Air Con - Is it again a landlord's responsibility?

[sunshine]

First up I need to say GET A SECOND OPINION for the air con. It is amazing how easy it is to say needs replacing. Don't fall for it until 2 or even 3 tradespeople have told you the same thing.

Has the air con been working okay for the past 4 years? It would appear a bit strange for 4 years later to be 'not installed properly'.

Has this been going on a while with the air con not working, or have the tenants just found a reason to break the lease?

I have fusion cover on my insurance and have been able to claim for compressors which have been burnt out. The last one was after a black out. Had the thing repaired and working beautifully, the tenant turned it off during a thunderstorm. There was a blackout and it never worked again! I had 2 air con people look and came back with same diagnosis. Could have had it repaired again but chose to install a new one with 5 years parts and labour warranty. This ducted system has been a major pain for the past 4 years and cost us a fortune. We are also having a safety switch installed. I still claimed on insurance for repair and put that money towards the new one.

Good luck

Sunshine

 

[sunshine]

Also you quoted 8-10 for a whole new system. It would appear that the report is saying that ONLY the ducting is not working properly. If that is the case it is not a whole new system. I would still be getting a second opinion cause it doesn't seem right.

Sunshine

 

[tkhn02]

Thanks for your reply Sunshine. Apart from the ducting issue, he said the unit is too small for the house (ie. only suit for a 2 room not 5 room). Yes, previous tenants did mention that when turn on the house just cool/warm but not cold/hot enough. I will need to get another quote.

 

[Perp]

FWIW, I've heard so many bad stories about ducted systems, and personally (having had both), I don't think the ducted systems cool well enough, and you don't have as much flexibility as to which areas you cool/heat. Plus, as you've discovered, ducting problems are a nightmare to fix due to access.

For those reasons, if you're going to replace the system, I'd consider multiple split systems rather than a new ducted system.

Further, with regard to managing your expenses, if one split system breaks, you're up for $500-1,000 rather than thousands. The chance of several breaking at the same time is minimal.

I put in 21 split systems in my student accommodation 6 years ago, cheapest no-name ones that I could get. I think I've had one service call-out which was for a blocked condensation drain (ie no big deal). I haven't had to replace one.

 

[tkhn02]

Perp. Thanks for the advice! Any recommend for best budget split system install in SA? Thanks

 

[saiman]

You have an action against your PM for not putting into the lease that the A/C was not included. (but you are going to need some sort of evidence other than your say-so, that your PM was aware of this).

You may get your PM to fix at their cost.

In future, don't leave stuff in the property that is not to be included in the lease. Tenants have a reasonable expectation that what they see is what they get.

Even when we lease IP's with working Clothes Dryers - we say in the lease "Clothes Dryer does not work and is not included in the lease". Tenants have no come-back then.

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I am having aircon woes myself...

if I were to add a clause that says "aircon does not work and is not included in the lease" even if the aircon does work.....and then further down the track the tenant damages the aircon, does that obviously mean I can't claim the damage back onto bond/tenants?

 

[MightyWill]

You could be an *** and get it removed since its not part of the building. That will solve the tenants problem of trying to re gas..re gas what?

 

[mumbai]

FYI, I put a new air con in the IP last month. Tenants weren't expecting it, but knowing that they just a baby, I thought it would be helpful.

 

[Perp]

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I am having aircon woes myself...

if I were to add a clause that says "aircon does not work and is not included in the lease" even if the aircon does work.....and then further down the track the tenant damages the aircon, does that obviously mean I can't claim the damage back onto bond/tenants?

Yes, of course: it means you can't claim the damage.