From 13 October every Victorian rental needs a two-year gas and electrical safety check, pre-2021 tenancies included

This article is general information only. It is not tax, credit or legal advice. Victorian rental providers should speak to a registered property manager or solicitor before acting on any of the figures below.

The 13 October deadline closes the 29 March 2021 loophole#

Victoria's existing two-yearly gas and electrical safety check regime has carried a quiet exception since it was first drafted. The obligation to arrange a licensed gasfitter and a licensed electrician to inspect the property every two years applied only to tenancies entered into on or after 29 March 2021 (Independent Australia sponsored explainer on electrical safety and rental minimum standards). A long-running tenancy that pre-dated the rule and simply rolled over sat outside the regime. The practical effect is that a Melbourne house let continuously to the same renter since, say, 2015 could run for a decade without a formal gas or electrical safety check on the file.

That exception closes on 13 October 2026. From that date the two-yearly gas and electrical safety check applies to all rental agreements, whether they commenced before, on or after 13 October 2026 (Consumer Affairs Victoria, new changes to the rental laws). The language in the Consumer Affairs Victoria guidance is unambiguous. Any Victorian rental, whatever the lease start date, needs a current check on file.

The practical answer for a Victorian landlord with a long-running pre-2021 tenancy is straightforward. Book the gasfitter and the electrician now. The 13 October date is a hard commencement, not a transition. A rental provider or agent that cannot produce a current check from 14 October onwards is in breach.

Who can do the checks#

The identity of the tradesperson matters. A general plumber or a handyperson signing a safety-check form will not meet the standard.

Gas safety checks must be done by a licensed or registered gasfitter who also holds the Type A gas appliance servicing endorsement (Consumer Affairs Victoria, rental providers gas and electrical safety). The Type A endorsement is the specific qualification to service domestic gas appliances. A property manager cannot do the check. A relative with a plumbing ticket cannot do the check unless they hold the Type A endorsement.

Electrical safety checks must be done by a licensed or registered electrician who is a Registered Electrical Contractor with Energy Safe Victoria (Energy Safe Victoria, tenants and renting laws). Energy Safe Victoria publishes a public register. A rental provider should confirm the contractor is listed before engaging them.

The rental provider pays. A rental provider cannot pass the cost onto the renter and cannot discount it from the bond at the end of the tenancy.

What the check actually costs#

The Victorian Government does not publish a reference price for either check. The best current figures come from the installer market.

A standalone gas safety check in Melbourne is quoted at $220 to $450 plus GST depending on the number of appliances. One Melbourne plumbing firm quotes $250 to $300 plus GST for a single appliance and $350 to $450 plus GST for two or more appliances (Newflo Plumbing, gas safety check compliance certificate cost in Victoria). A vendor listing on CheckHero puts the single check at $220 plus GST (CheckHero, gas safety checks in Melbourne).

A bundled gas, electrical and smoke alarm compliance package runs at $399 to $550 plus GST across most Melbourne providers (StaticBlue, electrical gas and fire safety compliance for rental properties). On a two-year cycle, that works out to roughly $225 a year before GST per property, or about $247 a year including GST. Smoke alarms must be checked every 12 months, which pulls the compliance window to annual anyway on most managed properties.

That cost is tax deductible as a rental repair and maintenance expense under section 25-10 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, assuming the property is let or available to let for the full tax year. For a landlord on the 37% marginal rate, the after-tax run cost on a bundled annual compliance package sits around $155 to $200 a year. On a 32.5% marginal rate it is closer to $167 to $220 a year.

The new bond-claim evidence rule#

The other operational change on 13 October 2026 is at the bond-claim end of the tenancy. The current process allows a rental provider or agent to lodge a bond claim with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority without first sharing supporting evidence with the renter. Industry guides read the amended Residential Tenancies Act 1997 as introducing a new section 411(1A) that requires the rental provider or agent to give each renter on the bond the supporting evidence behind any claim before it is lodged (Forge Property guide to the 13 October 2026 rules). Secondary legal guides read the window as three business days before lodgement.

The evidence standard is specific. Acceptable documentation includes invoices, receipts, quotes, photographs or other documentary records. Importantly, the evidence must not conflict with the condition report. A claim for carpet replacement where the move-in condition report already noted the carpet as stained is not supported evidence. A claim for wall damage where the move-in photos show the same mark is not supported evidence.

A bond claim lodged without supporting evidence, or with evidence that conflicts with the condition report, is an offence and the rental provider or agent can be prosecuted (Consumer Affairs Victoria, new changes to the rental laws). The 2022-23 Tenants Victoria case review of 147 bond disputes called out the absence of a civil penalty for baseless claims as a key gap in the regime. The new offence is the Government's answer to that gap.

The practical answer for a landlord is to run every bond claim through the same checklist. Receipt or quote in writing. Date-stamped photograph. Cross-check against the entry condition report. Share with the renter at least three business days before the RTBA lodgement. Keep the file.

