New tenancy legislation in NSW re water efficiency

Hi everyone

Received a letter from my PM informing me of the lovely new requirements re water efficiency in NSW.

According to the letter:

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I am not allowed to charge for water unless:
1. all taps are not leaking
2. all cold water or mixer taps in kitchen and bathrooms must have a maximum flow rate of no more than 9 litres per minute
3. all showerheads have a flow rate no greater than 9 litres per minute
4. Must prove and commit to my tenant that these measures are in place.

PM recommends engaging Watersmart Australia which specialises in water efficiency and services the PM industry. Their rates for the 2 types of services are as follows:

a) Inspection: $55 incl GST and covers the property for a year (this is an annual service, covering as many inspections as necessary throughout the year and includes testing the flow rates for all taps and showers, checking taps for leaks and record the water meter).

b) Efficiency service (if property does not comply): Additional $100 incl GST (this covers installing water efficiency measures to reduce flow rates, conducting minor tap repairs to fix leaks, and recording hte changes made in our tracking system).

Watersmart will issue a Certificate of Compliance once the property meets the new requirements so I can charge the tenant for water usage. They will keep a detailed record of the changes to the property in the event there is a dispute between me and the tenant. These measures need to be undertaken BEFORE a new tenancy agreement is signed.

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My questions are, can I fulfil this obligation by attending to these matters myself? eg: can I buy some tool/machine which will tell me what the flow rates of the taps and showerheads are? How much are they? Is it straight forward to use? Do I need to have some technical expertise to do this? Can I rely on my own testing as proof that the measures are in place?

Thanks in advance!
 
You can do the bucket and stop watch test.
Proving water efficiency
The presence of the water efficiency measures needs
to be noted on the ingoing Condition report for the
premises. There is no requirement to provide a report
from a plumber or the water supply authority certifying
their existence. However, it may help to keep:
● invoices or file notes of work done
● receipts for any items bought
● packaging, warranties or instruction manuals.
If you are unsure if your existing taps and showerheads
meet the required standards you could carry out a simple
bucket and stop watch test to see if, when fully turned on,
the flow rate is less than 9 litres in a minute.
For any water fixtures made from 2005 onwards, the
easiest way to check if they meet the required efficiency
standard is to look for products with a Water Efficiency
Labelling and Standards scheme (WELS) rating of three
stars or higher. A three star rating indicates a maximum
flow rate of 9 litres per minute. WELS is Australia’s water
efficiency labelling scheme which rates fixtures including
taps and showerheads according to water efficiency

more here
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/F..._a_tenancy/FTR74_Passing_on_water_charges.pdf
 
If it is a new lease that started after 31 Jan 2011, then you make the place water efficient before you can charge the tenant....and you must provide them with the water bill within 3 months of receiving it.

If it is an existing lease started prior to 31 Jan 2011, then you get 12 months changeover period to do the works, meanwhile, you can continue to bill the tenants.

If you are like a bunch of LL's you can forget the whole thing and just jack up the rent to cover water usage.......and there are a lot of LLs doing just that!
 
Hi BV, yeah that was actually the first thing that came to my mind ... I wonder if that can be considered as a reasonably accurate test? If so, then in terms of proof, I cant think of what else I can do other than take some notes eg: "On this [date], 5 buckets filled up in 60seconds. Since each bucket is 1 litre, I deduce that the flow rate from the tap is only 5 litres per minute, hence it complies. " :rolleyes:
Thanks for the link. I'm reading it now and very informative.

Prop, the current lease will shortly expire and the tenants are going back to their home town to retire in their country home ... so I expect to sign a new lease in the next few months ... =(
 
jigglypuff

I plan to keep a water testing page in the logbook of each property. I'll get the tenant to witness the test and sign next to the results.

I also keep a test page for the smoke detectors of each property. (I test & replace the batteries of hardwired smoke detectors yearly).
I'm attaching the testing page I use, I'll modify it for the waterflow testing
 

Attachments

  • SMOKE ALARM TESTING & BATTERY REPLACEMENT LOG.doc
    24.5 KB · Views: 267
I think the "proof" can also be an invoice for all the water restrictors / shower heads and a plumbers invoice to install.

This has on my mind for a while so I contacted the Dept of Fair Trading NSW.

Further to the standard implementations and timings, I wanted clarification as to how does a landlord legally confirm that these items are installed if several years down the track and several tenancies coming and going.

