Property Compliance for New Landlords
As a new landlord, once we get a tenant approved for your property, we need to make sure that we meet all the compliancy standards.
The first one we’re going to sort out is the water efficiency certificate. If your property is separately metered, usually a single dwelling property, we can charge the tenant water usage.
In order to do that, we do need a water compliancy certificate, which a plumber can provide for us, and that will basically state that all the taps are water-efficient, they haven’t got leaks, they’re not exceeding water pressure standards.
Once we’ve got that certificate, we can attach it to your file, and we can charge your tenant water usage intake or water reading at the beginning of the tenancy.
The next important issue would be your smoke alarms. There are laws in New South Wales that all properties need to be fitted with a smoke alarm, and it is the landlord’s responsibility to make sure they are compliant. Once again, there is a company that can come in and do this, they will provide us with a safety certificate, and they will do an annual check.
Or as a landlord, you might be happy to check the compliancy yourself, and we will ask you to sign off on a letter to confirm that they do meet standards.
It is the tenant’s responsibility to change the battery throughout the tenancy, but we do need to make sure they’re in working order. The next thing we need to make sure is compliant is your blind cords.
They cannot be down on the ground, they can’t have big loops in them. So as a landlord, you need to either attach cleats to the walls or have them shortened to the correct standards.
There is a company that, while they’re checking your smoke alarms, can do these for you and will provide the relevant certificate.
If you’re in a strata property, this will have been done via strata, there was a law that came in last year, and they made sure window locks were on all the relevant windows. However, if you’re in a house, you will need to supply these yourself if they are to a certain height.
Basically, what it does, it stops the window from opening to the full height and avoiding any potential hazards.
The last compliancy is only relevant if you do have a pool in your property, and look, you probably already have got it registered on the pool register. However, we need to see proof of that, and we do need a copy of your pool compliancy certificate.
A third-party certifier will come out to inspect the pool. They’ll make sure the fencing is safe, it meets standards, that there are no obstacles around that perhaps a small child could climb on.
They will also make sure the relevant signage is up around the pool in regards to resuscitation. They will then provide you with a certificate that gets registered, and we do keep that with your landlord file.
For all further assistance or some friendly advice, please feel free to contact our elite Property Management Team today on 4267 5377