We have been under the assumption that the landlord is responsible for maintaining an air conditioner installed in thier IP. We pay for this in our IPs and have never given ita second thought.
The evaporative air conditioner where we are living (rented) has died. When I called the agent to ask about getting it seen to I was grilled on whether or not we had been keeping it properly maintained. I asked what she meant exactly as there was no manual or care instructions left or given to us when we moved in. She told me that of course there weren’t as everyone just knows about it. The care and maintenance she then went on to explain involved climbing on to the roof and draining the pump etc etc – most of it went straight over my head. Not likely to find me on the roof!
Nothing I can find in our rental agreement says anything specific about an air conditioner or its maintenance. I’d appreciate your thoughts as we slowly roast in our house.
Cheers,
SonjaHi Sonja,
I would say you are getting a raw deal! Before I started out in PI I went to the department of fair trading and got a free booklet called “The Renting Guide” For them to send you on the roof is an OH&S thing. If it were a fridge I would say most people would know how to clean one, but and aircon I would have thought just keep the filters clean!
Regards
JamieSonja,
You rented a house with air-conditioning. The landlord is required to repair it if necessary. If the agent causes trouble, tell them you will need to seek an order for compensation.
See for example:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWCTTT/2004/187.htmlMake a note of your conversations with the agent, as surely if they’re requiring you to climb on a roof, they would be in breach of occupational health and safety standards.
Hi and thanks for the replies.
I didn’t think of the OH&S side of it but I was pretty sure it shouldn’t be my problem. The agent says to give it a few days and see how it goes as there is (according to her) very high humidity ATM. Not so sure myself as our neighbour’s A/C is working fine. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and see what happens over the weekend – like I have a choice now anyway. I’ll give an update on Monday.
Kind Regards,
SonjaPS I downloaded the manual from Celair and apparantly it is supposed to be professionally serviced a couple of times a year or the warranty is void… Here’s hoping the owner dosen’t need that warranty.
Hi Sonja,
I always find these “Who’s responsible” tussles between Landlord and Tenant amazing.
The logical answer is all based on our ‘perceived’ frame of reference, what’s the “norm”.
If your background was RIP’s (residential) you would automatically assume it is the Landlord’s responsibility – fair enough.
If your background was C&IIP’s (commercial and industrial) you would instantly agree it is the Tenant’s responsibility – fair enough also.
Go ask a veteran C&IIP Lessor who is responsible for maintaining / fixing a faulty A/C….he / she would laugh at you and say “Well of course the Tenant is”.
Just depends on what your background is. The vast majority of people are firmly rooted in the RIP side of things, and hence they naturally lean towards the Landlord coughing up every time.
Has the experience altered your perception regarding your own RIP’s…or are you still happy to fork out for them as well ??
I’m in the northern hemisphere right now freezing my proverbials off, so hard to relate to you needing A/C…once again my frame of reference is not the norm.
Oh, and this OH&S thing is a smokescreen – we are talking about who is ‘liable’ or ‘responsible’ for the repair of the unit. No-one mentioned anything about you or a family member personally having to get up on the roof. That’s what contractors are paid for. The real issue is who is going to foot the bill ??
Cheers,
Dazzling
“Go hard or go home”
Hi Sonya, evaporative airconditioners are a very poor form of airconditioning. They rely on low humidity to work efficiently, when humidity is high the water does not evaporate and so you have little or no cooling. If your neighbour has the same type and it is working OK then yours is faulty, if they have a compressor driven unit then it could be a different story. As for who pays, as a landlord it has been my responsibility to repair fixed appliances, so keep onto them! Cheers.
Hi All,
Sorry, Monday came and went and I didn’t give you the promised update. Well… for one thing I feel a bit of a goose as the A/C is actually working again. By the same token, yes Rocket2, our neighbour also has an evaporative system (most people here do – high humidity is rare as hens teeth) and it was working fine the whole three days that ours was not. Perhaps they get the recommended services and therefore it is in better condition than ours.
Either way, I believe that it should not be our problem. If we have any further trouble with it the agent will get it serviced. Like I said before, hope they don’t need that warranty!
Cheers,
SonjaSonja,
In a couple of our IPs we have air con, and I tell my tenants NOT to try and fix them if they think they are broken, and as far as maintenance, I just get someone to check them periodically (although I have been slack lately). Basically, if it’s not working my tenants know to tell the PM who will inturn notify me that a repair person is to go out.
Refer to the Tenancy Tribunal booklet (as I think someone mentioned above) that should provide some guidelines.
But whatever you do; DON’T GET ON THE ROOF!!! But if you do, keep in mind the 6 digit figure you want as a payout for any possible injuries sustained. I reckon a cool million these days is nice, but a hot 2 would be better, and would certainly raise your landlords temperature!!! [bawl]
Cheers,
Jo
P.S. Oops nearly forgot…..the warranty is not your concern, that should be in the possession of the owner of the unit, in this case your landlord, or at the very least with the PM. Do not accept responsibility for having this document in your possession.
Just thought I’d add this about air cons. My nanna’s got a split system in her area of my parents house (No where else has air con!!) and she had it going almost continuously last winter (On warm of course!) due to her being rather ill.
My mum new how to maintain the filters, blah, blah, but wasn’t aware that if it was running practically 100% of the time, the filters would need to be cleaned a lot more often.
They found out the hard way and the compressor crapped itself due to blocked filters. Was going to cost them $1600 forr new compressor only, or $890 for whole new unit with new compressor. Go figure?!
My point is, make sure your tenant knows where the filters are and how to maintain them if they are using air con or the heating a lot of the time. I know when i had air con in my rental, we would use it almost 100% of the time in summer. WE even moved our bed into the dining room! HEe hee…
No chance now though… Oh well… Fans will have to do…Steph.
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