Getting an antenna or dish approved by your Queensland body corporate
Strata-law sites explain the legislation; nobody explains the practical process that gets a committee to yes. This is the installer’s side of it - what to submit, what committees actually object to, and how placement choices do the persuading.
By the Topline Antennas crew · Published 24 August 2026 · Brisbane, QLD
Plain-English, not legal advice
The rules, plainly
In Queensland strata schemes, the outside of the building - roof, external walls, balcony balustrades - is generally common property, even the parts only you can see. Fixing an antenna or dish to it is an improvement to common property, which means it needs body corporate approval under your scheme’s by-laws before anyone drills anything. Minor improvements can typically be approved at committee level; anything larger or contentious can be pushed to a general meeting. Every scheme’s by-laws differ, so the first document to get is your own scheme’s - the strata manager emails it on request. (This is general information, not legal advice; for a dispute, Queensland’s BCCM office is the referee.)
The good news buried in that: committees refuse bad applications far more often than they refuse antennas. A vague "I want to put up a dish" invites a no. A specific, documented, reversible proposal usually gets its yes - and that is a paperwork problem, which is solvable.
What a committee says yes to
The application that passes
Committees object to four things, in practice: visibility from the street, water entry through the roof, cabling run across common areas, and precedent ("if we approve yours, everyone wants one"). A passing application answers all four before they are asked:
| Committee worry | What your application shows |
|---|---|
| "It will look ugly" | A marked photo of the exact position - low-profile, colour-matched where possible, not on the street elevation |
| "It will leak" | The mount named, the penetration method (or a non-penetrating mount where the roof allows), and the sealing spec |
| "Cables everywhere" | The cable route, drawn: shortest path, existing risers where possible, no runs across common walkways |
| "Who fixes it later?" | The installer’s insurance certificate, warranty terms, and a make-good commitment on removal |
Before applying at all, ask one question: does the building have an MATV system? Many Brisbane unit blocks already run a shared antenna to every unit - if yours does and reception is the complaint, the fix is a body-corporate-ordered MATV repair, not a personal antenna, and it needs no by-law application at all.
Our side of the deal
What the installer must provide - and we do
The committee is really approving the installer as much as the hardware. For strata jobs we provide the application pack as part of the quote: the marked-up placement photo, mount and sealing specification, the cable route, our public liability insurance certificate, and the workmanship warranty in writing. If the committee wants changes - a different elevation, a shorter mast - we revise the spec rather than argue. It adds a week to the calendar and nothing to the drama.
Unit, townhouse or whole-building MATV? We quote strata jobs with the approval pack included → or call 0467 098 943.