The answer was the suggestion that we as landlords should have a plumber or suitable licensed alternative do the checks that they are in place prior to every new tenancy and have it detailed in the ingoing inspection report so that if it goes missing during the tenancy, there is no onus on the landlord.:eek:

What is everyone else planning to do.
 
a) Inspection: $55 incl GST and covers the property for a year

b) Efficiency service (if property does not comply): Additional $100 incl GST (this covers installing water efficiency measures to reduce flow rates, conducting minor tap repairs to fix leaks, and recording hte changes made in our tracking system).

Thanks in advance!

I received the same. Is your PM from BE$T Real (old $t@r partners)?
I noticed a huge increase in my tenant's water usage so I booked a waterFix through Sydney Water last December out of good will. But my tenant never gave a time slot to do the job saying that they work full time!

If you are like a bunch of LL's you can forget the whole thing and just jack up the rent to cover water usage.......and there are a lot of LLs doing just that!
The whole idea behind this new law is to reduce the water use. However, the usage charge is considerably lower than the service charge. if every LL acts the way you are suggesting then this law is going to backfire! Good one policy makers!
 
I noticed a huge increase in my tenant's water usage so I booked a waterFix through Sydney Water last December out of good will. But my tenant never gave a time slot to do the job saying that they work full time!!
It could be that they have 10 people living there.
I had some tenants once and they were subletting the bedrooms to teenagers
 
The whole idea behind this new law is to reduce the water use. However, the usage charge is considerably lower than the service charge. if every LL acts the way you are suggesting then this law is going to backfire! Good one policy makers!

I was at a REINSW seminar thing for a couple of hours yesterday and it looks like there will be some re-drafting of the legislation and the regulations after a few Tribunal rulings and further discussions about how the new RTA is bedding down.

But, yes, I am advised that many LL's are acting this way - so it seems the law was not thought through enough and all it has done is to cause rents to rise outside of what they would have 'normally' risen.
 
My letter from the RE actually says:

"Properties must be certified as 3 Star Water Efficient" and they want to charge me $176 for a plumber to provide the certificate?
 
I had a similar letter from my PM although the prices for inspection and rectification weren't too bad. Personally i don't need to do anything for 12 months as there is an existing lease in place and after that ill leave it unless the tenants question the usage. By then the RTA may have been amended.
 
According to the Fair Trading document Prop posted, there is no requirement to provide a report from a plumber or the water supply authority certifying that flow rates comply. The document specifically states it is okay to do a bucket and stop watch test which is what Bill suggested.

I'm going to do a bucket and stop watch test and keep a written record of the result. If it ever becomes disputed, I will sign a Stat Dec and attach the written records.
 
they want to charge me $176 for a plumber to provide the certificate?

It's so hilarious watching the Tenancy Union Advocates makes the rules that ultimately go into the RTA, then watch all of the Landlords do backflips trying to conform to the legislation once it's written in stone. It's like watching a monkey and organ grinder doing their thing.

It's so easy and covenient to just say "hire a plumber to certify..." when you don't have to pay their bill, just simply stand there with your hand out waiting for the certificate.

So, at 3.6 gigalitres per cent, how much water does $ 176 actually buy you nowadays ??

Next they'll ask the Landlord to pay for an independent market rental appraisal from a licenced valuer to prove the rent they are charging is not too much for the livestock. Cracks me up. :D
 
The problem with increasing the rent and including water is that once the RTA says water usage cannot be charged theres no going back.

If you increased your rent say $10 per week and included water that is $520 extra per year (gross), therefore if the tenants water usage is anything over $130 per quarter, you are out of pocket. There is no doubt that if tenants are not paying for water usage, the consumption will increase. We have some tenants whose water usage is regularly $250 plus per quarter, and I have seen them up to $600 in a quarter, thats a big gamble for a property investor to take.

The water efficiency appears to be a one off cost. In most cases with our agency it has been around $130 for a plumber to make properties 'water efficient', then the tenants can legally be charged water usage. Sydney Water waterfix program is now from $176.00 for Property Investors.

Any law abiding PM will not be charging water usage after the 12 month period (i.e. January 31st 2012) if the property is not compliant. If they are prepared to charge after that time, what else are they prepared to do that is in breach of legislation ??

I don't see any reason however why an Owner cannot undertake this work themselves if they choose, providing they supply some form of proof to their PM that it has been done, this could be in the form of receipts or a written undertaking.
 
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