This article is general information only and does not constitute financial or tax advice. Consult a qualified tax professional for advice specific to your situation.
Key takeaways
- Conduct the final inspection with the tenant present wherever possible. It reduces disputes and strengthens your position if a bond claim goes to tribunal.
- Photograph every room, wall, and fixture at move-out, even if there is no damage. Timestamped photos compared against the ingoing condition report are your strongest evidence.
- Fair wear and tear from normal living is not claimable. Only damage beyond ordinary use can be claimed against the bond.
- Cleaning is the most common bond dispute. Specify cleaning expectations in the lease and document the standard at move-in.
- Once the bond has been returned in full, your opportunity to make a claim has passed, so act promptly.
A tenant gives notice, you agree on a vacate date, and then the clock starts ticking. You have a short window to inspect the property, compare it against the original condition report, and decide whether to claim any of the bond. Get this process right and the whole thing resolves cleanly. Get it wrong (by missing something, skipping documentation, or claiming unfairly) and you could be defending yourself at a tenancy tribunal.
Here is how to approach a move-out inspection properly.
Schedule It With the Tenant Present
Most states strongly encourage, and some effectively require, that you conduct the final inspection with the tenant present, or at least give them the opportunity to attend. This is in your interest as much as theirs.
A joint inspection gives the tenant a chance to point out anything they dispute before it becomes a formal claim. It also removes any suggestion that you identified "damage" after they left. Agree on a date and time in writing, and give the required notice under your state's tenancy legislation, typically 24 to 48 hours for a final inspection.
If the tenant cannot or will not attend, proceed anyway, but document everything thoroughly. Your photos and notes will carry more weight at a tribunal if the tenant had a genuine opportunity to be present.
What to Check Room by Room
Work through the property systematically with a clipboard or a notes app. Rushing creates gaps you will regret later.
Walls and ceilings. Look for holes, scuffs, marks, and stains beyond what you would expect from normal living. Small nail holes from picture hanging are generally considered fair wear and tear. A bedroom wall with a fist-sized hole is not.
Floors and carpets. Check for stains, burns, tears, and areas of unusual wear. Note the age of the carpet. A carpet that was already eight years old when the tenant moved in cannot reasonably be claimed as a full replacement cost if it is now slightly worse.
Windows, doors, and locks. Open every window and door. Check that locks, latches, handles, and screens are all functional. Broken fly screens and jammed windows are common and easy to miss.
Kitchen and bathroom. Check for damage to benchtops, splashbacks, tiles, grout, and fixtures. Look under sinks for signs of water damage or leaks that were not reported. Test all appliances you provided: oven, cooktop, rangehood, dishwasher.
Light fittings, switches, and power points. Test them. A blown bulb is the tenant's responsibility to replace during their tenancy; a broken fitting is a potential claim.
Garden and outdoor areas. If the lease required the tenant to maintain the garden, check that lawns are mowed, gardens are weeded, and outdoor areas are in reasonable order. Clarify what "reasonable" looks like; it is the most commonly disputed area of all.
Bond and general cleanliness. The property should be returned in a reasonably clean condition. Professional end-of-lease cleaning is often expected, but check your lease terms. If you required a professional clean on the way in, you can reasonably expect the same on the way out.
Fair Wear and Tear vs Damage: Knowing the Difference
This distinction is the one that causes the most disputes, and it is worth understanding clearly before you make any bond claim.
Fair wear and tear is the deterioration that happens from normal use over time. Paint that has faded or scuffed after three years of occupation. Carpet that is a little flattened in the main walkways. Small marks on walls from furniture. None of these are claimable. They are simply the cost of having people live in your property.
Damage is something beyond that: a stain that did not come from ordinary use, a hole punched in a wall, tiles cracked by something being dropped, a door hinge broken by excessive force. These are potentially claimable against the bond.
The age of the item matters too. A tribunal will not award you the full replacement cost of a five-year-old carpet that is now worn; they will consider the carpet's remaining useful life. For guidance on how wear and tear intersects with your tax records, see our guide to managing tenants and leases in Australia.
Photograph Everything
Even if the property is in perfect condition, photograph it. Even if nothing is wrong, photograph it.
