On a tenanted property in New South Wales, you are allowed four inspections in a twelve-month period, with seven days written notice each time. That is the whole budget.
Most owners spend all four on routine condition checks run by a property manager, which answers whether the tenant is looking after the place. It does not answer whether the building is. Those are different questions and only one of them is yours to fix.
How many inspections are you allowed?
Access to a tenanted property is governed by notice periods, and they are tighter than most investors realise. NSW Government guidance sets them out:
| Reason for entry | Notice required |
|---|---|
| General inspection of the property | At least 7 days written notice, up to 4 times in a 12 month period |
| To carry out or assess the need for repairs or maintenance | At least 2 days notice |
| Urgent repairs, such as a burst pipe, gas leak or blocked toilet | No notice required |
| To inspect or assess the need to repair or replace a smoke alarm | At least 2 business days notice |
| To repair or replace a smoke alarm | At least 1 hour notice |
Read the second line again. Assessing the need for repairs sits on two days notice and is not counted against the four. A building inspection booked to assess maintenance is a different category from a routine condition check, which matters when the four slots are already committed.
What does the law require the property to be?
Seven minimum standards have applied to NSW rental properties since March 2020, under section 52 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010. A property that fails any of them is not fit for habitation, and the test applies at the start of a tenancy and throughout it.
- Structurally sound
- Adequate natural and artificial lighting in each room, other than rooms not normally needing it
- Adequate ventilation
- Supplied with electricity or gas, with enough sockets for lighting, heating and appliances
- Adequate plumbing and drainage
- Connected to a water supply for drinking, washing and cleaning
- A bathroom with toilet and washing facilities allowing reasonable privacy
Structurally sound and adequate ventilation are the two that quietly fail over time. Ventilation is the one that turns into a mould problem, then a rent reduction application, then a repair bill. A routine condition check records that a bathroom is clean. It does not assess whether the exhaust fan vents to outside air or into the roof space.
What can a tenant spend without asking you?
One thousand dollars, per urgent repair. Under NSW rules on getting repairs done, where a tenant cannot reach the landlord or agent after reasonable attempts, they can arrange an urgent repair themselves and be reimbursed up to $1,000. You must pay them back within 14 days of receiving written notice and receipts.
Urgent covers anything threatening the structural integrity of the property, posing a risk to life, or making the place unsafe or insecure. Burst water service, serious roof leak, gas leak, dangerous electrical fault, blocked or broken toilet, serious flood or storm damage.
The limit is per repair rather than per year. Two urgent events in a bad month is two reimbursements, both arranged by someone else, both using a tradesperson you did not choose, both at a price you had no say in. Nearly every one of those events has a visible precursor that an inspection picks up months earlier.
Smoke alarms run on their own clock
Smoke alarm obligations sit outside the general repair rules and you cannot pass them to the tenant. NSW guidance is explicit that a landlord cannot delegate responsibility for working smoke alarms in a tenancy agreement.
| Obligation | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Placement | At least one alarm in a hallway outside a bedroom, or another suitable location, on each storey |
| Annual check | Check every year that alarms are working |
| Batteries | Install or replace removable batteries every year, or as the manufacturer specifies for lithium |
| Repair or replace | Within 2 business days of finding out an alarm is not working |
| Age limit | Replace alarms within 10 years of manufacture, or earlier if the manufacturer says so |
| Hard-wired alarms | Repair or replacement by a licensed electrician |
The ten-year rule catches people. An alarm that tests fine can still be past its service life, and nothing about pressing the button tells you the manufacture date. It is a thirty second check during an inspection and an expensive thing to be wrong about.
When is the best time to book a proper inspection?
Between tenancies. A vacant property has no notice period and no limit on entries, so a full inspection can take as long as it needs, with access to the roof space, the subfloor and every room without working around anyone.
That is the moment to get a building maintenance inspection done properly, along with a timber pest inspection if the property has not had one recently. It is also the only time the report can be compared cleanly against the condition report for the next tenancy.
Mid-tenancy, the two day repairs category is the practical route. Documenting that you took reasonable steps is covered separately on this site, and the reasons investors use an independent inspector rather than a property manager’s walkthrough are set out in our post for Hunter Valley investors.
What turns up in Hunter rental stock
The investment stock through Cessnock, Kurri Kurri, Weston, Branxton and Singleton skews older than the owner-occupied market, and a lot of it is weatherboard or fibro from the mining era. Subfloor ventilation, original wiring behind a newer switchboard, and bathroom exhaust fans discharging into the roof cavity are regular findings.
The newer estates around Lochinvar, Chisholm and Gillieston Heights carry a different set: slab edge drainage, articulation cracking, and shower waterproofing that was never going to last. Mould inspections and regular visual termite inspections are worth scheduling on both, for different reasons.
Booking an inspection
Hunter Valley Pest and Building Inspections covers the Hunter Valley, Maitland, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Lake Macquarie, the Upper Hunter and the Central Coast. Call 0488 885 203 or Order an Inspection online. Mention that the property is tenanted and when the next changeover falls, so the timing works.
This article is general information about residential tenancy obligations in New South Wales. It is not legal advice and does not take your circumstances into account. Check the current rules with NSW Fair Trading or speak to your solicitor or property manager about your property.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a building inspection count as one of my four inspections?
It depends on what it is booked as. A general inspection of the property counts and needs seven days’ notice. Entry to carry out or assess the need for repairs or maintenance sits in a separate category with two days’ notice. Be clear about the purpose when you give notice.
Can my property manager handle all of this?
They handle access, notices and routine condition checks, which is a different job from assessing the building. A condition check records how the property is being kept. A maintenance inspection assesses the structure, the services and the things that fail slowly. Most owners need both.
How often should an investment property have a building inspection?
Annually suits most properties, with a fuller inspection at each changeover when access is unrestricted. Older stock, properties with a history of movement or moisture, and anything that has been through a significant weather event warrant a shorter cycle.
Who pays for repairs found in the report?
The landlord, for anything that is not damage caused by the tenant. Fair wear and tear is the owner’s cost and cannot be claimed against the bond. The value of a report is that it identifies items while they are still maintenance rather than after they become an urgent repair someone else arranges.