When a tenant moves into a rental property a condition inspection should be completed to identify the condition of the property at that time.  During the tenancy there may be some repairs required, some are to be completed by the tenant and others should be completed by the landlord.

The Residential tenancy branch has a guideline that includes items that should be paid for by the landlord. They included things like painting, carpet cleaning and duct cleaning to mention a few. It’s important that an owner understands what they are responsible for when being a landlord. 

The guidelines say a landlord is required to paint the rental unit at regular intervals. This doesn’t mean a landlord must paint after every tenancy. It also means a landlord can’t make as part of the tenancy agreement that a tenant is required to paint the property. The only time a tenant is required to paint is to repair damage to a wall or return a wall to an original colour due to the tenant painting the unit without permission. The same can be said for carpets, blinds, appliances, window coverings and many other items in the rental property.  

The landlord is required to provide clean carpets at the beginning of the tenancy. It is then expected the tenants leave the carpets in the same condition. During the tenancy this would be a tenants responsibility to clean them not the landlords.

Appliances are also items that must be in working order at the start and repairs are the owners responsibility unless it is clear the tenants actions have caused the item to malfunction. If the light bulb on the oven goes out the bulb should be replaced by the tenants because if they never turned it on it won’t burn out. If the elements stop working that is different. It is unreasonable to expect that an oven element which fails over time is caused by the tenants’ use directly. This would be an owner repair.

In houses one often confusing item is the servicing of a furnace heating system. The guidelines require the heating system be serviced by the landlord as per the manufacturer's specifications, or annually when manufactures specifications are not available. It is the Landlords responsibility to change or at least provide filters for the tenants to change on a regular basis. These are costs a tenant is not required to pay for. Cleaning of the ducts is not heating the home and therefore falls under the tenants requirement to clean the ducts.

It is the landlord's responsibility to provide a property that meets health, safety and housing standards established by law. Failing to provide a property in this condition may provide a tenant the opportunity to apply to the Residential Tenancy Branch for repairs to be completed at the owners cost.  Landlords should review the Residential Tenancy Guideline- Responsibility Residential Premises. 

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