Question:
The fly screen of a unit balcony is very old. Who should be paying to replace the screen door? Is it the owners cost or should the owners corporation carry out this repair?
Answer:
In almost all cases, fly screens and screen doors on apartments are lot owner property and not common property as the screens didn't form part of the common property at the time of the strata scheme being registered. Therefore it is up to the lot owner to replace them.
Repairs to older strata schemes
There is however an added level of complexity with this situation in that the parts of building classified as lot property or common property are different for older strata schemes.
For strata schemes pre-1 July 1974, (normally with a strata plan number before 7500-8000), the section of wall and balcony door between the balcony and apartment is classified as lot property and not common property.
Bannermans Lawyers have prepared a good article on this very topic and can be found here: NSW: Pre 1974 Schemes and the Centre Line Rule.
So it looks like it is up to the owner to pay for fixing the door.