Tenant arranging repairs

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by chooke, 4th Mar, 2019.

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  1. chooke

    chooke Well-Known Member

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    Sounds to me you have an axe to grind with the dramatics. How do you know all this happened? The main switch did not blow, it tripped and there was no damage to the board. I spoke with the electrician that went out there and he advised it was not a major fault, after all it only consumed the one hour block of his labour.

    As for going to the magistrates court, that would be no cost to me as representation costs if need be are included in the flat management fee. The fact that the RE has agreed to represent me in court at their own expense shows they have some confidence who is in the right here. The reality is it was well within my rights to have told the tenants to get nicked when they demanded payment but I didn't - despite all the dramas I've had with them over the past few months.

    Anyway, the issue is now resolved. The tenants have advised the RE principal that they obtained legal advice that they are entitled to a full refund but they will drop the matter anyway (scratching head). They asked the principal if they could be released from the lease, I replied not a problem.
     
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  2. G..

    G.. Well-Known Member

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    I agree with dabbler... Electricians have no experience locating and fighting fires within walls or roof cavities, whereas the fire brigade will get there faster, make sure there is no hidden fire, and turn off the power (if required). This then changes it from a "life threatening emergency" into an "emergency repair" which can then take place within the legislated timeframe. Also, if the fire brigade actually do find a hidden fire then they will have brought all the equipment to extinguish it, possibly saving the property.

    Marmot's descriptions of the possibilities are plausible (except for the backboard in the fusebox being wooden - I have never seen that), but they are not something an electrician should be dealing with until the firies declare the area safe.

    A few years back a friend of mine set fire to his barbecue. He did a bit of damage to the house but managed to put it out. He then rang the fire brigade (not 000, but the non emergency number) asking if there is anything else he should do and they sent a unit out to check that everything was OK. He wasn't charged for this.
     
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  3. marmot

    marmot Well-Known Member

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    The fires start in the wiring behind the fuses ,generated by old style fuses that are 30 years old plus and have a bad habit of overheating in modern houses with all the extra load that they carry.
    Most sparkies will always connect air- cons to 3 phase and that adds more load to the system .
    There is a very good reason that some states are starting to ban then.
    They are simply out of date.
    The Op has already stated that it threw the main switch, so the possibility of damage was quite high , the biggest risk would be that other wiring was also damaged , with live feed still coming in from the street.
    The safest option would be to immediately get a sparky to attend before attempting to switch on the main switch.
    The OP has shown a complete lack of regard and safety fot the tennants that were living in his property.
    Ultimately they are the ones that were living there and most impacted if a fire was to start in the damaged meterbox and spread to the roof space as it folllowed up the wiring up into the roof space, or the house itself became energised from exposed wiring and cause electrocution of its occupants.
     
  4. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    When the NSW Fire & rescue attended our house after a small elec roof fire (it was in a AC motor) we were told that they removed the main fuse and it was not permitted to be reinstalled until a sparkie checked the system. Which we sorted in a hour using a neighbour who is a sparkie. Apparently when they arrive to a house fire its first thing they remove since electricity + water kills fireies.

    Wow - arguing over a cost for what was an admitted electrical failure and losing a tenant. The karma fairy may deliver a new tenant from hell. Wait till they leave unpaid rent maybe and then after they leave they front the tribunal seeking the costs for the repair and their legal costs anyway. That is probably their thinking. If they bothered with legal advice they will pursue it. There is no legal obligation on them to be bound by any agreement.
     
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  5. chooke

    chooke Well-Known Member

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    Thanks, what a nice thing to say. TBH I'm glad to see the tenant's off. With a bit of luck you will get these tenants and deal with all the grief I've had since they signed up, assuming you have IPs, it certainly doesn't sound like it.
     
  6. chooke

    chooke Well-Known Member

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    And you have shown a complete lack of understanding of what actually happened. Going by your earlier posts you made things up, making it sound more serious than what it was - but perhaps only in your world you really do know more than the electrician who repaired the fault.
     
  7. chooke

    chooke Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for all your replies. It is always good to obtain different perspectives on these things whether I agree or not. I believe I have been fair in the circumstances, there are many LLs that would have stuck to clear letter of the law of the tenancy act and told the tenants to sort it out with their trader.

    One positive, or so I thought, was that these tenants wanted to break the lease. Late this afternoon the principal advised me the tenants changed their mind and want to stay out the lease, so I'm stuck with them for another 6 months.
     
  8. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

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    lol...

    Your saying old fuses in modern houses....

    I know your not an electrician.

    Your prob talking in general, rather than this circuit that carries the one appliance, and if people follow the rules, would be no more of a problem today than 30 years ago.
     
  9. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

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    Ha!

    They thought you would panic when they said they would leave.

    Now to see if they invent some other issues for you, or go back to the court talk.
     
  10. chooke

    chooke Well-Known Member

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    Yep, I think it is obvious what happened. Knowing the tenants, it was quite likely they did seek legal advice or contacted the Department and received the same advice I did. The tenants understood if they took it to court with a loss of face, they would also lose the $380 I offered them.

    I think the tenants were surprised at our prompt go-ahead to their break lease request and it doesn't surprise me that they then decided against it. It is a nice renovated property in a very good location and the rent is below market value. Additionally, they receive a prompt maintenance service way above the standard.

