Duty of care in garbage rooms
Garbage odour in an apartment building is unpleasant for residents and staff, and gives a poor impression of the building's cleanliness and hygiene. There's another reason to have germ and odour control working in your building. The owners committee, or body corporate, has a duty of care in common areas such as the bin room and the garbage chute.
Common areas, and the people who use them
In most strata buildings, the bin room, the garbage chute and the chute door on each floor are common property. Residents, cleaners, caretakers and waste contractors all use these areas. Decaying rubbish breeds bacteria and draws flies, and the smell of the bins rises up the chute to every floor. So the odour and the germs there are a concern for the committee, as well as for the building manager.
In some states, including New South Wales and Victoria, the body corporate is called the owners corporation.
What a committee can do
- Keep the garbage chute and bin room on a regular cleaning schedule.
- Treat the odour at the source, the bins, with a system that runs 24/7 and assists with germicidal control (such as our Garbage Doctor® systems )
- Act promptly on residents' complaints about the smell.
We're available by video call to talk your committee through the options. You're welcome to send us photos or videos of your bin room first.
General information, not legal advice
This page is general information, not legal advice. What a body corporate's duty of care covers depends on your state's laws and your building's by-laws. We recommend asking your own adviser, such as your strata manager or lawyer, what applies to your building.