What your rental needs. And what it doesn't.
The rules change on 13 October 2026, and again in 2027. Most owners are guessing. I'll tell you where yours stands, in plain English. Nothing gets done unless you say so — and the big upgrades are quoted by the trades, not by me.
- One visit, one report, fixed price. Every current rule checked, and the 2027 ones dated to your property
- You talk to me, not a call centre
- Former auditor, and a landlord with my own properties to keep compliant
We've worked on properties managed by some of Victoria's leading agencies.
Logos show agencies whose managed properties we have worked at. They do not mean endorsement or affiliation.
Two checks. Pick the one you need.
The upgrades themselves run into the thousands. Both of these tell you which ones your place truly needs and which it doesn't. One covers today. The other covers 2027 as well.
“Am I compliant right now?”
- All fifteen current rules checked on site, in a written report of around 25 pages — not a one-page tick sheet
- Every item photographed, not just the problems
- Each finding tied to the clause it comes from, so you can check it
- A one-page summary: fix now, for the file, nothing to do
- Indicative cost for anything not met
- Smoke alarms tested, batteries replaced, separate dated record
- Blind cord anchors fitted on the day, included
- Gas and electrical check dates noted, with the next-due dates
“What's coming, and what will it cost me?”
- Everything in the Essentials Check, in a full written report — typically 40 to 60 pages, with every finding tied to the clause it comes from
- Every 2027 rule checked against your property — cooling, insulation, showerheads, draught sealing, heating and hot water
- Your property's own dates, not the ones in the news, and a what-to-do-and-when plan in order
- A cost estimate beside each item, so you can plan and budget
- Government rebates listed — the Victorian Energy Upgrades discounts, with the published amounts, so you know what's there before you spend
- Thermal imaging where it tells us something — draughts, missing insulation, damp behind a wall
- Your gas, electrical and smoke alarm certificates collated in one appendix, with the next-due dates
- Dated photo pack for the records you need from 13 October
- One person, start to finish — the same one who comes back for next year's smoke alarm check
How it compares
Most checks on the market tick today's rules and stop there. That's the cheap part.
| What you get | Typical check | Essentials | Readiness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today's rules checked on site | tick sheet | ✓ | ✓ |
| Every item photographed, not just the faults | faults only | ✓ | ✓ |
| Smoke alarms tested, cord anchors fitted on the day | extra | ✓ | ✓ |
| 2027 energy rules checked against your property | — | — | ✓ |
| Your own dates, from your lease, not the news | — | — | ✓ |
| Cost estimate beside every item | — | what's not met | ✓ |
| One-page summary: fix now, for the file, nothing to do | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Thermal imaging where it's useful | — | — | ✓ |
| Government rebates (VEU) listed with amounts | — | — | ✓ |
| Gas and electrical next-due dates noted | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Your safety certificates collated in one appendix | — | — | ✓ |
| Findings cited to the regulation, so you can check them | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Same person every time, no call centre | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Written by a landlord who runs his own properties | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Price | around $100–$150 | $195 | $295 |
"Typical check" means the minimum-standards checks sold through agencies and online providers, as advertised in October 2026. What they include varies; check before you buy. The $295 report costs about what one wrong upgrade decision costs in a morning.
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No one tells you what your place needs. So I will.
Your agent's reminder gives you a date. A tradie quotes for what they sell. A government page lists rules that may not even apply to you. None of it answers the one question that counts.
The dates move
Most new rules start when a new lease begins, or when yours rolls over to month by month. Two houses in one street can have two different dates. We work out yours.
Half of it may not apply
Ceiling insulation is only needed where there is none. A working heater or hot water unit needs nothing until it fails. No gas, no gas check. The answer is often shorter, and cheaper, than owners expect.
From 13 October, you need proof
From 13 October 2026 you must keep records showing the place met the rules when you put it up for rent. A Safehaus report can form part of those records.
Four dates that change what you owe.
They start at different times for different properties. That's why a generic checklist won't help you much.
- You must keep records showing the place met the rules when you put it up for rent.
- Gas and electrical safety checks move to a set two-year cycle.
- Proper cooling in the main living room.
- 4-star showerheads. Ceiling insulation where there is none.
- Heating or hot water that dies must be replaced with electric.
- Outside doors, windows and open wall vents must be sealed.
- Starts at a new lease, or when yours rolls to month by month.
- Gas in the home? A gas safety check comes first.
- Every Victorian rental needs proper cooling in the main living room.
- This one applies whether or not a new lease is signed.
What applies depends on the property, the lease and any exemptions. Not every property needs every upgrade.
Not sure which of these land on you? The check tells you.
Book a check — $195 →Found something? We can sort it.
Most of what turns up is simple work. We quote it on the visit and book a return to do it. Prices are published up front, so nothing lands on you later.
No obligation, ever. Take the list to your own handyman if you'd rather — we'll hand it over gladly. Our prices are here so you can compare them. Fixes booked on a report or service visit carry no visit fee.
Doors, windows and draughts
Quoted on the visit, fitted on a booked return
Draught sealing Required from 1 Jul 2027
External doors, windows and wall vents, measured on the visit and sealed on a return trip. The rule needs the whole property done, so there's a package for that: units and apartments $395 (up to 2 doors and 6 windows), houses $595 (up to 4 doors and 10 windows). You pay the per-item rate or the package, whichever comes out less.
