What the 13 October 2026 rental safety check rules mean

From 13 October 2026 the rules change for every rented home in Victoria. Until now, the two-yearly electrical safety check only applied where the rental agreement started after 29 March 2021. From 13 October it applies to all rental agreements, whether they began before, on or after that date.

If you own a rental that has been tenanted by the same people for years and has never had a safety check, it now needs one. That is the part catching people out.

What the rule actually says

Rental providers and their agents must arrange gas and electrical safety checks by a qualified tradesperson every two years, for all rental agreements. For the electrical side, a licensed electrician must check all the switchboards, wiring and fittings in the property.

If no electrical safety check has been done in the two years before a renter moves in, the check has to be completed as soon as practicable. It is not something that can wait for the next lease renewal.

What gets checked

The check is a periodic assessment carried out to section 4 of AS/NZS 3019:2022. In plain terms, an electrician inspects and tests the installation to confirm it is in a safe condition for continued use. That covers the switchboard, the wiring and the fittings, rather than just a quick look at the powerpoints.

In practice, the things that most often come up in inner north housing stock are the ones you would expect from the age of the buildings. Boards with rewirable ceramic fuses and no safety switch. Old rubber or cotton-braided wiring still live in a ceiling. Earthing that was adequate decades ago and is not now. A switchboard upgrade is a common outcome, and it is far cheaper to plan than to do in a hurry after a fault.

The record matters as much as the check

A safety check that leaves no paperwork does not help you. The electrician has to give you a record, signed or otherwise authenticated, and it has to show the name and licence number of the electrician who did it, the date, the results of the testing, any repairs that were needed and what was done about them, and what was and was not covered.

You need to keep that record until the next check is done. If a renter asks in writing for the date of the most recent check, you have to tell them, and you have to provide a copy within seven days of a written request. From 13 October there is also a new requirement to keep documentation showing the property met the minimum standards before it was advertised or occupied.

If something fails

Finding a problem is not a disaster, it is the point of the exercise. Energy Safe Victoria says repairs should be done by a Registered Electrical Contractor, or by a licensed electrician working for one, and the work gets recorded against the check so the paperwork tells one consistent story.

Most of what we find is straightforward. Adding safety switches to a board that has none, replacing a damaged fitting, sorting out an old extension that was never done properly. Occasionally a property needs more than that, and in an older weatherboard or double brick house that can mean partial rewiring. Knowing early is what gives you the choice about when and how.

If you manage more than one property

Checks are due every two years per property, which means the dates drift apart quickly once you own a few. Agents are generally tracking this, but the obligation sits with the rental provider.

If you have several properties around the inner north it is usually easier to group them. We can work through a few in the same run and give you one set of records with the dates lined up, so the next round is predictable instead of arriving one letter at a time.

Where we do these

We carry out rental electrical safety checks across Coburg, Brunswick, Preston, Northcote and Fitzroy, and the rest of Melbourne’s inner north. If you want the detail on what the check involves, there is more on our rental safety check page.

If you are not sure whether your property has had one, that is worth resolving before 13 October rather than after. Ring and we will tell you where you stand.

Sources: Consumer Affairs Victoria, new changes to the rental laws and rental providers: gas and electrical safety; Energy Safe Victoria, residential tenancy. This is general information, not legal advice. Check your own obligations with Consumer Affairs Victoria.