Repairs & Maintenance

A provision of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 requires that a tenant advises the managing agent of any maintenance that occurs during the tenancy. If not, tenants could be held liable for any additional costs incurred by the owner.

As soon as a tenant becomes aware of any maintenance they must contact our office immediately.

    • For flood and storm emergency, call the State Emergency Service (SES) on 132 500.
    • For life-threatening emergencies, call Triple Zero (000).

Urgent Repairs

Urgent Repairs – do not call tradespeople below until you call Prime

Tenants should follow the following steps for urgent repairs:

  1. For urgent repairs during normal business hours, contact our office on 03 5229 8822
  2. For urgent repairs after normal business hours, which fit into the list set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, the tenant should firstly contact the Property Manager on 03 5229 8822 and leave a message
  3. If a response has not been received after a short period of time, the trades people below should be contacted, and the urgent repair discussed with them

Under the Residential Tenancies Agreement (Section 3), an urgent repair is defined as:-

  • Burst hot water unit
  • Serious roof leak
  • Blocked/broken lavatory
  • Gas leak
  • Flooding/serious flood damage
  • Electrical fault
  • Failure or breakdown of the gas, electricity or water supply
  • Failure or breakdown of any essential service or appliance provided by the Landlord for hot water, cooking, heating or laundry
  • An appliance, fitting or fixture which is not working properly and causes a substantial amount of water to be wasted
  • Any fault or damage that makes the rented premises unsafe or insecure
  • A serious fault in a lift or staircase in the rented premises
  • Serious storm or fire damage

PLEASE USE THE NUMBERS SHOWN BELOW IN EXTREME EMERGENCIES ONLY:

Plumber/Roofing Plumber Local Plumbing Group 1800 224 229
Electrician HBK Electrical 0402 754 519
Electrician CLS Electrical 0434 588 668

Tenant May be Required to Pay for Maintenance Accounts

Be aware that the tenant may be requested to pay the account if the repairs are not urgent or are deemed not to be the Landlords responsibility and the tenant requested for a trades person to attend.
At times our tradespeople attend properties and it turns out the problem was either something caused or was something that could have been easily rectified by the tenant or occupant. In these cases the owner is not required and will not pay any charges incurred. In these cases, the charges will need to be covered by the tenant or occupant. Areas where you will be required to pay a call out fee and possible extra charges are as follows:

  • Electric appliance that belongs to the property – If an electric appliance stops working and you have failed to switch on a Circuit Breaker or Safety Switch back on in the fuse box or turn on a switch to the appliance itself.
  • Electric appliance that belongs to the property – If you have damaged, misused or failed to maintain the appliance.
  • Electric appliance of your own is causing the issue – If an electric appliance of yours is tripping out the power or causing damage to the premises.
  • Gas heating / Gas hot water service – If the pilot light has extinguished and it just needs re-lighting.
  • Gas instant hot water – If the power point to the unit is off or switch has turned off in electricity switch board.
  • Plumbing blockage (Sinks, showers, baths, toilets, outdoor drains and pipes) – If it’s found food, toiletries, hair or any other types of objects are causing the blockage.
  • Plumbing blockage – If it’s found the sewer lines have been accidentally or intentionally damaged.
  • Burst or leaking water line – It’s found the water line has been damaged accidentally or intentionally. (If the water meter tap is turned off and the leak is still occurring please contact Barwon Water on 1300 656 007)
  • Any other situation where it’s found you are at fault or failed to find the simple remedy.

We advise you to have attempted checking the items stated above to limit the chances of you having to pay any charges incurred from our tradespeople.
A maintenance request form is available for download from our website which can be faxed, posted or dropped into our office.

Spare Keys

If the Tenant requires spare keys to the property after normal business hours (Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm) a call out fee is payable by the Tenant, as provided for in the Tenancy Agreement, provided staff are available to respond and keys are available.