, minor renovations and major renovations. Window film is not named in any of them, and each scheme can add its own items to the lists.

Read the three definitions and one thing decides between them: whether the work affects the outside of the building. Cosmetic work does not. Major renovations do. So how the film looks from the street matters more to your committee than anything it does in the room.

We will not tell you which kind your film is. That is your committee's decision, made under your by-laws. We give them the facts to make it.

NSW strata renovation rules
Cosmetic work	No approval, for work that does not affect the structure or the outside. Interior blinds are one of the government's examples.
Minor renovation	Owners corporation approves: more than half the votes cast at a meeting, or the committee where a by-law allows.
Committee timing	A committee that refuses a minor renovation gives written reasons within three months. If it has not refused in three months, the application is taken to be approved.
Major renovation	Work that affects the outside or the structure. A special resolution: no more than a quarter of the votes cast against.

What to give the committee

For a minor renovation the government asks for plans of the work with dates and times, and the details of who will do it. For film, that comes down to one sheet. We write it up from the measure, and the application goes from you, because the committee answers owners.

Film details for the strata committee

W1Level 6, living room, west, balcony door: Heat
W2Level 6, living room, west, fixed pane: Heat
W3Level 6, bedroom 2, north, window: Privacy

The panes: Each pane on its own line, by level, room and side of the building, as above.
The film: The film for each pane, by name, with a sample the committee can hold against a window.
From the street: How the glass will read from outside by day, and whether it matches any units already filmed.
Where it sits: On the room face of the glass only, trimmed to the frame. Nothing is drilled, fixed or sealed to the building.
Coming off: How the film is taken off, and the adhesive cleaned from the glass.
Who fits it: The installer's name and details.
Access: The dates and times you propose, the lift booking, and how trades sign in at the desk.

A note to send with it

Copy this into an email to your strata manager or secretary, fill the gaps, and attach the film details.

To the strata committee, strata plan [number]

I own lot [number] and would like window film fitted to the room side of [the living room glass and balcony door, west side]. The attached sheet lists each pane, the film, how it looks from outside, how it comes off, and who will fit it.

Could you tell me whether the committee can decide this, or whether it needs to go to a general meeting? If you approve, please include any conditions, such as who arranges removal if the owners corporation ever replaces the glass.

[Your name], lot [number]

Why it matters that film comes off

A new window is permanent. Film on the inside of the glass is not, and in a strata building that difference counts in four places.

The building can replace the glass

If a pane cracks or the owners corporation replaces windows across the building, the new glass arrives bare. Film does not move from one pane to another. Ask the committee to say in its answer who arranges and pays for film on replacement glass.

Unapproved work gets put back

The government warns that an owner who renovates without approval may have to pay to put things back as they were. With film that is a removal visit, not new glass, but it is still a cost you avoid by asking first.

Committees change, and so can by-laws

By-laws can be changed by special resolution and registered. The next committee reads the minutes, not anyone's memory of a conversation, so ask for the answer in writing.

You may sell, or your tenant may leave

A buyer receives the by-laws with the contract and may ask about the film. A written approval on file answers that. If the unit is let, agree in writing who has the film taken off, if anyone, when the lease ends.

Taking film off a pane

What a rushed approval costs

A yes in the lift

One committee member says it will be fine. A later committee has no record of it, and the film is the first thing questioned.

The wrong door

The application goes to the committee, but no by-law lets it decide minor work. It waits for the next general meeting instead.

Nothing said about new glass

The building replaces a cracked balcony door, the film goes with the old pane, and nobody agreed who pays to fit it again.

A sample nobody saw

The committee approves "window film" and then sees a mirrored pane from the street. Name the film and show it before they vote.

Questions from unit owners

Is window film cosmetic work?

It is not on the government's list. Interior blinds are, because they hang in the room and leave the building alone. Film sits on the glass itself and can show from outside, so ask your committee rather than assume.

How long can the committee take to answer?

Where a by-law lets the committee decide minor renovations, it has three months to refuse in writing, with reasons. If it has not refused by then, the application is taken to be approved. If your scheme sends minor work to a general meeting instead, the timing depends on when that meeting is held.

Our building is from the 1960s. Does the memorandum apply?

Look at the registered strata plan first. For plans registered before 1 July 1974, the memorandum points back to the plan for balcony doors, windows and walls. And it applies only where your scheme has adopted it.

Could the whole building choose one film?

Some owners ask the committee exactly that, so the next unit to apply already knows what will be approved. We can put several units on one schedule if you and your neighbours want the same measure.

Is there anything I can do without asking?

Blinds and curtains inside the unit are one of the government's examples of cosmetic work, which needs no approval. Check your by-laws for anything about the colour or look of window coverings seen from outside.

Will you contact the strata manager for me?

We write the film details, and the application comes from you as the owner, because the committee answers owners. If the committee comes back with questions about the film, send them to us and we will answer them in writing.

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References

Strata renovation rules, NSW Government. Cosmetic work, minor and major renovations, what a minor renovation request includes, and the three-month rule for committees.
Strata by-laws, NSW Government. How to get a copy of your building's by-laws and how they are changed.
Common property memorandum, NSW Government, and the page explaining when a scheme can adopt it. Section 9 covers windows.
Strata search, NSW Government. Finding a scheme's plan number, and where to get the registered strata plan.
ABS Census 2021 QuickStats, for the share of homes in each suburb that are flats or apartments.

NSW Government pages read on 24 September 2026.

Film in a North Shore apartment: by-laws and the outside look