1st Smoke Detector Inspections now its Safety Report Recommendation's

Have received through two differing agencies.

As your Managing Agent, we are committed to bringing to your attention to key initiatives and industry shifts that will benefit you and your investment.

Over recent years there has been an alarming increase in the number of personal injury claims made by tenants against landlords and agents. Sadly, it is the fastest growing area for legal claims. Recent court rulings have fundamentally stated that Landlords are obliged to provide a safe living environment for their tenants, coroners are calling for professional independent inspections and some state real estate institutes are supporting those recommendations.

Whilst we would like to think we can do everything, this expertise is outside our skill sets and as we see this as an important issue we have sourced an independent nationally recognised and industry indorsed residential safety inspection service called PropertySafe.

By recommending their service to all of our landlords PropertySafe have agreed to reduce their 120 point standard safety inspection at a fully tax deductable price of just $249 including GST ($50 saving). As these inspections are recommended every 2 years this equates to a less than $2.40 per week investment. As a standard Pest & Building Property Inspection would cost in excess of $500 we feel that this is great value for the peace of mind that it delivers. Please note: We do not receive any financial benefit from this arrangement.

Please note that only life threatening issues will be brought to our attention from the inspection. Any other moderate or low risk issues or observations are only communicated to you, not the tenant or ourselves (unless you decide to share the report with us) and are at your discretion to act upon.

We would appreciate a definitive “Accept” or ‘Decline” to our recommendation via the links below or by phoning our office during business hours to speak with your property manager. Please do so at your earliest convenience. Accepting or declining the offer will halt any further reminders.

To accept the invitation and prevent further reminders please

To decline the invitation and prevent further reminders please

To learn more Click Here. FAQs Click Here. Example reports Click Here.

We strongly recommend this cost-effective service to all our Landlords, as it is a great pro-active initiative that will reduce claims and even potentially save lives.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing from you.

 

I would seriously start getting the shites if my PM started sending me spam.

 

You may wish to remove the 'click here' links. As people can act on your behalf for your Nowra property

 

Haha, nice pick up!

 

I am heavily involved in Safety Engineering work and hence familiar with situations where liability could easily be identified or argued. Safety is not something that should be ignored. If you have information about a hazard/risk, you don't act and an accident occurs then you could be liable.

Certainly pay careful attention to what might be reported in B&P inspections - particularly for electrical gas and fire safety ( or anything else that could cause death or serious injury ). Balcony / deck and pool safety are big issues for IP owners.

It ultimately comes down to doing what a reasonable person would do to reduce a risk to tolerable levels. If you decide not to address a safety issue on cost grounds alone, then you could be making yourself liable.

I can imagine the argument in court - "your property manager offered to engage a safety inspection and you elected not to ...".

The B&P inspection I had done for my recent IP purchase covered general safety as well as building conditions, so a dedicated safety report is not really necessary.

If you own an investment property that was acquired without a recent B&P or safety report, then I would consider getting a safety report done. Conversion of a PPOR to an IP is one situation where you may have avoided a safety inspection.

 

"Yeah sure, happy to proceed. Please inform the tenant the the rent will be increasing by $5 per week".

 

My thought is why do I need to have this inspection every two years when

a. I have already undertaken a thorough building and pest report and removed any items noted

b. The PM uses licensed and insured tradespeople.

c. There is no Australian standard and in essence this is best practice at best

Can someone please confirm my liability with an insurer as my current clause reads as below and having already undertaken a. and b. I would have thought that would be enough to protect me.


“We do not cover loss, damage or legal liability caused by a defect, structural fault or design fault that you knew about (or should reasonably have known about) and did not fix before the loss, damage or legal liability occurred.”

 

@Chilliblue

Seems like email from Raywhite??

 

When will it ever end. What happens if something crops up in between that 2 yearly inspection. Incredible.

 

According to them, they are based in Erina but work both in NSW and VIC and coming to WA it seems


Calling Western Australian Exceptional BDM's. PropertySafe NEEDS YOU. If you have wide experience in selling services to Managing Agents and are looking for an exciting and lucrative career move to a growing and progressive Company, please call me on 0418 652 822. The PropertySafe solution offers Agencies, with NO ONGOING COST the only nationwide, proven, and endorsed strategy to better control risk, protect and enhance rent roll values and to increase rent roll profitability. If this is not you please recommend a friend

 

I got the exact same email (from a quick glance). Different REA in Newcastle

 

I had same from 2 different agents.

I tend to agree with chilliblue why do we need this if qualified trades are used, the Property Manager does inspections and everything is fixed when reported??? Surely the onus is on the tenant to report any safety issues identified??

Might send the agent a notice saying I can do a safety inspection of their workplace because they have a responsibility to make sure they provide a safe workplace for their employee's............

Anyone know what kick backs/fee's if any the agent gets from using this service?? Quick search indicates REIQ endorsed PropertySafe services back in 2013.

 

The fact it states 'we have sourced' which appears to be the standard proforma for Property Managers to send out concerns me as this implies the Property Manager has gone out of their way to find this service for you when I believe its the opposite.

 

also this from 2014 'PropertySafe is now a Major Partner with the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) for risk mitigation services'

 

Property Managers and Tenants are unlikely to have the qualifications or experience to identify all safety issues. For example, would a Property Manager know if a balcony has been adequately constructed and secured? What about hidden issues - e.g. In the subfloor or roof space?

You might use qualified electricians, plumbers and other trades, however safety issues won't be detected if a thorough inspection is not done. Mostly they just visit to do a specific task, e.g fix a tap. Remember that buildings and property might deteriorate over time so regular inspections are important - question is how regular do they need to be, what is reasonable ( in terms of type of inspection and period between inspections ) and what qualifications are needed for compliance with 'law' including duty of care?

@Terry_w - any wisdom to add including recent cases that relate to current legislation?

 

It may not be law (only a theory) but Darwinianism has something to do with it. Scott's take is that some tenants survive to go on and become mega landlords. Those that don't get tangled in the blind cords.

 

More proof that Australia is the nanny state of the world. When will it ever end.... Its all about making money. Go to S.E Asia where no one has insurance on their house and suing someone is rare as hens teeth. The nanny state is out of control.

 

I checked out their website and their "sample report" and found it rather interesting. They say that it should be done every 2 years, but is there any legal reason you would have to have it done every 2 years?

Also, I noticed in their sample report that they check the Smoke Alarms and replaced the batteries in the Smoke Alarms. Does this mean I could skip the yearly inspection with the smoke detector compliance company? That'd save me $99, meaning I'd only be spending $149 for this service.

Some of the issues they found seemed rather silly (in my opinion) but if someone was to have had a property for 5 years, let's say, this service could be beneficial, could it not?

 

That used to be a thing didn't it?
I like your analogy.

 

Anyone take up this service?