The Christmas and New Year break is a special time in strata buildings. There are fairy lights on balconies, parcels arriving every day, friends and family popping in, and plenty of residents heading away on holidays.
It’s a great vibe, but it also means more risk.
More people coming and going, more deliveries, more parties and more empty units can all create issues if safety and security aren’t managed well. The good news? A bit of planning and a clear festive season safety checklist for strata buildings can make things much easier.
In this guide, we’ll walk through practical strata-building security tips and simple holiday safety measures for residents, plus how tools like i4T Maintenance can help you stay on top of it all.
Start with a Quick Holiday Risk Check
Before you dive into action, it helps to understand where your particular building is most at risk. Every strata community is different. Some are full of families and pets. Others have lots of short-term rentals or owner-investors who live elsewhere.
Take a moment to think about what usually happens in your building over December and January. Do you see more parties? Are there lots of people travelling? More strangers or delivery drivers in the lobby? This is your starting point for how to keep strata residents safe at Christmas.
A simple holiday risk check might include:
- Looking at past issues during previous festive seasons, such as noise, break-ins, and fire alarms.
- Walking the site and noting any “weak spots” like side gates, bin rooms or dark corners.
- Checking that emergency exits, signage and basic safety equipment look in order.
- Talking to the committee about any worries they’ve heard from residents.
You don’t need a formal audit; just an honest look at what’s likely to go wrong if you don’t prepare.
Tighten Up Physical Security on Common Property
Strong physical security is one of the most important strata building security tips you can give. Most problems are caused by simple things: a gate that won’t close properly, a broken lock, or a dark car park where people can’t see what’s happening.
If you only do a few things this festive season, make sure your common property is safe and secure.
Focus on the basics:
- Check that entry doors, car park roller doors and side gates close and lock properly.
- Test intercoms and access systems to make sure they’re working.
- Make sure CCTV cameras are powered, pointing in the right direction and recording.
- Replace broken or dim lights in car parks, foyers, stairwells and paths.
- Look at how parcels are handled.
If you use a platform like i4T Maintenance, you can log these as tasks, assign them to contractors and track when everything gets done, handy when you’re juggling multiple buildings at once.
Manage Visitors and Deliveries Sensibly
The holidays mean more visitors, more couriers and more rideshares at all hours. It’s lovely that people are catching up, but it also makes it easier for the wrong person to slip into the building.
Residents often feel awkward about saying “no” at the front door or intercom. A friendly reminder from the strata manager can permit them to be a bit more careful, without feeling rude.
Helpful visitor and access reminders:
- Ask residents not to “tailgate” or let unknown people follow them into the building.
- Remind them to only buzz in people who can clearly identify themselves.
- Set clear expectations for short-term guests and holiday rentals.
- Encourage residents not to share access codes or key-fob photos on social media or group chats.
- Put a simple “Holiday Access Tips” notice on the lobby noticeboard, email and resident app.
These small reminders make a big difference to holiday safety for residents without taking away the fun of having visitors over.
Keep Decorations Festive, and Fire Safe
Christmas decorations make buildings feel warm and welcoming, but they can also create fire hazards if they’re not used safely. Think overloaded power boards, old fairy lights, real trees drying out, and decorations blocking exits.
As a strata manager or committee, it’s important to set some gentle ground rules so everyone can decorate safely.
Key decoration and fire safety guidelines:
- Remind residents not to block corridors, fire doors or exits with trees, decorations or furniture.
- Ask residents not to hang anything from sprinklers, smoke detectors or other fire equipment.
- Encourage the use of quality, tested lights and power boards — and turning them off when not in use.
- Set simple rules for decorations in lifts, lobbies and other common areas.
- Make sure smoke alarms, emergency lights and exit signs in common areas are tested before the holidays.
You can roll these into your festive season safety checklist for strata buildings so everyone knows what’s okay and what isn’t, without any confusion.
Help Residents Prepare Their Units Before They Travel
Plenty of people head away over Christmas and New Year, sometimes for a week or more. Empty apartments can attract thieves, and small issues, like a slow leak, may go unnoticed for days if no one is around.
A short “going away” reminder from the strata manager is a simple way to protect both residents and the building.
Share a basic travel checklist, such as:
- Lock all doors and windows, including balcony access.
- Switch off non-essential appliances and electronics at the wall.
- Ask a trusted neighbour to keep an eye out or collect junk mail if appropriate.
- Avoid leaving parcels sitting in the lobby or in front of doors.
- Let the strata manager or building manager know if they’re going away for an extended period.
On your side, you can use i4T Maintenance to schedule pre-holiday checks on things like pumps, garage doors, entry doors and alarms, so they’re less likely to fail when residents are away.
Support a Happy, Respectful Community During Party Season
The festive season is party season. That can be great for community spirit, but it can also mean late-night music, guests in the hallways and extra wear and tear on shared facilities.
Residents don’t always remember the rules when they’re in celebration mode. Clear, friendly communication keeps everyone on the same page and helps prevent arguments between neighbours.