Take photos of every room, every wall, and every fixture. Photograph things that are fine as well as things that are not. This establishes the overall condition at vacate date. If you do end up in a dispute, a timestamped photo of a clean, undamaged wall is just as useful as a photo of the damage next to it.
Before you do any of this, pull out your photos from the ingoing inspection. Side-by-side comparison is your strongest tool, and your clearest protection.
Comparing to the Original Condition Report
The condition report completed at the start of the tenancy is the benchmark for everything. If you did not complete one, or you completed one carelessly, your ability to make a bond claim is significantly weakened. A tribunal will generally require you to prove the damage was caused during the tenancy, not that it simply exists now.
Go through each item on the original report and note the current state. Where there is a clear difference, and it cannot reasonably be attributed to fair wear and tear, you have grounds for a claim. Where the original report already noted an issue, you cannot claim for it.
If your original condition report was thorough, this comparison takes 20 to 30 minutes and produces a clear, defensible record.
Making a Bond Claim
Once you have completed your inspection and compared it to the original condition report, you have a few paths forward.
If the property is in good order, release the bond in full through your state's bond authority portal. Most allow online releases and process them within a few business days.
If there is damage or unpaid rent, you can either reach an agreement with the tenant on a partial bond claim, or, if you cannot agree, apply to the relevant tribunal for a determination. You will need to provide your condition reports, photos, invoices for any repair work, and a clear account of what happened.
If you intend to claim for cleaning or repairs, get the work done first and have the invoices ready. Tribunals want to see actual costs, not estimates. Many of these repair costs may also be tax-deductible in the year you pay them.
Bond Return Timelines by State
Each state has its own timeframe for returning a bond after the tenancy ends:
- NSW: No statutory deadline, but unreasonable delay can be challenged at NCAT
- Victoria: The bond authority (RTBA) releases bonds once both parties or a VCAT order authorises it; the practical timeline is usually a few business days after agreement
- Queensland: The RTA processes releases within 2 to 5 business days of a signed form
- South Australia: CBS processes bond returns after both parties sign the refund form
- Western Australia: Bond releases processed by the Bond Administrator, usually within a week of a signed claim
In all states, if you want to make a claim, you must do so before the bond is released. Do not wait. Once the bond has been returned in full, your opportunity to claim has passed.
For a detailed look at how bond disputes are handled at tribunal, including what evidence you need and how hearings work, see our guide to how to handle a bond dispute.
Common Disputes and How to Avoid Them
The disputes that end up at tribunal tend to fall into a handful of categories. Most of them are preventable.
Cleaning. The single most common dispute. Avoid it by specifying in the lease agreement whether professional cleaning is required, and by documenting the cleaning standard on the way in. If you cannot show the property was professionally cleaned at the start, it is hard to insist on it at the end.
Garden and lawns. Vague lease terms cause vague disputes. If garden maintenance is a tenant obligation, be specific: lawns mown to a certain height, gardens weeded, edges trimmed. Photograph the garden on the way in so you have a baseline.
Pre-existing damage. If damage appears on the condition report from the start of the tenancy, you cannot claim for it at the end. Review your ingoing report carefully before making any claim. Claiming for pre-existing issues is the fastest way to lose credibility at a tribunal.
Betterment. If a repair or replacement would leave you better off than you were before the tenancy (new carpet where you had old carpet), a tribunal will typically only award you the depreciated value, not the full replacement cost. Use the depreciation calculator to see how quickly common rental assets lose value over their effective life. Price your claims accordingly.
How propkt Helps You Document Issues Over Time
An end-of-lease inspection does not happen in isolation. It is the final chapter of a tenancy, and the evidence that matters most is the record you built throughout.
propkt's maintenance tracking lets you log every repair request, note when it was resolved, and attach photos to each job. When a tenant reports a problem, you can record it and respond to it, and when the same area comes up in an end-of-lease inspection, you have a complete history of what was reported, what was done, and when.
That kind of documentation is not just useful at tax time; it is what protects you if a bond dispute ever goes to tribunal. Log in and open the Maintenance section to start building that record for your current tenancy.
As always, tenancy legislation varies by state and changes regularly. Check with your relevant state authority or a tenancy adviser for guidance specific to your circumstances.