Emergency Repairs for Tenants & General Maintenance

Urgent Repairs

Should an emergency occur during business hours, please call us immediately on

02 6776 4111 - 

Should an emergency  occur outside of office opening hours, please contact one of our trusted tradespeople below.

The law distinguishes between urgent (emergency) repairs and those which are not so urgent. Urgent repairs are:

      • a burst water service or a serious water service leak
      • a blocked or broken toilet
      • a serious roof leak
      • a gas leak
      • a dangerous electrical fault
      • flooding or serious flood damage
      • serious storm or fire damage
      • a failure or breakdown of the gas, electricity or water supply to the premises
      • a failure or breakdown of the hot water service
      • a failure or breakdown of the stove or oven
      • a failure or breakdown of a heater or air-conditioner
      • a fault or damage which makes the premises unsafe or insecure.

EMERGENCY CONTACTS 

Jamie Wilmen Principal/Licensee in Charge  0422 617 776
Craig Lanston Plumber 0418 192 944
Pottsville Beach Plumbing  Plumber 0417 605 670
Goanna Electrical  Electrician 0408 672 680
Scullion Handyman  Builder 0424 290 747
Garages Mako Installations  Garages 0402 234 743

 

SES – for emergency help in floods and storms call 132 500

General Repairs

If something in the premises requires maintenance, leaks or needs fixing you should advise your Property Manager as soon as possible.

We require all general repairs to be lodged to our office in writing and you can lodge the request either by attendign our office and completing the Maintenance Request Form  or emailing your Property Manager. We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible.

The landlord is not always obliged to fix every small thing in the property. They only need to keep the premises in a reasonable state of repair considering the age of the property, the amount of rent you are paying and the prospective life of the premises. They also need to comply with building, health and safety laws.

You are responsible for doing things like replacing light bulbs, changing the smoke detector batteries, cleaning windows, dusting, removing cobwebs and routine garden maintenance such as watering, mowing and weeding.

 Smoke Alarms

Should you believe for any reason the smoke alarm(s) installed are not working or the batteries are not functioning, please let us know immediately. Protect your safety by being vigilant and report to us any issues, to ensure your safety in the case of a fire.

 Air conditioners

Please, regularly clean any filters and intake vents to ensure there is no build-up of dirt and dust, and that the unit is able to draw in air effectively, not hindering performance, or in the worst case scenario, causing the unit to breakdown resulting in costly repairs and/or replacement. Please also note that if an air conditioner breaks down due to filters and vents not being kept clean, costs to rectify the damage or even replace the unit might be charged to tenants.

Fireplaces

If the property you are renting has a fireplace, this cannot be used unless you have been given permission from us in writing. Sometimes these are ornamental, or the flue/chimney has been blocked up. Using them could cause a fire to occur.

Strict No Smoking Policy

All properties have a strict ‘no smoking inside’ policy. If tenants still choose to smoke inside the property they will be responsible for specialised cleaning and deodorising of the inside of the property to reduce and eliminate unpleasant smoke odours. This can easily run into the hundreds of dollars, and is charged to the tenant.

Tenant Painting

It is company policy that tenants do not paint any part of the property themselves. We have found in the past that some tenants have not painted the property to a professional standard, resulting in a professional painter being called in to rectify work. It is a policy that any painting can only be carried out by experienced, professional painters with our written permission.

Fixtures and Fittings

If you wish to install or remove any fixtures or fittings, you must request this beforehand in writing and it must be approved by the owner.

Picture Hooks

If you wish to install any new picture hooks, please let us know in writing what type of hooks you wish to use. Please assess the type of walls that are in the property, and the type of picture hooks that are suitable. We will let you know in writing before you are permitted to install appropriate picture hooks.

Taps leaking

Please report any taps leaking either from a tap head or tap handles. This includes washing machine taps. Sometimes washing machine taps will leak only when connected to automatic washing machine hoses as the tap water pressure exposes leakage in the taps.

 Lawn Maintenance

Please ensure that lawns are regularly mowed and edged, keeping them neat and tidy. Should you wish to have someone regularly mow your lawn, let us know and we would be happy to recommend a service to you. This is at tenant cost. Weeding of gardens beds, inside lawns, paths, paving and other outside areas are the responsibility of the tenant. Trimming of bushes and shrubs in and around the garden are also the responsibility of the tenant.

Pool/Spa Cleaning

Pool/spa cleaning and maintenance, unless it is agreed that the landlord will be supplying a regular cleaning and maintenance service as per your tenancy agreement, this will be a tenant responsibility.

Please note that if regular cleaning does not occur by the tenant, high costs can be incurred to bring it back to its original clean state. If this occurs, this will be at tenant cost. It is also a tenant responsibility to ensure that the pool/spa is kept topped up with water, and must not empty the pool/spa without written approval from us.

Any damage to the pool & equipment from lack of cleaning/maintenance will be charged to the tenant.

Supplying of pool treatment chemicals will be a tenant responsibility, at tenant cost.

Pool/Spa Fences and Gates

We must be notified immediately if fences and gates are not functioning correctly, and the gate fails to self-close promptly when opened. State pool/spa regulations must be up kept at all times.

Storms, floods and natural disasters are sudden and unexpected events for which people are usually unprepared. This is often a time when emergency repairs need to be carried out. Soon after such a disaster, affected consumers are highly vulnerable, and need to be wary of unlicensed tradespeople looking to cash in on severe storm damage. 

 Emergency residential building work usually means the correction of defective structural work or faulty specialist work which:

  1. If not attended to as soon as possible, poses danger to the health and safety of people, or risk to property, in or near the dwelling
  2. Could not be done promptly if time had to be given to writing a contract.

 Under the Home Building Act 1989, a person who has agreed to do residential building work must:

  • Hold an appropriate licence or authority for doing and contracting to do residential building work where the labour and material content is valued over $5,000, and for doing any specialist work (eg. electrical, plumbing, gasfitting) regardless of value
  • Except in the extremely urgent emergency situations referred to below under Contracts, give the homeowner a written contract containing prescribed information, where the value of the contracted work (including labour and materials) is more than $5,000
  • Arrange insurance under the Home Building Compensation Fund and give to the homeowner a certificate of that insurance before starting any work and before taking any money on the contract, where the value of the contracted work is more than $20,000
  • Not take a deposit of more than 10% of the contract price. (subject to the above)

 

All non-urgent repairs need to be reported in writing to Property Management via email or popping into the office to complete a repair request form.

Note that charges may be passed onto the tenant if the repair required is due to damage caused by the tenant's misuse and/or negligence.