Maintenance Request and Repair Procedure

Purpose. Sets out how repair and maintenance requests from tenants, owners, committees and site staff are logged, classified, approved, allocated and closed for rental properties and common property.

1.Logging a request

Every request must be entered in the Maintenance and Work Orders system on the day it is received, whether it comes from a tenant, an owner, a committee member, a cleaner or a security officer. The entry must describe the problem, the location, who reported it and any access instructions. Requests received by phone must be confirmed to the tenant in writing.

2.Classifying urgency

The person logging the request must classify it as emergency, urgent or routine. Emergency repairs are those defined in the tenancy legislation, such as a burst water service, a blocked or broken toilet, a serious roof leak, a gas leak, a dangerous electrical fault or a failure of an essential service. Emergency repairs must be actioned immediately, urgent repairs within 24 hours and routine repairs within the timeframe agreed with the owner.

• Emergency: action now, notify the owner after
• Urgent: within 24 hours, owner approval by phone
• Routine: within 14 days, owner approval in writing

3.Approval

The owner or the committee must approve routine repairs above the spending limit in the agency or management agreement. Repairs under the limit and emergency repairs are approved by the property manager or strata manager, who must notify the owner as soon as practicable. Approval must be recorded on the request.

4.Allocating a contractor

Work must be allocated to a contractor on the approved panel who holds the licence and insurance the trade requires. The work order must state the scope, the access arrangement, the tenant's contact details limited to what the job needs and the spending limit. Contractors must give the tenant reasonable notice unless it is an emergency.

5.Completion and payment

The contractor must report completion with photographs or a service report. The property manager must confirm with the tenant or site staff that the problem is fixed before approving the invoice for payment from trust or the scheme account. The request is then closed with the completion date.

6.Escalation

A tenant who reports that an emergency repair has not been actioned is entitled to arrange the repair themselves up to the limit in the legislation. To avoid this, unresolved emergency requests must be escalated to the Head of Property Management within two hours.