Residential Tenancy Amendment Act 2013

4.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

5.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

6.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

7.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

8.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

9.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

10.   

The amendment effected by this section has been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

11.   

The amendment effected by this section has been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

12.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

13.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

14.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

15.   

The amendment effected by this section has been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

16.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

17.   

The amendment effected by this section has been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

18.   

The amendment effected by this section has been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

19.    Part 3B inserted

Before Part 4 of the Principal Act , the following Part is inserted:

PART 3B - Minimum Standards for Premises

36I.   Premises to be weatherproof and structurally sound

(1)  An owner must ensure that premises to which a residential tenancy agreement relates –

(a) are weatherproof; and

(b) are in a proper state of structural repair.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  For the purpose of subsection (1) , premises are in a proper state of structural repair only if the roof, floors, ceilings, walls and stairs –

(a) are in good repair; and

(b) are not subject to significant dampness; and

(c) are not liable to collapse because they are rotted or otherwise defective.

36J.   Cleanliness and good repair

(1)  An owner must not enter into a residential tenancy agreement in relation to premises unless the premises are clean.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  An owner must not enter into, extend, or renew, a residential tenancy agreement in relation to premises unless the premises are in good repair.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(3)  An owner of premises to which a residential tenancy agreement relates must, as soon as practicable after he or she becomes aware that the premises have ceased to be in good repair, take all reasonable steps to return the premises to good repair, except if the premises have ceased to be in good repair through the fault of a tenant.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

36K.   Bathrooms and toilets to be provided

(1)  An owner must not enter into, extend, or renew, a residential tenancy agreement in relation to premises unless –

(a) there is, in or on the premises, a flushable toilet that is –

(i) connected to a sewer, an on-site wastewater management system (including a septic system), or any other system, approved by the council for the municipal area in which the premises are situated, for treatment or disposal of waste; and

(ii) contained in a room that is intended to be used solely for the purposes of toilet use or as a bathroom; and

(b) the room that contains the toilet contains –

(i) a vent or opening window; or

(ii) a functioning device that enables the room to be mechanically ventilated.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  An owner must not enter into, extend, or renew, a residential tenancy agreement in relation to premises unless –

(a) there is situated on the premises a bathroom (which may contain a toilet) that is in a separate room; and

(b) the bathroom is designed to permit a person to use it in private; and

(c) the bathroom contains a bath or a shower (and may contain both); and

(d) the bathroom contains a washbasin; and

(e) any washbasin, bath or shower in the bathroom is connected to a water system enabling a continuous supply of a reasonable amount of hot and cold water to be provided to the washbasin, bath or shower.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

36L.   Cooking facilities

An owner must not enter into, extend, or renew, a residential tenancy agreement in relation to premises unless there is situated in the premises an area, intended to be used for cooking, that includes –

(a) a functioning kitchen sink that is connected to a water system enabling a continuous supply of hot and cold water to be provided to the sink; and

(b) a stovetop with –

(i) at least 2 functioning heating elements, if the premises has 2 or fewer bedrooms; or

(ii) at least 4 functioning heating elements, if the premises has 3 or more bedrooms; and

(c) a functioning oven, which may be a conventional oven, convection oven or microwave oven or a combination of any such ovens; and

(d) any other object, for the purposes of use in a kitchen, that is prescribed.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

36M.   Electricity and heating

(1)  An owner must not enter into, extend, or renew, a residential tenancy agreement in relation to premises unless the premises are connected to –

(a) a mains electricity supply (whether or not an electricity provider is supplying electricity to the premises on the day the agreement is entered into, extended or renewed); or

(b) a functioning device that is –

(i) capable of producing and supplying to the premises a supply of electricity that is sufficient to provide for the electricity needs of the number of persons that the premises is designed to accommodate; and

(ii) connected to the electrical wiring system in the premises.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  An owner must not enter into, extend, or renew, a residential tenancy agreement in relation to premises unless –

(a) all power points, or wires between the walls of the premises or in the ceiling of the premises are safe and, except for the power points or wires indicated in the condition report prepared at the beginning of the tenancy as not being functioning power points or functioning wires, supply electricity to the premises; and

(b) every room used, or intended for use, by a tenant, other than a room that is intended only for storage or for use as a garage, has adequate natural or artificial lighting.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(3)  An owner must not enter into, extend, or renew, a residential tenancy agreement in relation to premises unless there is, in a room that may be used as the main living area in the premises, a heating device consisting of –

(a) an electric heater, or a gas heater, that is a fixture; or

(b) a heat pump; or

(c) a wood heater (not being an open fire place); or

(d) an open fire place, if there is in force in relation to the open fire place an approval under subsection (4) ; or

(e) another heating device that is prescribed.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(4)  The Commissioner, by notice to an owner of one or more premises, may approve, on the conditions specified in the notice, an open fire place for the purposes of subsection (3)(d) for use in such of the premises as are specified in the notice.

