Strata Repairs and Maintenance

Lesson 12: Vandalism, graffiti and wear and tear

Goal: respond to vandalism properly, remove graffiti cleanly, and keep the evidence that lets the body corporate recover the cost of damage.

Wear and tear or damage?

Two columns. Fair wear and tear: scuffs at trolley height in a corridor, paint faded by the sun, a door closer worn out after ten years, a lever loose because the screws worked out, carpet worn on the path to the lift; the body corporate pays from the admin or sinking fund. Damage: a fist hole or gouge from a trolley, graffiti or a scraped-off sticker, a closer bent by a door wedged open, a lever snapped off or a lock forced, a burn, stain or cut in the carpet; photos and a report, and the cost may be recovered. — The question is: did it wear out, or did someone break it? Tap to enlarge.

Fair wear and tear is the slow decline from normal use, and the body corporate pays to fix it. Damage is caused by someone, by accident or on purpose. Most states’ by-laws let the body corporate recover the cost of damage from the owner or occupier responsible, but only if it can show who did it. That’s where you come in.

Your job: the evidence

For any damage, before you repair anything:

Photograph it: wide, then close, with something for scale. Include the date.
Write down what you know: when it was found, the last time it was undamaged, who reported it, any move in or move out that day, any CCTV coverage.
Report it to the strata manager the same day.
Keep any removed parts (a broken lever, a damaged panel) until the strata manager says you can throw them out.

Practitioner tip: most corridor damage happens on move days. Photograph the lift, corridor and doors on the route before and after every booked move. It turns “we didn’t do that” into a short conversation.

Vandalism

Make it safe first. Broken glass, exposed wiring, a door that won’t lock: board, tape or cordon off, and call the right trade (Lesson 1).
Report it to police if it’s deliberate. A police event number is often needed for an insurance claim.
Repair quickly. A building that looks cared for gets less vandalism. Broken things left broken invite more.
Design it out where you can: tougher hardware, a corner guard, better lighting, a vandal-resistant light fitting. Suggest these to the committee when the same spot is hit twice.

Removing graffiti

Practitioner tip: remove graffiti fast, ideally within 24 to 48 hours. Graffiti that stays up gets added to; graffiti removed quickly tends not to come back.

Match the method to the surface, and test on a small hidden spot first:

Surface	Method
Painted wall	Paint over in the building’s colour, to a break (Lesson 6). Spray paint and marker can bleed: use a stain-blocking primer first
Bare brick, render, concrete	Graffiti remover made for porous masonry, a stiff brush, then rinse. Heavy tags may need a contractor with a hot pressure washer
Glass, metal, powder-coated doors	Graffiti remover for smooth surfaces, or a plastic scraper; no abrasives
Signs, stickers	Lift stickers with heat from a hair dryer, then remove adhesive residue with a suitable solvent

Workers in high-visibility clothing removing graffiti from the stone piers of an old bridge abutment beside a railway line, under a blue sky. — Graffiti removal on old stone bridge piers in Brisbane. Porous surfaces like stone, brick and render are best left to specialists with the right chemicals and hot water. Photo: Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0

Wear gloves, eye protection and a mask with graffiti removers: many are strong solvents. Don’t wash residue into the stormwater drain. On heritage or very porous surfaces, get a specialist: the wrong product pushes the paint deeper into the stone.

For a wall that’s tagged again and again, ask the committee about an anti-graffiti coating. Sacrificial coatings come off with the graffiti and are reapplied; permanent coatings let graffiti wipe off.

Many councils also run graffiti removal programs or supply free removal kits for private property; check yours.

Wear and tear: the planned fix

Wear and tear is predictable, so it should be planned:

Keep a list of high-wear spots (lift lobbies, corridor corners, the bin room door, the car park pedestrian gate) and check them monthly.
Replace worn hardware before it fails: a lever with a weak spring, a closer starting to leak.
Suggest protection where wear is constant: corner guards, kick plates (not on fire doors without approval), wall protection rails at trolley height.
Feed bigger items into the building’s maintenance plan (repainting, carpet replacement) through the strata manager.

At Jacaranda Court

Monday morning: the car park pedestrian gate has a tag on it and the lever on the bin room door is snapped off. You photograph both and report them with a police event number. The CCTV shows someone at 2 am, which the strata manager passes on. You remove the tag from the powder-coated gate with a smooth-surface remover (tested first), and fit a temporary lever so the bin room locks. A replacement lever in the building’s brand goes on the work order, and you suggest a sturdier vandal-resistant lever for that door.

On the job 12

Walk your building with a camera and record every piece of damage you can find, with the date. That’s your baseline: anything new from now on can be dated.

Sources

Queensland Government, Body corporate maintenance responsibilities
NSW Government, Strata living (by-laws and recovering costs)

Quick quiz

Pick an answer for each question. Nothing is recorded.

You find fresh graffiti on the bin room wall. What's the first thing to do? Paint over it Photograph it and report it, then remove it quickly Leave it for the police to see
Show answer
Answer: Photograph it and report it, then remove it quickly. Photos are the evidence for police and insurance; then fast removal, because graffiti left up tends to attract more.
Which is fair wear and tear? A fist hole in a corridor wall Carpet worn thin on the path to the lift A lever snapped off a door
Show answer
Answer: Carpet worn thin on the path to the lift. Wear from normal use over time is fair wear and tear. Holes and breakages caused by a person are damage.
A removalist gouges the corridor wall while moving a resident in. Who usually pays? Always the body corporate It may be recovered from the resident or their removalist, if there's evidence Nobody
Show answer
Answer: It may be recovered from the resident or their removalist, if there's evidence. Damage someone caused can be recovered under most by-laws, but only with evidence: photos, the move date and a report. The strata manager handles recovery.

General education, not trade or legal advice. Licence limits, asbestos rules and window safety laws differ by state and change, so check your regulator before you quote or start. If a job involves electricity, plumbing, gas, waterproofing, fire doors or anything you think may contain asbestos, stop and get the right licensed trade.