Every Victorian rental needs a safety check. Every two years
The two-yearly electrical safety check applies to every residential rental agreement in Victoria — whenever the tenancy started, including the ones that have been let for years and never had one. We do the check, write the record, and quote anything that needs fixing before we touch it.
Book a safety check
One property or a portfolio. Tell us the suburb and we'll come back with a date and a price.
No call centre. Goes straight to us.
Due date already passed, or not sure when the last one was?
If there's no record on file, treat it as due. Ring us and we'll sort the timing out with you.
What the law actually requires
Victoria's rental minimum standards require an electrical safety check every two years, carried out by a licensed electrician, with a written record the rental provider has to keep. It applies to every residential rental agreement in the state.
It covers every agreement
When the tenancy started makes no difference. A property that has been let since 2015 and never had a check is in scope, and so is one that started last week.
Every two years, from the last check
The interval runs from the date of the last compliant check, not from a common calendar date. Two years after the last one is when the next falls due. If there has never been one, it's due now.
A licensed electrician, to a standard
The check must be done by a licensed or registered electrician, covering all electrical installations, fixtures and fittings, in accordance with section 4 of AS/NZS 3019.
It's the rental provider's obligation
Arranging the check sits with the rental provider or their agent — not the renter. The record has to be held and produced to Consumer Affairs Victoria on request.
The renter can ask for a copy
On a written request, the rental provider must give the renter a copy of the most recent record within seven days. Which means the record has to be a real document, not a verbal all-clear.
Gas and smoke alarms are separate
Gas safety checks are also two-yearly, but need a licensed gasfitter — not us. Smoke alarm checks are annual. Different intervals, different records, and all three have to be on file.
We're electricians, not lawyers. The above is our plain-English read of Victoria's rental minimum standards. For the official wording, go to Consumer Affairs Victoria.
What we check, and what you get
A periodic verification to AS/NZS 3019 is a defined piece of work, not a walk-through. It's testing, not a look around.
- The switchboard — protection type and rating, RCD presence, operation and trip times, labelling, condition and heat damage
- Earthing and bonding — main earth, water and gas bonding, earth continuity on final circuits
- Insulation resistance and polarity on the installation, which is where degraded cable shows up
- Fixtures and fittings — outlets, switches, light fittings, exhaust fans, hardwired appliances, outdoor and wet-area equipment
- Consumer mains and the supply point — condition, sizing and the point of attachment or pit
- A written record you can file — our name, REC 34234, the date, what we found, what needs repair and what was done
If you manage properties
The administration is usually the harder half. We work the way an agency needs us to work, without a portal to log into or a call centre between you and the electrician who turned up.
One electrician, one number
You deal with the person doing the work. No dispatch team, no job reference to quote, no waiting for a subcontractor in another state to be assigned.
Tenant access handled
We contact the renter, book a window that suits them, and give the notice the tenancy requires. You don't have to chase it.
Record emailed the same day
The compliance record lands in your inbox the day of the visit, named by property address so it files itself. Repairs quoted separately so the owner can approve them on their own.
Multiple properties in one run
Checks clustered by suburb cost less per property and take fewer days to get through. If you've got a block of them in Pakenham, Officer or Berwick, say so when you call.
Repairs by the same licence
If the check turns up a problem we can fix it — switchboards, consumer mains, faults, smoke alarms. One trade, one Certificate of Electrical Safety.
Straight about what we don't do
Gas safety checks need a licensed gasfitter and that isn't us. We'll say so rather than take the booking and subcontract it back to you as a delay.
What these checks usually turn up
A safety check on a rental built before the mid-nineties rarely comes back completely clean. None of this is unusual, and none of it is a reason to put the check off — knowing about it is cheaper than finding out through an insurance claim.
The common findings
- No RCD protection on power and light circuits, or an RCD that won't trip within time
- Ceramic rewireable fuses, which protect the wiring and not the person
- Smoke alarms past their ten-year date, or battery-only in a house that needs hardwired
- Damaged or brittle outlets and switches, particularly outdoors and in wet areas
- Missing water and gas bonding, or an earth that's been disturbed by a plumbing repair
- Tenant-installed fittings and extension-lead wiring that's become semi-permanent
How we handle it
- Recorded, not quietly fixed — the finding goes in the record either way
- Quoted before we start — a check is an inspection, not an open chequebook
- Urgent items flagged on the day, with a phone call rather than a line in an email
- Small items fixed on the spot if you want them done and they're minor
- Certificate of Electrical Safety for any repair work, with prescribed work independently inspected
If the board needs replacing anyway, it's worth doing it once and doing it for everything the property might get next — see switchboard upgrades. Three separate visits cost meaningfully more than one.
Three steps, no surprises
Send the address
One property or a list. We come back with a price per property and the next available dates.
We book the renter in
Access arranged directly with the tenant, with proper notice. You don't have to coordinate it.
Record the same day
Check done, record emailed, anything needing repair quoted separately for the owner to approve.
Questions we get asked
Do all Victorian rentals need an electrical safety check?
Yes. The two-yearly electrical safety check is part of Victoria's rental minimum standards, and it applies to every residential rental agreement in the state — whenever the tenancy started. A property that's been let for years and never had a check is in scope.
How often does a rental electrical safety check need to be done?
Every two years, counted from the date of the last compliant check — not from some common calendar date. If there's no record on file at all, treat it as due now.
Who can carry out a rental electrical safety check in Victoria?
A licensed or registered electrician. It has to cover all electrical installations, fixtures and fittings and be carried out in accordance with section 4 of AS/NZS 3019, Electrical installations — Periodic verification. SALTD Electrical is a Registered Electrical Contractor, REC 34234.
What record does the rental provider have to keep?
The name of the person who did the check and their licence or registration number, the date it was carried out, the outcome including any repairs required, and the action taken. The rental provider keeps the most recent record until the next check replaces it, and must give the renter a copy within seven days of a written request. Ours is emailed the day of the visit.
What happens if the check finds a problem?
We write down what we found and quote the repair before touching it. A safety check is an inspection, not a licence to start work. Urgent items get a phone call on the day. The usual findings are missing RCD protection, ceramic fuses, tired consumer mains and expired smoke alarms.
Are smoke alarms part of the electrical safety check?
Separate obligation, different interval. Victorian rentals need an annual smoke alarm check against AS 3786, with hardwired alarms and battery backup required in buildings constructed after 1 August 1997. Because the intervals differ we usually do both in the one visit and date the two records separately.
Can you do a safety check on a house I own and live in?
Yes. There's no legal requirement for an owner-occupied home, but the same periodic verification is worth doing before a renovation, when you've just bought an older house, or if nobody has ever looked properly at the board. Plenty of homes built before the mid-nineties have no RCD protection at all.
Can you do a whole portfolio?
Yes, and clustering them by suburb is cheaper per property and faster to get through. Tell us roughly how many and where when you call. We'll be honest if the volume is beyond what we can turn around in the timeframe you need.
Do you do gas safety checks too?
No. Gas requires a licensed gasfitter and that isn't us. We'd rather tell you up front than take the booking and leave you short a record.
Where we work
Pakenham and Surrounds.
Core — same or next day
- Pakenham
- Officer
- Beaconsfield
- Berwick
- Narre Warren
- Cardinia
Regular — usually within the week
- Cranbourne
- Clyde & Clyde North
- Drouin
- Warragul
- Emerald & Cockatoo
- Hallam
By arrangement
- Dandenong
- Frankston
- Phillip Island
Get the check booked
Send through the address and we'll come back with a date and a price. Portfolios welcome.