Property inspections
We inspect your home regularly throughout your tenancy.
Inspections are necessary, as checking the condition of the property helps us plan any work required, check for any potential health and safety issues and ensure that the home is well cared for.
We need you to be present
We give you at least 7 days’ notice of the inspection. If the time or date doesn’t suit you, it’s very important that you let us know, so we can arrange another time.
We need at least one legal tenant (a person who has signed the State Tenancy Agreement) to be at the inspection. If a tenant can’t be home during the inspection, they can ask someone 18 years or older to be present instead.
Wet weather and other unavoidable circumstances can delay inspections. In these cases, we make every attempt to contact you beforehand to arrange another time.
If you’ve changed your phone number, please contact your nearest Housing Service Centre to update your details.
Entry notice
Under your State tenancy agreement, you must allow the inspections to take place.
We notify you of the inspection by sending an Entry notice (Form 9). This allows us to enter the property to inspect it.
Read more about the Residential Tenancies Authority's entry requirements.
In some situations, we may be able to do the inspection by video call instead of visiting your home in person. If you would like to have an inspection this way, please contact your nearest Housing Service Centre for more information.
Animals
Please adequately restrain any animals at your home on the day of inspection for the protection of our staff and security of your animals regardless of the animal’s size or temperament.
During the inspection
The inspecting officer will have departmental identification, you may request to sight this before allowing entry into your home.
A property inspection generally takes 15–45 minutes, depending on the size of your home and the amount of information needed.
We look at the condition of your home – inside and out — and do several health and safety checks, including:
- testing your smoke alarms
- ensuring anti-tilt brackets are fitted to upright stoves
- testing the function of the safety switches (RCDs) fitted to your electrical circuits. This interrupts the power supply for a few seconds, please alert staff if you have any concerns.
The inspecting officer also ensures the appropriate warning stickers are present, such as:
- a smoke alarm sticker, with instructions on what to do if your smoke alarm sounds and how to ensure the alarm remains effective.
- a hot water system warning sticker, with advice on how to reduce the risk of dangerous levels of bacteria in your hot water system
- an asbestos warning sticker warning contractors that the building was built before 1990 and may have had products containing asbestos used in construction.
Safety issues
While the inspector conducts visual checks for common safety issues the inspection doesn’t guarantee that your home is completely safe.
To report maintenance issues, contact your nearest Housing Service Centre or submit an online maintenance request.