Gas and Electricity Checks for Victorian Rentals: What Rental Providers Must Do

Author : Brendan Frost | Published On : 04 Aug 2026

If you own a rental property in Victoria, gas and electricity checks are not a maintenance nicety. They are a legal obligation with defined intervals, defined qualifications for who can carry them out, and defined record-keeping attached. Getting them wrong carries real consequences, and the requirements catch out more rental providers than you would expect.

Here is what the law actually asks of you, in the order you need to work through it.

First question: does the requirement apply to you?

The dividing line is 29 March 2021.

If you entered into a new rental agreement after that date, you are legally required to arrange both gas and electrical safety checks. The same applies where a fixed term agreement rolled over into a periodic agreement after 29 March 2021.

If your agreement predates that and rolled over before it, the two-yearly checks are not legislated in the same way. That is not permission to skip them. Rental providers remain obliged under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 to supply a property kept in good repair and reasonably fit to live in, and Consumer Affairs Victoria actively encourages providers in this position to run the checks anyway and keep the records. If something goes wrong, "not strictly required" is a weak position to be arguing from.

The interval: every two years, for both

Gas safety checks and electrical safety checks are each required at least once every two years.

There is a second trigger worth knowing. If a renter moves in and no check has been carried out within the previous two years, the check must be completed as soon as possible. The clock is not simply reset by a new tenancy, so an inherited property with no documentation is an immediate job, not something to schedule at your convenience.

Who is legally allowed to carry them out

This is where rental providers most often go wrong, because "get someone qualified in" is not sufficient.

• Gas. The check must be done by a licensed or registered gasfitter who holds a specific endorsement, Type A Gas Appliance Servicing, shown on their Plumbers Identity Card. A general plumbing registration does not cover it. You can verify a practitioner's registration through the regulator's online practitioner search, or simply ask to see the card.
• Electrical. The check must be carried out by a licensed or registered electrician registered with Energy Safe Victoria as a Registered Electrical Contractor. Again, registration status is verifiable online, and it is worth checking rather than assuming.

If the person who attends is not appropriately endorsed, the check does not satisfy your obligation, no matter how thorough it was.

What the checks have to cover

Neither check is a visual once-over. Both are defined in the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021.

A gas safety check covers the correct installation of LPG cylinders and associated components, the presence of appliance isolation valves where required, whether appliances are accessible for servicing, the electrical safety of the gas installation, clearances between appliances and combustible surfaces, adequate ventilation, restraint of appliances such as cookers against tipping, the condition of flues and chimneys, and evidence of appliance certification. It must also confirm that Type A appliances have been serviced to the relevant Australian Standard.

An electrical safety check must cover all electrical installations, fixtures and fittings, carried out in line with the periodic verification standard, AS/NZS 3019.

The 2023 switchboard requirement people miss

Separate from the two-yearly cycle, since 29 March 2023 every power outlet and lighting circuit in a Victorian rental must be connected to both a switchboard-type circuit breaker and a switchboard-type residual current device meeting the applicable Australian Standards.

This one is easy to overlook because it is not framed as a periodic check. It is a standing requirement about how the property is wired. Older properties are the ones most likely to fall short.

Before you sign: the disclosure obligation

Before entering into a rental agreement, you must tell the renter the date of the most recent gas safety check and the most recent electrical safety check, along with any outstanding recommendations arising from either.

That last part matters. Recommendations you have not yet acted on do not stay private. If a check flagged work and it has not been done, that has to be disclosed.

Records: keep them, and hand them over on request

For both check types, you must retain the record of the most recent check until the next one replaces it.

If a renter asks for a copy in writing, you have seven days to provide it.

The records themselves have required contents. Each must identify the practitioner by name and licence or registration number, state the date, and set out the results including any repairs or servicing required and what was done about them. Electrical records must include a report prepared to AS/NZS 3019, and gas records must include the record of gas servicing work for each Type A appliance serviced.

When it becomes urgent

Some gas and electrical problems are classified as urgent repairs under the Act, including a gas leak, a dangerous electrical fault, the breakdown of a supplied appliance for hot water, cooking, heating or laundry, and the failure of gas, electricity or water supply.

Urgent means immediately. If a renter cannot reach you or you do not respond, they are entitled to arrange the repair themselves and spend up to $2,500, and you must reimburse them within seven days of a written request.

Carbon monoxide deserves specific mention, because it cannot be seen, smelled or tasted. Poisoning presents as tiredness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and shortness of breath, which are easy to mistake for something else. This is precisely why servicing gas appliances properly is not optional.

Practical takeaways

Work out which side of 29 March 2021 your agreement falls on, then diarise both checks on a two-year cycle rather than waiting to be prompted. Verify the endorsement of whoever attends before they start. Keep every record, because the obligation to produce one within seven days assumes you can find it. And treat the 2023 switchboard requirement as a separate item to confirm, not something covered by the routine cycle.

If you are managing multiple properties, the administrative load is the real risk. Missed intervals are rarely deliberate. They are what happens when nobody owns the calendar.

For the full legal detail, see Consumer Affairs Victoria's guidance on gas and electrical safety for rental providers.

Getting your checks sorted

Landmark Inspections has completed more than 5,000 gas and electrical safety checks for Melbourne landlords and property managers. Registered with the Victorian Building Authority and the Housing Industry Association, we work to Australian Standards, coordinate directly with tenants, and deliver the documentation you need to meet your record-keeping obligations, usually within 24 hours.

Book your rental gas and electrical safety checks or get a quote for multiple properties.