$45per window · $90 per door
External door locks Current standard
Deadbolt or deadlatch supplied and fitted, keys handed over when it's done. Want every door keyed to one key? We organise a locksmith for that — $75 a lock.
from $145per door
Window latches and winders Current standard
Repaired or replaced so the window holds open when you want it open, and locks shut when you don't.
from $95per window
Security doors and flyscreens Not required · often asked for
Made to measure in more than 13 colours. Measured on the visit, fitted on a booked return. Security doors from $545, window flyscreens from $75.
from $75made to order
Showerheads, blinds, cord anchors and small fixes
Measured on the visit, supplied and fitted
4-star showerhead Required from 1 Mar 2027
Supplied and fitted where it screws onto the existing outlet. Anything involving pipework goes to a plumber.
from $195
Light filtering or blockout blinds Current standard
Custom-made to each window and Australian-made, with proper brackets and a chain you can anchor. Not the off-the-shelf kind that sags, jams and needs replacing in a couple of years. Measured free on the visit, made to order in about two weeks, then fitted at a time that suits you or your tenant. Prices are on the blinds page — ask when you book a report.
measuredfree on the visit
Blind cord safety anchors Child safety
Every corded blind checked and anchored where it needs to be. Free with either check. On their own, $79 for the whole property, however many blinds, plus the visit fee.
freewith a check
Silicone re-seal Current standard · bathrooms and kitchens
Old, cracked or mouldy silicone stripped out and re-sealed with a mould-resistant sanitary silicone. Basin or sink $110; shower or bath $195. Needs 24 hours before water goes near it.
from $110per basin or sink
Compliance checks
Smoke alarms by us. Gas and electrical arranged by us, billed by the trade.
Annual smoke alarm service Every year
The year between reports. Every alarm tested to the maker's instructions, batteries changed, expiry dates recorded, dated photos for your records. Done by us.
$129per visit
Smoke alarm supplied and fitted Battery-only · pre-1997 homes
A 10-year sealed alarm, AS 3786, fitted on the day: $109 each. Wireless interconnected alarms $179 each, or a set of three for $545. For homes built from August 1997, or any alarm wired to the mains, replacement is an electrician's job — we flag it and can arrange it.
$109per alarm
Electrical compliance check Every 2 years
We book a licensed electrician, line it up with the gas check so it's one visit, and make sure the certificate lands in your file. The electrician bills you direct for the check itself — budget around $250 for their part. $175 to arrange both checks together.
$95 to arrangeplus the trade's own fee, billed to you direct
Gas compliance check Every 2 years
We book a licensed gasfitter and chase the certificate. Required before any draught sealing where the property has gas, so we sequence it first. The gasfitter bills you direct for the check itself — budget around $250 for their part. $175 to arrange both checks together.
$95 to arrangeplus the trade's own fee, billed to you direct
Report update once the fixes are done
Done the fixes yourself, or used another trade? Send the invoice or certificate and a photo and I re-issue the report with the item marked resolved and dated, noting the evidence came from you: $49. Want it inspected? I come out, photograph the work myself and re-issue: $149. Most owners do this once the trades have finished, before the property is advertised again. Free either way when Safehaus did the fixes. Needs a Safehaus report to update.
from $49free if we did the fixes
Licensed upgrades
We recommend the trade, book it and attend. They quote you direct.
Heating, cooling, hot water and ceiling insulation
The big 2027 items. We tell you which ones your property actually needs, recommend a licensed installer we've used before, book them in, and are there on the day so the job matches the quote. They quote you and bill you direct — we take nothing from their price. Our fee to arrange it and attend on the day is $195, however many trades come.
quotedby the installer
Hard-wired smoke alarm replacement
A 240V alarm that fails, or passes ten years old, must be replaced by an electrician. We flag it and can arrange it.
quotedby the electrician
We get paid to tell you what's true, not to sell you a heater.
One price per item, one rule. On a report, check or smoke alarm service visit, you pay the item prices above and nothing for the trip. Booked on their own, a $95 visit fee covers the trip and the item prices apply on top. Beyond 25 km of Scoresby, $45 travel. Bigger or odd jobs get a written quote first. The price you see is the price you pay. More questions? Read the FAQ →
Why an independent report, and why now.
Why independent
The big providers are paid on volume. I'm paid by you.
Inspect, fix, invoice. That's the model. Every problem found is revenue, a different subcontractor turns up each visit, a call centre answers when you ring, and the bill often lands on your rent statement after the work is done.
I'm a landlord myself, with properties of my own to keep compliant. I fix yours the way I fix mine. I know what these things cost because I pay for them too. What actually needs doing, at a price I'd pay, and nothing I wouldn't put in my own place. No agency owns my time. No trade pays me a cent. Nothing happens without your approval, and the findings are yours to take anywhere.
I'm not trying to get through twenty properties a day. I'd rather look after yours for years — the smoke alarm check each year, the gas and electrical every two, the small fixes as they come up — and have you know exactly who's turning up.
- Same person every visit — my name on the report, my number on this page
- Every fix quoted in writing at the rates on this page
- Gas, electrical and plumbing stay with licensed trades — I don't blur that line
- 12-month warranty on any work I do
You see the price before. Not the bill after.
Why now
Two dates. Neither of them waits for you.
13 October 2026From this date, rental providers must keep records showing the property met the standards when it was offered for rent. A dated Safehaus report can form part of those records, whenever you get it done — and the sooner it's dated, the less there is to explain later.
1 March 2027 — but really, your next leaseThe energy standards don't land on a calendar date. They land the day a new lease starts. If your tenant gives notice next year, the rules apply to the next one from day one — and you'll be between tenants, with no time.
Find out what it will cost while you still have time to spread it out.
New rules from 13 October 2026
Not sure what yours needs? Ask. It's free.
Call or text and I'll give you a straight answer. If your place is already fine, I'll tell you that too.
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