Attention Property Managers
Find out about your appliances safety responsibilities as the landlord or manager of a property.
The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 requires a landlord to ensure that rented accommodation is maintained in good repair. “Good repair” includes all electrical appliances provided by the landlord. These must be safe to use and properly maintained.
There are two critical areas relating to appliance safety:
- Proper installation of new or replacement appliances;
- Correct maintenance and use of existing appliances by following manufacturers’ instructions.
Failure to meet these requirements can cause death or serious injury as well as serious property damage.
Tenants also have responsibilities, including reporting appliance faults to the landlord or the landlord’s agent.
The landlord and the agent should work together to ensure that appliances are safe to use and in “good repair” order.
The landlord’s responsibilities:
- Ensure only licensed persons do all repair work.
- Before re-letting, ensure all appliances are safe and any unsafe appliance is repaired or removed.
- Ensure electrical appliances are cleaned regularly in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions.
- Check electrical appliances for damage to plugs, leads and casings that may expose ’live’ parts or cause a fire.
- Ensure electrical wiring, socket outlets and switches are maintained in a safe condition.
- Ensure all ventilation openings are clear and unobstructed.
The tenant’s responsibilities:
- Use appliances appropriately.
- Allow reasonable access for the landlord’s contractor to carry out electricity safety checks.
- Report any fault or malfunction to the landlord or agent.
- Stop using any appliance that is obviously faulty.
- Do not illegally install, remove or tamper with any electrical appliance.
- Do not use damaged appliances – they can cause fires and injuries.
- When replacing electrical fuses or fuse wire, only use the specified rating. Oversized fuses may cause the fixed wiring to fail resulting in electric shock or fire.
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