Services to your home such as electricity, gas, oil, water and sewerage are called 'utility' services. This leaflet explains your responsibilities for connecting and disconnecting these services. It also explains which costs are your responsibility, and which costs are your landlord's responsibility. If you have a problem with a utility service, you should contact the service provider. See the Repairs leaflet for more information about what to do if you have a repair problem with an appliance or fitting provided by your landlord.

Initial connection fees
Initial connection fees are charged when a service is connected to a property for the very first time. Tenants are not responsible for the initial connection fees for electricity, water, gas or oil services. These are the responsibility of your landlord. If your landlord tries to pass on these charges to you, you should not pay them. If you have already paid them, the landlord must repay the money to you. Write to the landlord asking that you be refunded the amount paid within 28 days. Attach a copy of the bill and the receipt to your letter and keep copies of all these for yourself. If the landlord doesn't refund the money, you should apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal asking that the landlord be made to repay you.

Separate meters
It is important to know if you have a separate meter for utilities at your home. A separate meter is one that measures only the amount of substance that is used in your home, and nowhere else. For example, if you live in a block of flats, the water meter will sometimes cover the whole block of flats and not just your flat. As the meter does not just measure the amount of water that you use, your property is not separately metered. You can find out if you have separate meters by ringing the utility providers.

The property is not separately metered
If you do not have separate meters for either your electricity, gas, oil or water service, you are not responsible for any of the costs of that service. These costs will be the responsibility of the landlord. If your property uses bottled gas you are liable for the cost of the use of the gas, but not for the charges for the supply or hire of the bottles.

If you are a public tenant and it is not practical to install separate meters (eg in high rise flats) the Office of Housing can charge you a 'service fee' for your gas, electricity, water, heating or laundry facilities.
If you have paid for utilities when they are the landlord's responsibility, the landlord must reimburse you. Write to the landlord enclosing a copy of the bill and the receipt and giving them 28 days to repay you. If they do not repay you within 28 days you can apply to the Tribunal for an order that the landlord repay you.
When the charges are the landlord's responsibility and they refuse to pay, the utility providers may threaten to cut off your supply. If this is the case, you should apply urgently to the Tribunal asking that the landlord be made to pay the bills. The Tenants Union or a tenant advice service can help you apply to the Tribunal. You will also need to tell the utility provider that there is a dispute and negotiate with them about not cutting off your supply.

The property is separately metered
If your property is separately metered, you are responsible for paying the following charges

• all charges for the supply or use of electricity, gas or oil (including supply charges and reconnection fees)
• all charges based on the amount of water consumed (but not service charges or reconnection fees)
• all sewerage disposal charges
• all charges for the use of bottled gas (but not for the supply or hire of gas bottles)

You can negotiate an agreement with your landlord that they pay any of these charges. For example, if the property had a large garden that the landlord wanted to be well maintained, you could negotiate that they pay for the water consumption charges in return for you regularly watering the garden. Make sure you get the agreement in writing, signed by you and your landlord.

Reconnection
When you move into a rented home, it is your responsibility to have the utility services re-connected in your name. You should give the utility providers 48 hours notice and they will arrange for the utility to be turned on and the meter read. The water authority in your area must be notified when you are moving in, so that you are not charged for the previous tenant's water usage.

Disconnection
There are no disconnection fees when you move out. However, you must tell the utility providers when you move out, so they can arrange for a final meter reading and disconnection. You should give them 48 hours notice. If you don't disconnect the utilities, you could end up having to pay the next tenant's bill.

Water fixture repairs
If a water fixture or fitting (pipes, taps, hot water service etc) supplied by the landlord needs to be replaced it must be replaced with a product that has an 'A' rating. An 'A' rating is given by Standards Australia to water-efficient fixtures and fittings. If the landlord does not replace the fixture or fitting with one that has an 'A' rating, you are not responsible for the water and sewerage charges. These become the landlord's responsibility until they change the fixture or fitting to one with an 'A' rating. If this happens to you, you should inform the landlord of their responsibility for all water and sewerage charges until the appliance is replaced. If the landlord refuses to pay, you can apply to the Tribunal asking that the landlord be made to pay.

Telephone
Tenants are responsible for all charges for the supply and use of a telephone at the rented premises. This includes all services fees, call charges, equipment rental charges and connection fees. It also includes the cost of the initial connection of a telephone line. If you are moving into a property which has been newly built, or where there has not been a connection for some time, it may be necessary for the line to be laid or re-installed. This can be extremely expensive and you cannot recover the cost from the landlord. It is recommended that you check with Telstra whether a line will need to be installed to the property before you sign the lease. If it does, you should negotiate with the landlord to pay the cost of that initial connection. Make sure you get any agreement in writing, signed by you and your landlord.

For more information, contact the Tenants Union on % (03) 9416 2577.