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Plumbing Maintenance and Repair in Your Rental Property: Who's Responsible for What?
Taking care of a rental property is usually a responsibility that the landlord and tenant share. The landlord is responsible for providing tenants with a safe and clean living space. Sometimes needing a quick fix to address maintenance problems that negatively impact your tenants’ quality of life. At the same time, tenants are responsible for maintaining the property and alerting the landlord to health or safety problems, explains C21 Doug Anderson.
If it is your first time leasing out a house, you might be wondering who is responsible for the plumbing maintenance and repair in your rental property. Having a thorough understanding of responsibilities will save you time, money and an escape clause from any potential legal issue with your tenants. Here’s what you need to know to about plumbing maintenance and repair for your property.
Make it clear from the start
If this is your first time renting out your home, you will want to have a solid contract with future tenants. Verbal agreements will not help you when a plumbing problem occurs and your tenant refuses to follow through on a gentleman’s agreement.
Your best option is to include a clause in the tenancy contract that clearly specifies who and in what situation is responsible for plumbing maintenance and repair in your rental property. You might want to double-check the contract with a lawyer or an expert to avoid any complications with your tenant further down.
Repair common plumbing problems
If you have lived for more than a year in the same house, you know that the plumbing system requires constant maintenance and attention. Several issues may occur, some of them out of the blue, and ignoring them would only pave the way for bigger problems.
Depending on the house’s age, the materials that compose the plumbing system and the professionals who installed it, there may be several plumbing problems that can come up. The most common ones that could happen on your rental property include:
- Blocked toilets
- Leaking toilets
- Burst water pipes
- Damaged hot water heater
Some of these plumbing issues take little time, money or expertise for you or your tenant to solve. Others, however, will require major maintenance repairs.
One of the worse plumbing problems that can occur on your rental property is flooding. It can happen because of blocked drains, broken pipes or poor long-term maintenance. Additionally, it could happen when neither you nor the tenants are around for days and the rising water can affect other areas of the home.
Who pays for plumbing maintenance?
There is a significant difference between maintenance and repair, and you should again make this clear in the leasing contract from the very start.
Maintenance comprises all the short-term measures that you take to ensure the plumbing system runs properly. It can be something as simple as tightening up a screw or keeping the drain clear from clogging debris.
Usually, it falls into the tenant’s responsibility to perform and pay for plumbing maintenance work. Most of the times, such minor adjustments do not require involving or paying an expert, and rarely does it involve paying for anything.
Who pays for plumbing repairs?
Plumbing repairs require more than just short-term maintenance. They include changing pipes, removing broken parts and even a complete overhaul of the entire plumbing system.
Most of the times, the landlord is responsible for these repairs. If your rental property requires plumbing repairs, you will most likely pay for them. In some cases, according to the tenancy agreement, the renter could share a part of the responsibility and costs, especially if he is on a long-term leasing contract.
Leasing out your rental property often means keeping a close eye on its maintenance. You should have a solid contract and a reasonable agreement with your tenant regarding any problem that may arise in the house. Plumbing issues often arise, and you need to have a prior understanding of who has the responsibility to solve them.
If you want to have an amiable, long-term collaboration with your tenant, ensure that both of you are aware of the contract clauses that regard plumbing maintenance and repairs. You can leave the maintenance part in their responsibility, and take the obligation of dealing with potential repairs while hoping they will never be of calamitous impact for your home or your budget.
Written By C21 Doug Anderson
Author
The author is a journeyman p l u m b e r in Nevada not a p l u m b i n g contractor.