Who Pays for Plumbing Repairs in a Victorian Rental?

Quick answer: In Victoria, a burst pipe, a blocked or broken toilet, a serious roof leak or no hot water are all urgent repairs. Your rental provider must arrange them immediately. If you cannot reach them, you can arrange the repair yourself and claim back up to $2,500, provided you give written notice. Non-urgent repairs get 14 days after a written request.

About a third of the homes I work in around Clayton, Springvale and Dandenong are rentals, and the same question comes up every time: who is actually paying for this? The answer in Victoria is more clear-cut than most people expect, so it is worth knowing before you are standing in a wet hallway at 9pm.

Victoria changed its rental laws in March 2021. “Landlord” is now rental provider and “tenant” is now renter, so those are the terms you will see on official forms.

What counts as an urgent repair

The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 lists urgent repairs specifically. The plumbing-related ones are:

• A burst water service
• A blocked or broken toilet, where there is no second working toilet
• A serious water leak or serious flooding
• A gas leak
• Failure or breakdown of any essential service — hot water, water supply, cooking, heating
• Any fault or damage that makes the property unsafe or insecure

If your problem is on that list, the rental provider must arrange the repair immediately. Not “in a reasonable time”, not “next week”.

What is not urgent

A dripping tap, a slow drain that still drains, a running toilet, low water pressure that has always been low. These are non-urgent repairs. You request them in writing, and the rental provider has 14 days to arrange the work.

Put it in writing even if you have already phoned. The 14 days only starts from the written request, and if it ever goes to VCAT the written record is what matters.

If you cannot reach anyone

This is the part most renters do not know. If a repair is urgent and you cannot contact the rental provider or the agent, you can arrange the repair yourself and claim the cost back, up to $2,500.

To keep that right:

1. Try to contact them first, and note the times you tried.
2. Give written notice of the repair and the cost as soon as you can.
3. Use a licensed plumber and keep the invoice and any compliance certificate.
4. The rental provider must reimburse you within 7 days of receiving your notice.

If they do not pay, Consumer Affairs Victoria can help, and you can apply to VCAT for an order.

Damage versus wear and tear

The usual friction point. Broadly:

• Wear and tear is the rental provider’s cost. Old pipes corroding, a hot water unit reaching the end of its life, tree roots in a clay sewer line, a perished tap washer.
• Damage caused by the renter is the renter’s cost. Wipes, nappies or cooking fat down the drain, a cracked basin from something dropped, a toilet blocked by something that should not have been flushed.

When I am called to a rental blockage I will tell you honestly which one it is, and I put it in writing on the invoice. That single line settles most disputes before they start.

What to do first in an emergency

Before anyone arrives:

1. Turn off the water. Most Melbourne homes have a stop tap at the water meter near the front boundary. Turn it clockwise.
2. For a hot water leak, also turn off the isolation valve on the unit itself.
3. For a gas smell, turn off the gas at the meter, do not touch switches, and get outside.
4. Photograph everything before it is cleaned up. It matters for both the repair and any bond discussion later.

If you are not sure where your stop tap is, our guide to turning off the water supply in an emergency walks through it.

For rental providers and agents

If you manage properties around Melbourne’s south-east, I can attend urgent plumbing and provide a written report alongside the invoice, stating what failed and why. Agents use it for their records, and it is what VCAT wants to see if a claim is ever disputed.

Rules do change, so confirm the current position with Consumer Affairs Victoria before relying on anything here for a dispute. This is general information, not legal advice.

Urgent plumbing problem in a rental? Call 0407 756 172. I service Melbourne’s eastern and south-eastern suburbs and I can talk you through the immediate steps on the phone.