(5)  The Commissioner, by notice in the Gazette, may approve, on the conditions specified in the notice, an open fire place for the purposes of subsection (3)(d) for use in the premises, or a class of premises, specified in the notice.

(6)  A notice under this section is not a statutory rule for the purposes of the Rules Publication Act 1953 .

36N.   Window covering for privacy

(1)  An owner must not enter into, extend, or renew, a residential tenancy agreement in relation to premises unless curtains or blinds cover each window in any room, in the premises, that the owner knows is likely to be used as a bedroom or a living area.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to social housing.

36O.   Ventilation

(1)  An owner must not enter into, extend, or renew, a residential tenancy agreement in relation to premises unless adequate ventilation is provided to each room in the premises in accordance with this section.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  For the purposes of subsection (1) , adequate ventilation is provided to a room if –

(a) there are one or more openings, in the room, that open to an area of the premises that is not both covered by a ceiling and surrounded by walls (including any walls with doors or windows); and

(b) the total area of all such openings constitutes not less than 5 per cent of the floor area of the room.

(3)  For the purposes of subsection (1) , adequate ventilation is provided to a room (the first room) if –

(a) one or more openings, in the room, open to an adjoining room; and

(b) the first room or the adjoining room to which the openings open is not a sanitary compartment; and

(c) the total area, of all the openings in the first room that open to an adjoining room, constitutes not less than 5 per cent of the floor area of the first room; and

(d) there are one or more openings in the adjoining room (not being the same openings as the openings in the first room); and

(e) the total area, of all the openings in the adjoining room (not being the same openings as the openings in the first room), constitutes not less than 5 per cent of the floor area of the adjoining room.

(4)  For the purposes of subsection (1) , adequate ventilation is provided to a room that is a sanitary compartment, bathroom or laundry if the room is ventilated by a functioning mechanism (including but not limited to an exhaust fan) that –

(a) takes air from the room directly to an area of the premises that is not both covered by a ceiling and surrounded by walls (including any walls with doors or windows); or

(b) takes air from the room directly to a roof space that –

(i) is adequately ventilated by open eaves or roof vents, or both; or

(ii) is covered by roof tiles to which sarking, or another material that would prevent air escaping between gaps in the tiles, has not been applied.

(5)  An owner must not enter into, extend, or renew, a residential tenancy agreement in relation to premises that contain a window that provides adequate ventilation for the purposes of subsection (1) , unless the window is able to be securely fastened into a position that creates a gap, between an edge of the window and an edge of the window frame, that –

(a) is not less than 15 cms wide; and

(b) does not enable a person to enter the room in which the window is situated.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(6)  In this section –

opening means –

(a) an open space in a door, wall or ceiling; or

(b) a space that is created, or may be created, by the opening of a window or a door or other structure in a door, wall or ceiling;

sanitary compartment means a room designed to contain a toilet and not designed to contain a bath or shower.

36P.   Exemption from requirements of provision of this Part

(1)  The Commissioner, by notice to an owner of premises, may specify that, for the period specified in the notice, the premises are exempted from the application of a provision of this Part that is specified in the notice.

(2)  The Commissioner, by notice in the Gazette, may specify that, for the period specified in the notice, premises, or a class of premises, specified in the notice are exempted from the application of a provision of this Part that is specified in the notice.

(3)  If premises are specified, or are within a class of premises specified, in a notice under subsection (1) or (2) , to be exempted from the application of a provision of this Part, the provision does not apply in relation to the premises for the period specified in the notice.

(4)  A notice under this section is not a statutory rule for the purposes of the Rules Publication Act 1953 .

21.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

22.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

23.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

24.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

25.   

The amendment effected by this section has been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

26.    Section 55A inserted

After section 55 of the Principal Act , the following section is inserted in Part 5:

55A.   Certain photographs not to be displayed by owner

An owner of residential premises must not, without the written consent of a tenant, display to the public a photograph of the premises that displays any object in the premises that may identify the tenant or another person or that belongs to the tenant.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

28.   

The amendments effected by this section have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

29.   

The amendment effected by this section has been incorporated into the authorised version of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 .

30.   

The amendments effected by this Part have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Land Titles Act 1980 .

31.   

The amendments effected by this Part have been incorporated into the authorised version of the Land Titles Act 1980 .