Landlords: heating, cooling and electrical obligations in Victoria

A Victorian rental carries three kinds of obligation here: minimum standards the property must meet, checks on a schedule, and repairs when something breaks. Consumer Affairs Victoria says that from 25 November 2025, rental properties must meet the minimum standards before they're advertised. The time to fix a non-compliant heater or an old fuse board is between tenancies.

Across Melbourne's west, a post-war brick veneer in Altona or Laverton may still have an old switchboard and a decades-old gas wall heater. A newer place in Point Cook or Tarneit more often has ducted gas heating, a modern board and a split system or two. Same obligations, different work.

Every rental needs a fixed heater, not a portable one, in good working order in the main living area. For agreements entered into from 29 March 2023 it must be energy efficient, and an existing fixed heater that isn't has to be upgraded. The minimum standards don't apply where an agreement became periodic before 29 March 2021.

Energy efficient currently means a non-ducted air conditioner, heat pump or gas space heater rated 2 stars or above, a ducted or hydronic system with an outlet in the main living area, or a solid fuel appliance such as a wood stove.

The awkward cases are an old gas wall heater with no readable rating label, or a living area added after the ducted system went in. A reverse-cycle split system in the living room is the usual fix, and it suits where the rules head in 2027.

Since 29 March 2023, all power outlets and lighting circuits in a rental must connect to both a switchboard-type circuit breaker and a switchboard-type safety switch (RCD). Consumer Affairs Victoria says the rental provider is responsible for engaging an electrician to meet that standard.

Many circuit breaker boards can take safety switches without replacement. Panel-and-fuse and federal fuse boards may not, and replacing the whole board means circuit breaker protection on every circuit, cooking, hot water and air conditioning included. Where a board is modified instead, Energy Safe Victoria says safety switches must cover socket-outlet and lighting circuits, but hard-wired appliances such as ovens and air conditioners need not be RCD protected.

Power can't go back on to a replaced main switchboard until a licensed electrical inspector has inspected the work. With a renter at home, agree the outage first: the fridge, anyone working from home, any powered medical equipment.

Under the current rules, rental providers who entered into an agreement after 29 March 2021 need an electrical safety check by a licensed electrician and a gas safety check by a licensed or registered gasfitter, each every 2 years. If no electrical check was done in the 2 years before a renter moves in, one must be done as soon as possible.

Consumer Affairs Victoria also lists a change from 13 October 2026: rental providers and their agents must arrange gas and electrical safety checks every 2 years for all rental agreements, whether they began before, on or after that date.

They are separate jobs. The electrical check follows section 4 of AS/NZS 3019:2022 and covers switchboards, wiring and fittings. The gas check needs a gasfitter endorsed for Type A appliance servicing and includes testing to confirm every Type A appliance is serviced to AS 4575. Every rental has also needed an annual smoke alarm check since 25 November 2025.

Consumer Affairs Victoria's urgent repairs list includes a gas leak, a dangerous electrical fault, loss of gas or electricity supply, and a hot water, cooking or heating appliance that has stopped. So does a broken cooling appliance you provided, a property that doesn't meet minimum standards, and a smoke alarm that isn't working.

Urgent repairs must be done immediately, non-urgent ones within 14 days of a written request, and you pay unless the renter caused the problem. If you or your agent don't respond to an urgent request, the renter can arrange the repair up to a set limit and you must repay them within 7 days.

Failures bunch up: a ducted heater that won't light on the first cold, still night, a split system that quits on a hot north-wind afternoon. Decide in advance who the agent rings and what they can approve without you.

The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards regulations came into operation on 1 July 2025, so this is law, not a proposal. The standards start in phases from 1 March 2027 and cover heating, cooling, hot water, shower heads, ceiling insulation and draughtproofing.

Heating: when a fixed heating system fails and can't be repaired, it must be replaced with energy-efficient fixed electric heating with an outlet in the main living area. That means a non-ducted air conditioner or heat pump with a GEMS heating rating of 2 stars or more, or a ducted system with a Heating Seasonal Performance Factor of 3.2 or more. A working heater that meets the current standard can stay.

Cooling: energy-efficient fixed cooling with an outlet in the main living area is required at the start of a new agreement, and all rentals must have cooling from 1 July 2030. That's a GEMS cooling rating of 3 stars or more for non-ducted units, or a Total Cooling Seasonal Performance Factor of 3.8 or more for ducted. An evaporative cooler already installed meets the standard at the start of a new lease, and one reverse-cycle air conditioner can satisfy both standards.

Hot water: a system that permanently fails and can't be repaired must be replaced with an energy-efficient electric one, not another gas system.

The 2027 heating rule is triggered by a breakdown, the worst moment to learn the switchboard can't take a reverse-cycle system. Assess it now and a dead gas heater in July becomes a planned swap.

Under the cooling standard, the cost of electrical work for the installation and of upgrading a switchboard for the extra load don't count when judging whether a cooler is unreasonable to install. The ceiling insulation standard also needs a licensed electrician to complete an electrical safety checklist and fix any electrical issues within 30 days before insulation goes in.

Your agent can manage the paperwork. Bring in a licensed electrician for the two-yearly electrical check, switchboard work, hardwired smoke alarms, or wiring a reverse-cycle system or electric hot water unit. Air conditioning installs also need a Refrigerant Handling Licence, and electrical installation work ends with a Certificate of Electrical Safety.

Total Comfort is a family-run licensed electrical contractor (REC 38187) in Altona Meadows, with one local team for electrical, heating and cooling. We can look at a rental's board, heating and cooling together, tell you honestly what the standards need now and what can wait. You get the price before we start. The gas check stays with a Type A-endorsed gasfitter.