The gas check nobody could find

A quick note before we start: the story below is made up. It's a mix of the kind of thing I've seen over about 16 years managing rentals around Melbourne. The names, the address and the details are invented. The rules I quote are real, and I've linked the sources.

A Tuesday phone call in Brunswick

Let's call her Priya. She'd been in a two-bedroom unit off Sydney Road for about three years. Older place, gas ducted heating, gas cooktop, the kind of hot water service that makes a noise like a kettle arguing with itself.

First cold snap of the year, she turns the heater on. A few days later she rings the office. Headaches, a bit of a smell near the return-air grille, and she wants to know when the heater was last serviced.

Fair question. And under the Victorian rules, she's entitled to an answer in writing if she asks for it.

The owner, who we'll call Graham, was sure it had been done. "The gas bloke came out, I paid him, it's done." Maybe. But the invoice was in an email account Graham had stopped using. The previous property manager had moved agencies. The file said "gas check – booked" and nothing else. No date, no report, no licence number.

We got a licensed gasfitter out the next morning. He isolated the heater. A cracked heat exchanger, and that's the one that keeps people in this industry up at night, because it's how carbon monoxide gets into a house. Nobody got hurt. Priya stayed with her sister for a few nights. The heater got replaced.

What stuck with me wasn't the repair bill. It was that for about 18 hours, nobody could prove whether the property had been checked at all.

What the rules actually say

This isn't a grey area any more. Here's where it lands in Victoria.

Gas and electrical checks: every two years

Rental providers must make sure a gas safety check of all gas installations and fittings is done every two years by a licensed or registered gasfitter, if the property has anything that uses or supplies gas. Same deal for electrical: a licensed or registered electrician checks the electrical installations, appliances and fittings the rental provider supplies, every two years. That's in Schedule 3 of the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021.

For a while there was a gap. The two-yearly checks only bit on agreements entered into from 29 March 2021. Consumer Affairs Victoria now says gas and electrical checks every two years apply to all rental agreements, whether they started before, on or after 13 October 2026. So a renter like Priya, on a lease that's been rolling for years, is covered.

If a check hasn't been done in the last two years when a renter moves in, the regulations say you arrange one as soon as practicable.

Smoke alarms: every 12 months

Each smoke alarm has to be correctly installed and working, tested according to the manufacturer's instructions at least once every 12 months, and the batteries replaced as needed (Schedule 3). CAV confirms annual smoke alarm safety checks now apply to all rental properties. Renters have a job too. They have to tell you in writing as soon as practicable if an alarm isn't working.

Telling the renter, and keeping the paperwork

This is the bit people skip. Before a new agreement, the rental provider has to disclose the date of the last gas and electrical safety checks and any outstanding recommendations (regulation 16). There's also a requirement to keep records of the checks (regulation 30). CAV lays both out on its gas and electrical safety page for rental providers. And from 13 October 2026, records showing compliance with the rental minimum standards are on CAV's list of changes too.

Read that again if you manage for owners. The check is half of it. Being able to show the check is the other half.

Where it actually goes wrong

In my experience it's hardly ever an owner who flat out refuses. It's drift.

A tradie does the job and emails the invoice to the owner, not the agency. The report is a photo of a carbon-copy sheet, sitting on someone's phone. A PM leaves and the knowledge goes with them. The diary reminder was set for "2 years from the lease start", but the check happened six months later, so the date's wrong from day one. Then a fixed term rolls over to periodic and nobody looks at the file for three years.

None of that is dramatic. It just stacks up quietly until a renter rings on a cold Tuesday.

What I'd have wanted on that file

If I could rewind the Brunswick job, this is what would've been sitting against the property, not in someone's inbox:

• the date of the last gas check and the last electrical check
• the gasfitter's and electrician's names and licence numbers
• the actual report, not just an invoice that says "service"
• any recommendations from the report, and whether they've been done
• smoke alarm test dates for each alarm, with battery replacements noted
• a record of what was disclosed to the renter before they signed
• the next due date, worked out from the real check date

That's it. Nothing fancy. But with that on file, Priya's question gets answered in two minutes instead of a day and a half, and you'd know before winter that the heater was due.

A practical checklist for this week

• [ ] Pull a list of every property with gas appliances or fittings
• [ ] For each one, find the date of the last gas and electrical check, with the report attached
• [ ] Anything older than two years, or with no record at all? Book it now, and don't wait for the lease anniversary
• [ ] Check every smoke alarm has a test date in the last 12 months
• [ ] Go back through outstanding recommendations from past reports and close them off
• [ ] Make sure your pre-lease disclosure includes the last check dates and any open recommendations
• [ ] Ask your tradies to send reports to the property file, not just to the owner
• [ ] Set reminders from the actual check date

Quick FAQ

Do older leases need two-yearly gas and electrical checks? Yes. CAV says the two-yearly checks apply to all rental agreements, whether they started before, on or after 13 October 2026 (source).

Who can do the checks? A licensed or registered gasfitter for gas, and a licensed or registered electrician for electrical (Schedule 3).

How often do smoke alarms need testing? At least once every 12 months, following the manufacturer's instructions.

Can a renter ask when the last check was? Yes. On request, you have to give them the date of the most recent gas and electrical safety check in writing.

What if there's no gas at the property? The gas check only applies if there are appliances, fixtures or fittings that use or supply gas. The electrical and smoke alarm requirements still apply.

Where RiskyMate fits

I built RiskyMate because of files like Graham's. It keeps the check dates, reports, licence details and smoke alarm records against each property, so the answer to "when was this last done?" is sitting right there. If that sounds useful, have a look at how it works. If not, at least go and find that gas report before the next cold snap.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Check the current rules with Consumer Affairs Victoria for your situation.