The application fee ban hardens#

The 31 March 2026 rental application reforms imposed a standard rental application form across Victoria and banned rental apps and rent payment platforms from charging renters fees for making a rental application or paying rent (Consumer Affairs Victoria, less paperwork, more security new rental rules begin today). The 13 October 2026 change hardens the enforcement end. From that date it is an offence for the rental provider or agent to charge a renter a fee for a rental application.

The 31 March reforms also capped what a landlord or agent can request in the application. The standardised form is the ceiling, not the floor. A rental provider cannot ask for additional personal information outside the prescribed fields. A rental provider cannot ask about children, pets outside the pet question, income beyond the prescribed field, or any protected attribute under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010.

Platforms that charge renter-side fees are already caught. The 13 October change pulls private landlords and agents into the same enforcement perimeter.

The minimum-standards record-keeping obligation#

Victoria's existing rental minimum standards require working deadlocks, a fixed heater in the main living area, window coverings for privacy, adequate ventilation, a functioning kitchen with hot and cold water and a cooktop, a working bathroom, and that the dwelling be structurally sound and weatherproof. Those standards already apply.

The 13 October change adds a record-keeping obligation. Rental providers must keep records that can demonstrate the property met the minimum standards when it was advertised or offered for rent (Consumer Affairs Victoria, new changes to the rental laws). The Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria may publish guidance on what records are sufficient. A photograph pack of each minimum-standard element, dated at the time of advertising, is a reasonable floor. A certified property manager report is a safer ceiling.

A rental provider that cannot produce records on request has a problem on two fronts. Consumer Affairs Victoria can issue infringement notices under the amended Act. And at a VCAT hearing, the absence of contemporaneous records shifts the burden of proof onto the rental provider by default.

Victoria's rental stock sits around 650,000. Here is the context#

Active Victorian rental bonds held with the RTBA sat at 649,978 at December 2024, down from 674,462 at December 2023 on a run of investor exits (PIPA, year of investor sell-off benefits homebuyers but shrinks Victorian rental stock by 24,000). The decline from the June 2023 peak sits near 3.4% (PIPA, Victoria sees record fall in rental stock as investors leave the state). The decline is driven by the compounding of the Victorian land tax surcharge, the rate-rise cycle and the ongoing minimum-standards and compliance load.

The vacancy rate tells the demand side of the same story. Cotality had Melbourne vacancy at 1.2% on its May 2026 read. SQM Research had the April 2026 reading at 1.5%. A balanced rental market typically sits around 3%. Victoria is running tight.

For a Victorian rental provider still in the market, the 13 October 2026 obligations are a compliance refresh on a scarce asset. The underlying rent position has not softened. The expense base has.

The 1 March 2027 energy efficiency deadline is next#

The 13 October deadline is not the final one. The next hard date is 1 March 2027, when the new minimum energy efficiency standards come into force (Consumer Affairs Victoria, new changes to the rental laws). Rentals will need to meet standards for:

• Heating in the main living area
• Cooling in the main living area
• Hot water system efficiency
• Showerheads
• Ceiling insulation
• Draughtproofing

Any draughtproofing work must be preceded by a pre-draughtproofing gas safety check by a licensed or registered gasfitter, completed within the six months before the draughtproofing itself. The practical sequencing matters. A landlord planning to meet the 1 March 2027 deadline by installing ceiling insulation and sealing drafts in the summer of 2026-27 needs the gasfitter booked first.

A rental provider working through the 13 October obligations today can save a trade visit by having the Type A gasfitter check both the standard two-yearly gas safety and the pre-draughtproofing scope in the same visit, where the plan is to draughtproof within six months. That is a cost efficiency, not a legal substitution. The two-yearly safety check and the pre-draughtproofing check are separate statutory obligations.

What a Victorian rental provider needs to do this week#

Three items for the diary.

First, book the gasfitter and the electrician for every property that does not have a current check on file. Confirm the gasfitter holds the Type A appliance servicing endorsement and the electrician is a Registered Electrical Contractor with Energy Safe Victoria. The Energy Safe Victoria public register is the fastest check.

Second, build the bond-claim evidence template. One page. Named receipt or quote. Date-stamped photograph. Cross-reference to the entry condition report. Email delivery to each renter named on the bond with a timestamped read receipt where possible. Three business days before any RTBA lodgement.

Third, pull together the minimum-standards records file. The exercise is retrospective for current rentals and prospective for any property about to be advertised. A dated photograph pack of each minimum-standard element is a reasonable floor.

Running the numbers inside Propkt#

Propkt gives Victorian landlords a single place to log the gas and electrical safety check dates, store the contractor invoices and photographs against each property, and schedule the next check two years out. The expense tracker tags compliance costs under section 25-10 for the end-of-year rental schedule. The condition-report tool captures entry and exit photos with timestamp metadata, which the new section 411(1A) bond-claim evidence rule will lean on. If your current record-keeping lives across email threads and a filing cabinet, the 13 October deadline is a reasonable moment to move it into a single system that your accountant and your property manager can both see.

Set the next check date in your diary. Then put the file where you can find it.