Good ways to promote community harmony:
- Re-share by-laws or house rules about noise, quiet hours and use of common areas.
- Explain any limits on guest numbers and bookings for rooftop spaces, pools or BBQ areas.
- Encourage residents to speak calmly with neighbours first if something’s bothering them.
- Provide a clear process if issues need to be escalated.
- Remind residents that everyone celebrates differently.
This isn’t about being the “fun police”; it’s about helping people enjoy the season without sleepless nights or ongoing disputes.
Warn Residents About Holiday Scams and Digital Risks
Safety isn’t just about locks and lights. The festive season is also prime time for scams and dodgy messages, especially fake delivery notifications and emails that pretend to be from couriers or strata.
While you’re not responsible for every email a resident receives, a simple reminder can stop someone from handing over personal details or giving building access to the wrong person.
Useful digital safety tips to share:
- Be cautious of texts or emails about parcels or fees that seem urgent or pushy.
- Double-check sender details, spelling and links before clicking anything.
- Remind residents that the strata manager won’t ask for PIN codes, access details or bank info via random SMS.
- Encourage residents to contact the strata manager or committee directly if a message looks suspicious.
- Suggest that residents never give building access to someone claiming to be “from strata”; if they’re unsure, they can always check first.
By including a short “Beware of Holiday Scams” section in your newsletter or noticeboard, you’re adding another layer of protection for your community.
Communicate Clearly and Make Reporting Easy
All these strata building security tips are most effective when residents actually see them, remember them and know what to do if something goes wrong.
Instead of one long email that gets ignored, consider a simple communication plan for December and early January: short messages, clear headings, and practical tips.
Smart ways to communicate and manage issues:
- Create a one-page festive season safety checklist for strata buildings and share it via email, app and noticeboards.
- Break your messages into themes: decorations and fire safety, visitors and access, going-away tips, scams and digital safety.
- Make it really clear how residents can report issues (email, app, phone) and what happens next.
- Use a maintenance platform like i4T Maintenance so residents can log issues with photos, and you can track them from start to finish.
- Keep the committee in the loop with quick updates on any recurring problems or risks.
When residents feel that their concerns are heard and acted on quickly, they’re much more likely to speak up before a small problem becomes a big one.
Pull Together Your Festive Season Safety Checklist
At this point, you might be thinking, “That’s a lot to remember.” The trick is to pull it all together in a simple checklist you can reuse every year.
Your festive season safety checklist for strata buildings could include:
- Security: Doors, gates, access systems, lighting and CCTV checked and working.
- Fire safety: Decorations guidelines shared, alarms and emergency lights tested, exits kept clear.
- Behaviour: Noise and guest rules re-circulated, common-area guidelines confirmed.
- Travel: “Going away” checklist shared, key systems inspected before peak holiday period.
- Digital safety: Scam warnings included in communications, residents reminded of official contact channels.
Once you build this checklist into your regular end-of-year rhythm, it becomes quick and easy to roll out across all your buildings.
Make Holiday Safety Easier with i4T Maintenance
The Christmas and New Year period will always be busy in strata communities. There’ll be more people coming and going, more parcels, more parties and more moving parts to juggle. But with a bit of planning and the right tools, it doesn’t have to be stressful.
By focusing on simple strata building security tips, clear holiday safety for residents, and a repeatable festive season safety checklist for strata buildings, you can reduce risk, help residents feel supported, and show the committee you’re actively managing holiday risks.
Doing all of this across multiple schemes can be hard if you’re relying on spreadsheets, inboxes and memory.
That’s where i4T Maintenance can help.
As a dedicated strata maintenance management software, it makes it easy to:
- Log, track and prioritise safety and security tasks.
- Schedule pre-holiday inspections and document what’s been done.
- Receive maintenance and safety requests from residents in one place.
- Assign work orders to contractors and follow progress in real time.
- Keep a clear record of actions for future reference and compliance.
If you’d like to make this festive season safer and more manageable for your strata communities, book a demo of i4T Maintenance today. We’ll help you turn your holiday safety plan into a simple, repeatable process, so you and your residents can relax and enjoy the break.
FAQs
Focus on working locks and doors, good lighting, functioning intercoms and CCTV, and clear rules about visitor access. These simple steps go a long way in keeping the building safe.
Start with low-cost changes like clearer communication, basic maintenance checks, better signage and simple decoration rules. You can reduce risk without big spending.
They should lock all doors and windows, switch off non-essential appliances, avoid leaving parcels piled up, and let the strata or building manager know if they’ll be away for a long time.
The owners’ corporation/body corporate is responsible for common property, usually with the help of the strata manager. Residents are responsible for safety inside their own lots and for following by-laws.
i4T Maintenance gives you one place to manage inspections, safety tasks, resident requests and contractor work orders. It makes it easier to stay organised, respond quickly and show what’s been done to keep the building safe over the holidays.