How the New Victorian Tenancy Act could Affect your Business

As of 30th March 2021, there has been a reform to the Victorian Residential Tenancies Act which has created over 130 new rules and regulations rental providers must follow when renting out their property. The new laws are designed to make renting a safer and fairer process for tenants. If you would like to view a full list of the changes that have come into effect, you can visit Consumer Affairs Victoria’s complete guide to Rental Law Changes here.

While most of the changes revolve around giving the tenants more rights surrounding occupancy, there have been significant changes to how the rental provider maintains the safety of the household as well. Most namely, rental providers must now provide Gas and Electrical Safety Checks to all occupants. These checks must be performed every two years and must cover a specific checklist as outlined by Consumer Affairs Victoria.

‍Gas Safety Checks

‍The new laws require all residential tenancies to have a gas safety check of all gas installations and fittings and must be conducted by a licensed or registered gas-fitter who is endorsed in the specialised class of Type A gas appliances servicing work (Gas Serving Type A on the Plumbers Identity Card). The safety checks must include:

• A comprehensive audit of the existing gas installation items.
• A test for leakage on the existing gas installation.
• A full service of all gas appliances.
• Testing for spillage of combustible products and carbon monoxide leakages.

Gas-fitters must also keep a record of all works carried out on rental properties as well as sending them off to the rental provider. This record can be either a compliance certificate or a document from the licensed gas fitter who carried out the safety check.

‍Electrical Safety Checks

‍The new laws also require all residential tenancies must have all electrical equipment, and the overall installation, verified to be in safe condition by inspection and testing by a licenced electrician. If it isn’t found to be safe, repairs must then be carried out by a Registered Electrical Contractor.

A record of all works must also be kept by the registered electrician as well as sent to the rental provider. The inspection and testing must be done to the requirements of Section 4 of the Australian/New Zealand standard AS/NZS 3019:2007 Electrical installations–Periodic verification.

‍How can Trak help?

‍At Trak, we understand that our Victorian gas-fitters and electricians will have to adapt to these new rules whenever they are performing works on a rental property. To make this easier, we have created customisable report templates that meet the requirements of the new compulsory Gas and Electrical Safety Checks. These reports can be completed quickly and easily on-site, kept a record of and sent off to the rental providers, all in-app. The list of reports we have available are:

• Gas Safety Checklist.
• Gas Heater Type A Appliance Service Report.
• Negative Pressure and Carbon Monoxide Spillage Test Report.
• Electrical Safety Report (which meets the requirements of sections 3 and 4 of the Australian/New Zealand standard AS/NZS 3019:2007 Electrical installations–Periodic verification).
• Electrical Installation Audit Report.

For current Trak users, these report templates can be added to your account FOR FREE. You can find the report templates here:

• Electrical templates
• Gas templates

If you would like to know more about how we can help your business navigate the new tenancy laws, you can contact us here or email us at contact@trak.co.