The information on this page applies to both SDA residency agreements and Residential rental agreements.
Urgent repairs
What are urgent repairs?
Urgent repairs are:
- a burst water service
- a blocked or broken toilet
- a serious roof leak
- a gas leak
- a dangerous electrical fault
- flooding or serious flood damage
- serious storm or fire damage
- an essential service or appliance that is not working properly, or not working at all such as hot water, water, heating, cooking, laundering, gas or electricity
- any fault or damage that makes the property unsafe or not secure
- a serious fault in a lift or staircase
- a failure or breakdown of a cooling appliance or service
- a failure or breakdown of any safety related devices, such as a smoke alarm
- any fault or damage that makes the property unsafe or insecure, including a pest infestation or mould or damp that are due to the building structure.
How quickly should urgent repairs be fixed?
An urgent repair must be fixed immediately. If an immediate repair is not possible, your provider must arrange to have it fixed as soon as possible, and at least within two days.
If you tell your provider about an urgent repair and they do nothing, you can apply to VCAT for a repairs order. For more information, visit VCAT.
Your support person can help you with this process.
For more information, see Repairs in rental properties.
Non-urgent repairs
What are non-urgent repairs?
A non-urgent repair is any issue that is not an urgent repair.
How do I tell my provider about a non-urgent repair?
You must tell your provider about a non-urgent repair in writing.
You can use our Notice to SDA provider (Word, 573KB).
Easy English guides are a summary of the notice written in an easy to read way. You cannot use them to give notice. Download the:
What happens if the non-urgent repairs are not fixed?
Your provider must fix non-urgent repairs within 14 days of you telling them about it. If they do not fix the issue in 14 days, you can send us an Application to Director (Word, 580KB).
Easy English guides are a summary of the application written in an easy to read way. You cannot use them to make an application. Download the:
When we receive this form from you, we may:
- send someone to the property to see the issue that needs to be fixed
- speak to your provider about why the issue has not been fixed, and ask them to fix it
- give you a report of what we found.
This report is valid for 60 days. You can apply to VCAT within this time for a repairs order. This order is legally binding – which means your provider must do what the order says.
If you have asked us to investigate the issue, but you have not received a report from us, you can still apply to VCAT for a repair order within 90 days of when you applied for the report.
For more information, see Repairs in rental properties.