Landlords have a duty under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 to ensure that rented premises are in a reasonably clean condition at the start of a tenancy, and to maintain the premises in good repair throughout the tenancy. If your home needs repairs, you should follow the procedures set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 for getting those repairs done. The Act provides two different procedures, depending on whether the repairs are urgent or not.

Urgent repairs
Urgent repairs are specifically defined as

• a burst water service
• 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 any essential service or appliance provided for hot water, water, cooking, heating or laundering
• a failure or breakdown of the gas, electricity or water supply
• a malfunction in appliances or fittings that use or supply water which will mean a substantial amount of water gets wasted (this only applies to appliances or fitting supplied by the landlord)
• any fault or damage that makes the premises unsafe or not secure
• a serious fault in a lift or staircase

The landlord must carry out urgent repairs straightaway. You do not have to serve a written notice on the landlord, but you must attempt to contact the landlord or agent to request the repairs before you arrange anything yourself. The landlord or their agent has a duty to provide you with a telephone number for use in case urgent repairs are needed. Keep a record of what steps you took to get the landlord or agent to carry out the repairs (eg a list of phone calls, times and dates).

If you cannot contact the landlord or agent, or they don't act quickly, you can arrange to have the repairs done yourself up to the cost of $1000. The landlord will have to reimburse you 14 days after you have given them written notice of what repairs were done and the cost involved (include a copy of the receipt or invoice). Keep in mind that if you arrange for urgent repairs to be done and the cost is more than $1000, the landlord is only liable to reimburse you up to $1000.

If you can't afford or don't want to pay for the repairs, or the repairs will cost more than $1000, you can apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for an order that the landlord carry out the urgent repairs. The Tribunal must hear your application for urgent repairs within 2 business days. You can ask the Tribunal to allow you to pay your rent into the Rent Special Account, which is operated by the Tribunal. This means that instead of paying your rent to the landlord, you pay your rent to the Tribunal.

If you get such an order, you can keep paying rent so you don't fall behind, but the landlord can't get any of the money until they prove to the Tribunal that the repairs have been done.

General repairs
If a repair doesn't fall under the categories defined as 'urgent', you should not arrange to have them done, unless the landlord has given consent and agreed to pay for the costs in writing.

For all repairs other than urgent repairs, you should give the landlord a notice listing the repairs that need to be done and requesting that they do them within 14 days. Make sure that the form is addressed to the landlord and not the estate agent, although it can be sent to the landlord care of the agent's address. (If you are a public tenant, your landlord is the Director of Housing.) Give a copy to the landlord or agent personally, or send it certified or registered mail. It's very important that you keep a copy of the form yourself.

If the landlord has not carried out the repairs within 14 days of receiving the notice, or has not done the repairs to a satisfactory standard, you should write to the Office of Fair Trading and Business Affairs requesting an inspector investigate if the landlord is in breach of their duty to maintain the premises in good repair. Address your letter to the Director, Office of Fair Trading and Business Affairs, Level 2, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000. Attach a copy of your notice to the landlord to the letter, and include your address and contact telephone number.

An inspector will contact you to arrange a time to inspect the property. They may also contact the landlord or agent and try and negotiate arrangements for the repairs to be done. The inspector will then write a report describing the repairs needed, and give you a copy.

Once you have a copy of the report, you can apply to the Tribunal for a hearing. You must apply within 28 days of receiving the report. If you don't get a copy of the Director's report within 90 days, you can apply to the Tribunal without it. Complete the Tribunal application form and attach a copy of your notice to the landlord and the Director's report. The Tribunal can order the landlord to do the repairs, and order that you be allowed to pay your rent into the Rent Special Account. See the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal leaflet for more information on applying to the Tribunal, or contact the Tenants Union or a tenant advice service for further assistance.

Compensation
If the landlord fails to do repairs and you suffer inconvenience and/or loss or damage to your goods as a result, you may be entitled to compensation. See the Claiming compensation leaflet for more information.

Damage by tenants
If the damage that needs to be repaired was caused by you, or by someone you invited to your home, you may have to organise for the repairs to be done or pay for the repairs yourself. The landlord or agent can give you a notice to repair the damage within 14 days. If you don't do the repairs, they can organise for the repairs to be done themselves and send you a further notice stating how much the repairs cost and that they require you to pay. If you do not pay, the landlord or agent can apply to the Tribunal for an order that you pay the cost of the repairs. They must prove you caused the damage; you can attend the Tribunal to put your side of the story. Until the landlord gets an order from the Tribunal that you have to pay, you are not liable to pay for the repairs.

If you receive a notice to repair from your landlord, you should contact the Tenants Union or a tenant advice service for assistance.

Sample Letter

The Director
Office of Fair Trading and Business Affairs
GPO Box 123A
Melbourne 3001
(your name)
(your address)
(your phone number)
Date
Re: Landlord (your landlord's name)
(your landlord's address)

Dear Sir/Madam,
On (date) I notified my landlord that certain repairs needed to be done. I enclose a copy of the notice I sent.
I request that you investigate the landlord's failure to do the repairs. I am available to be contacted on the above phone number at the following times (hours that you can be contacted).
Yours faithfully,

(signature)