Residential Landlord & Tenancy
8. Maintenance & Repairs
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 14 Sep 2015
- The landlord or their agents must always ensure that the premise is maintained and in good repair.
- The tenant has a duty to take care not to damage the rented premises as well as any common or shared areas.
- Tenants must ensure that any urgent maintenance, repair or safety issues are immediately reported to the landlord and the landlord must act immediately to resolve these.
- In this way problems can be dealt with quickly and effectively before they lead to greater problems such as a house falling into disrepair and incurring unnecessary damage or before an accident or injury occurs to the tenant.
- Whether you own or rent a house repairs are necessary from time to time.
- Appliances break, mistakes happen and there is a general level of wear and tear associated with the aging and ongoing use of premises.
- Usually repairs are the responsibility of the landlord.
- However if a tenant has caused the damage and it is more than just reasonable wear and tear the landlord or their agent may request that it be repaired by the tenant or that the tenant bear the cost of any repairs.
- Repairs are also usually split into two categories: urgent and non-urgent.
- Which category your repairs fall into will determine the procedure for their resolution.
- Urgent repairs must be responded to immediately by the landlord or agent.
- Urgent repairs cover such things as:
- a burst water service;
- failure of electricity, gas or water supply;
- blocked toilets;
- dangerous electrical faults;
- gas leaks;
- flooding or fire damage; and
- any other damage that has caused the property to become unsafe or unsecured.
- If the landlord or agent refuses to act immediately to make urgent repairs or if they can't be contacted the tenant can authorise the repairs up to a certain value and claim reimbursement from the landlord.
- The procedures for this reimbursement are different from state to state and you will need to liaise with the appropriate body for example ‘Consumer Affairs Victoria’ in Victoria and the ‘Office of Fair Trading’ in New South Wales.
- Non-urgent repairs must be responded to within a set time period by the landlord or agent (usually within 14 days).
- Non-urgent repairs are usually those that are needed to maintain the premises and its fixtures and appliances but are not considered 'urgent' and do not pose health, safety or security risks.
- If the landlord fails to carry out the repairs within the set time frame a tenant can apply to the relevant regulator in their state requesting an inspection or other remedy.
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