Water efficiency compliance NSW tenancy.

The old pan with new cistern is compliant as is flush volume not pan volume, and works fine, have this in own homes for last decade or more too

TBH I use the small flush with old large pan and it has no probs, but the new ones can get blocked easy....

 

Just wondering - if you don't have a "certificate" prior to lease and the lease has included charges for water usage - if the tenants complain about water usage costs and a plumber is called to check, and the plumber certifies all is OK, could/should the plumber cost be passed on to the tenant?

 

Had a chat to my PM about this issue. There is a problem because of actual determination of efficiency over time.
It is mainly about covering everybody at the start of the tenancy...but I think $99 is steep for a walk around and check....

Another thing that came up was a proposal to have individual Water Authority meters fitted for each rental on a property - no sub-meters...and you cannot pass on the service cost to tenants.
I'd support this if each tenant had a water account.....

 

If you don't have a 'certificate' and the tenant questions it, its relatively easy to show them packaging/invoicing or get them to do the 9L test, if you can prove the property is water efficient and they still want a plumber to certify, then its reasonable that they pay for the plumber.

I think $99 certificate at the start of every tenancy is ridiculous. I mention to the tenant that the property was previously found to be water compliant (certificate if available), if they find the taps are allowing a lot of water, do the 9L test and if it fails then we will send out the plumber to recertify.

 

Fittings don't really change their flow rates. Once the certificate is issued, assuming nothing is changed and the laws don't change- there's no reason to re-issue the certificate.

What I have been finding lately is Landlords have had the certificate done and tenants are finding it wasn't tested properly.... ergo we can end up with tenants claiming back years of water...! That's more of an issue with dodgy operators than the process though, so it's hard to say what should be done about it- everyone will have a different opinion.
I generally tell my plumbers to let me know if anything looks out of the ordinary as far as water compliance whenever they're on site, because they know all my houses are supposed to be compliant- I've caught out quite a few and managed to quickly rectify the situation.