    I have attended to every claim they made no matter how minor - for example, prior to the electrical problem they contacted the PM that the plumbing had burst a pipe [their words] in the backyard. The PM wanted to send a plumber out immediately but I suggested sending out our handyman who is capable of basic plumbing work, because at that point the tenants had a history of gross exaggeration. It turned out to be a broken 5mm retic hose connecting one of the garden sprinklers. For that, and many other examples like it, I could have requested the tenants to pay for the cost, but I wore it.

    I'm certainly not looking forward to another six months of this.
     
  11. chooke

    chooke Well-Known Member

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    Exactly. The electrician who upgraded the board 10 years ago did not see any problem with the three phase circuit. A few years later when the laws changed requiring RCDs on power an light circuits, the electrician inspected the board and issued the required compliance certificate. The electrician that the tenants' called out to replace the fuse holder turned the power back on - something an electrician cannot do if it it presents a danger to the household.
     
  12. marmot

    marmot Well-Known Member

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    Wrong again.
    Did you ever do those experiments in school where you watch electricity arc when in close contact but not touching.
    Thats whats happening in many of these really old types of fuses that were designed over 50 years ago.
    They flog out and form an arc , which generates lots of heat and starts to melt things in close proximity .
    The loud bang isnt from the fuses breaking that happens about a millisecond later.
    The load bang is from a short when wiring is cooked , the outer sheath melts away and exposes the live wire untill it contacts another live wire and then burns through its outer sheath , and you hear a load boom or when it makes an earth.
    In a worst case it goes and follows 3 or 4 other wires into the roof void untill it finds something else combustible, smoulders for a few hours then starts fire in your roof space.
    Quite a few houses burn down in this scenario.
    A modern $20 replacement fuse from an electrical shop with a switch , could have saved the OP almost $800
     
  13. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

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    Wrong ?

    I doubt it, your clearly not an electrician to my mind.

    I like how you try and teach grandpa to suck eggs though & continue your line, you may believe it, but that does not change the reality of the OPs situation, I know exactly the setup. Every darn house in most Sydney suburbs that had instant electric HWS would have been ash by now according too your expertise. The govt owned & still owns many houses that are prob exactly like this setup, I say prob as I have not been to look in a decade or so.

    A modern $20 fuse from an electrical shop that has a switch, righto.....and your still going to say I am wrong about you not being an electrician, right ? I am starting to think you may be the tenant....lol.

    Here, here is a bigger shovel.....keep going :) Your wifi will cut out soon !
     
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  14. Joynz

    Joynz Well-Known Member

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    About 10 years ago, I had an electrician do a quote for some work.

    He noticed that my meter box still used traditional ceramic and wire fuses.

    He replaced them with switched fuses for free because he said the wire ones were a hazard.
     
  15. almostthere

    almostthere Well-Known Member

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    Loved this reply
     
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  16. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

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    I doubt it, my understanding of the word fuse (and an actual fuse) is too melt, blow, disintergrate etc of a fusable medium.

    Your talking likely of plug in circuit breaker, they are not switches, they can be reset. They are no better really, but they are surely easier to deal with if your able to locate and remove the fault that caused it to trip.

    Most problems with ceramic is wrong fuse materials....like wrong rating or using a screw etc, and dumb people can still put in an ovesize CB or put some other item in its place.

    People are the hazard, just like with cars, guns, machinery etc, well most of the time. You can't stop dumb.
     
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  17. Joynz

    Joynz Well-Known Member

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    Yes, I meant circuit breaker (though hopefully that was clear from the context). And by ‘ceramic fuse’ I mean the ceramic things that hold fuse wire which had to be replaced when the fuse was ‘blown’.
     
  18. Optimus

    Optimus Well-Known Member Business Member

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    Please explain to us all what your understanding of the words "your"and "you're" is.
     
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  19. marmot

    marmot Well-Known Member

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    A couple of good points being raised about the plug in circuit breakers , there are only a stop gap measure ,and only protect the board and the appliance, not the person
    But am I the only person that had to change the old fashioned wire type , at night, in the middle of winter while it was pouring down with rain , using technology that was almost 40 years old.
    Due to the nature that they should only go very irregularly and they come in 3 ? different sizes plus trying to remember where the fuse wire was kept , that had not been used for maybe 8 years, would challenge most people , especially if your not home and its just the kids and the wife, and in my case playing around replacing a fuse holder while its raining and standing on a wet surface , wasn't an ideal position to be in.
    That's one advantage of the newer types had, and it was also a lot quicker to fault find if the circuit uses multiple appliances , like toasters kettles and pumps etc.
    You could easily turn off all the appliances that used that circuit, reset the breaker , then slowly start turning on the essential items first , followed by the others.
    Obviously if you had scorch marks,load bangs or really hot fuses , its time to get a sparky out asap, but the person who really should decide that is the person that is going to flick the switch back on, and taking ALL the risk, especially if they are sleeping and residing in the house.
    The other big issue is the modern home has many more appliances than those built in the 70s and 80s.
    Our house has more power points in the kitchen area alone, than an entire house would have had in the 1970s, and it was the same type of fuses that some builders were still putting in houses in the early 90s.
    Typically what would happen is that every time we requires a sparky , we would also include a couple of upgrades, around the house.
    Over time everything was upgraded and modernised
     
    Last edited: 9th Mar, 2019
  20. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

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    I cant' xplains...