A landlord's electrical routine
Before each tenancy
Test and clean the smoke alarms, replace flat batteries and fix anything that fails. Queensland and the NT set a window of 30 days before the tenancy starts. In Tasmania, the power points and wiring have to be safe before you sign, extend or renew a lease.
Every year
In NSW, check the alarms and put in new removable batteries. In Victoria, arrange the annual smoke alarm safety check.
Every 2 years in Victoria
Book the electrical safety check with a licensed or registered electrician, and keep the report.
Whenever something fails
Treat electrical faults and dead smoke alarms as urgent. In NSW, a smoke alarm that isn't working has to be repaired or replaced within two business days of you finding out.
Victoria: a check every 2 years, and the records to prove it
Victorian rental providers must have all electrical installations, fixtures and fittings checked by a licensed or registered electrician every 2 years. It was compulsory for agreements entered from March 2021; from 13 October 2026 it covers every rental. The check follows section 4 of AS/NZS 3019.
Before a lease is signed, tell the renter the date of the last check and any recommendations still outstanding. If no check has been done in the 2 years before a renter moves in, arrange one as soon as possible. Keep the latest record until the next check, and hand it over within 7 days if the renter asks in writing.
The property also has to meet the minimum standards when it's advertised, including circuit breakers and safety switches at the switchboard. Annual smoke alarm safety checks apply to every agreement from 25 November 2025, and a faulty alarm must be fixed immediately as an urgent repair.
If the check finds repairs are needed, Energy Safe Victoria says to engage a Registered Electrical Contractor, or a licensed electrician employed by one.
What to ask the electrician doing a Victorian rental check
- Will the check follow section 4 of AS/NZS 3019?
- Will the report show your name, licence or registration number, the date, the results and any repairs?
- Will I get a written report I can give a renter?
- Does the switchboard meet the rental standard for circuit breakers and safety switches?
- Are the smoke alarms in date and working?
NSW: urgent repairs and yearly alarm checks
Any electrical fault in a NSW rental, before or during the tenancy, is an urgent repair, and that includes a faulty safety switch. The condition report should note visible hazards like loose or damaged power points, loose wiring or sparking outlets, and whether the safety switch works when tested.
Smoke alarms are the landlord's responsibility and can't be passed to the tenant in the agreement. Check them every year, put in new removable batteries every year, and replace alarms within 10 years of manufacture. Hardwired alarms need a licensed electrician, and if you haven't acted within two business days the tenant can arrange one.
The minimum standards also call for enough outlets for lighting, heating and appliances, and adequate lighting in every room except storage rooms and garages.
Queensland, WA and Tasmania
Queensland: within 30 days before a tenancy starts or is renewed, test and clean every smoke alarm and replace flat or nearly flat batteries. You can't pass those duties on to the tenant, and you need to give 48 hours' notice to enter for smoke alarm work. A new or renewed tenancy has triggered the interconnected photoelectric alarm rules since 1 January 2022. If no approved safety switch protects the power outlets, fit one within 90 days of the tenancy starting.
Western Australia: Building and Energy says landlords have a duty under electrical and gas safety laws to keep a rental safe for tenants and visitors. You need at least two RCDs protecting all lighting and power circuits, and compliant smoke alarms that are mains powered (or a sealed 10-year battery where allowed) and no more than 10 years old. A tenant whose written request for RCDs is ignored can take it to Building and Energy, and an inspection and an order may follow.
Tasmania: you can't enter into, extend or renew a lease unless the power points and the wiring in the walls and ceiling are safe and supply electricity, apart from anything noted as not working in the condition report. Smoke alarms must be mains powered or have a sealed 10-year battery, and Tasmania Fire Service says owners clean and test them before each new tenant moves in.
The ACT, the NT and South Australia
ACT: keep the property reasonably safe and do urgent repairs as soon as practicable; a dangerous electrical fault or a failed electricity supply counts as urgent. Working smoke alarms must be in place when the tenancy starts, and from then the tenant checks them and replaces the battery.
Northern Territory: within 30 days before a tenancy starts, test each alarm, replace any that fail, change flat backup batteries in hardwired alarms, clean them, and give the tenant written information on looking after them. From 1 December 2028, electrical work on any home, rentals included, needs an approved safety switch in place first.
South Australia: we haven't confirmed SA's rental electrical rules. What we do know is that if SA Power Networks finds a shock came from a rental's wiring, the repair is the landlord's responsibility, and the power may stay off until it's done.
What a landlord can do, and what needs an electrician
You can
- Test smoke alarms and change removable batteries.
- Keep a record of every check, repair and certificate.
- Act on a tenant's report of a shock, tingle or burning smell the same day.
- Give proper notice before entering, such as 48 hours in Queensland for smoke alarm work.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- Victoria's 2-yearly electrical safety check.
- Replacing or adding hardwired smoke alarms.
- Fitting safety switches or upgrading the switchboard.
- Repairing any electrical fault a tenant reports.
If we owned the rental
We'd book one electrician to do the lot once a year: smoke alarms, a safety switch test and a look over the switchboard, plus Victoria's full check whenever it falls due. One visit, one report, and a paper trail if anything is ever questioned. Pick someone who does rental checks regularly, because they'll already know your state's paperwork.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.