Window repairs in a Berwick rental: who pays, and how fast
The rental provider pays to keep windows in good repair, and the renter pays only for damage they or their visitors caused. Broken glass, a door that will not lock or water coming in are urgent repairs under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997: they start immediately, and a renter may arrange up to $2,500 of urgent work themselves and be reimbursed within 7 days. Everything else runs on a 14 day clock from written notice. A reglaze is $180 to $380, a window latch $80 to $180, and a full re-window of a three-bedroom rental $12,000 to $25,000.
Two rules do most of the work in Victoria. First, urgent versus non-urgent decides your deadline. Second, the rental minimum standards decide what has to be right before a new renter moves in, no matter what the previous tenancy tolerated.
The rules that actually apply to windows
Windows sit in three places in Victorian rental law. They are part of the general duty to keep the premises in good repair. They are named in the rental minimum standards, which require every external window that can be opened to have a functioning latch securing it against entry from outside, and require window coverings that give privacy in bedrooms and living areas. And they fall inside the urgent repairs definition whenever a fault makes the property unsafe or insecure, which is exactly what a smashed pane or a failed door lock does.
The minimum standards apply from the start of a new rental agreement, so the practical trigger for most Casey owners is a change of tenant. If you have a 1990s home in Narre Warren or Hampton Park where two or three window latches have seized or snapped off, they need to be working before the next renter signs, not after they complain.
Who is responsible, how fast, and what it costs
Victorian rules, 2026 fitted prices for Berwick and the City of Casey.
| Situation | Who is responsible | Timeframe | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glass smashed by storm, hail or a passer-by | Rental provider | Urgent. Immediately. Renter may spend up to $2,500 and be reimbursed within 7 days | Board-up $250-$450, reglaze $180-$380 |
| Glass broken by the renter or their visitor | Renter bears the cost, provider still arranges it if the home is insecure | Urgent while the property is open | Same figures, recharged |
| Openable external window with no working latch | Rental provider | Minimum standard. Must be right before a new agreement starts | $80-$180 fitted on site, $150-$250 standalone |
| Sliding door off its rollers, will not close or lock | Rental provider | Urgent if it cannot be secured, otherwise 14 days | Rollers $180-$350, new door $1,800-$3,500 |
| Window painted or seized shut, no ventilation to the room | Rental provider | Non-urgent. 14 days from written notice | $150-$350 to free and service, $580 plus for a new sash |
| Rain coming in at the sill, rotten timber under the paint | Rental provider. Weatherproofing is a minimum standard | Urgent if it makes the home unsafe, otherwise 14 days | Sill repair $350-$900, new sash $1,200-$2,400 |
| Black mould on reveals every winter | Provider where a building fault causes it, renter where it is ventilation habits | 14 days to address the underlying fault | Clean and reseal $150-$400, double glazing $880-$2,400 per window |
| Fogged double-glazed unit | Rental provider | Non-urgent. Order inside 14 days, fit when the unit arrives | $450-$950 per unit, 1-3 weeks to make |
| Flyscreens torn or missing | Provider to supply, renter for damage they caused | Non-urgent. 14 days | $60-$120 per screen |
| Whole house of chalky, draughty 1990s aluminium | Rental provider, but this is an upgrade rather than a repair obligation | No statutory clock. Plan it between tenancies | $12,000-$25,000 single glazed, $18,000-$45,000 double glazed or timber |
| Glass in an apartment common area | Owners corporation, not the individual owner | Per the owners corporation rules | Charged to the corporation |
General guidance on Victorian rental law, not legal advice. Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes the current urgent repairs list and minimum standards. Prices are 2026 fitted rates: see our full price list.
Urgent versus non-urgent, and why the difference matters
Urgent repairs have no grace period. The renter tells you or your agent, and the work starts. If they cannot reach you, they may arrange the repair themselves up to $2,500 and you must reimburse them within 7 days of getting written notice and the receipts. If you do not, they can apply to VCAT, which must hear an urgent repairs application within 2 business days. That is the whole risk in a nutshell: the tribunal moves faster than most owners can organise three quotes, and the renter chooses the trades if you do not.
Non-urgent repairs run on 14 days from written notice. Where the physical work cannot be finished in 14 days because glass is made to order, the answer is not silence. Put the order confirmation and the install date in writing to the renter inside the 14 days. We give property managers that date at the time of measure precisely so it can be forwarded.
Notice, access and keeping the tenancy calm
Entry to carry out repairs needs 24 hours written notice, and must be between 8am and 6pm, not on a public holiday unless the renter agrees. In practice we book the measure and the install as two separate visits, both notified, and we ring the renter the afternoon before. A single window is 1 to 2 hours and the opening is never left open: out with the old, in with the new, sealed the same visit. A full re-window of 12 to 15 openings is 2 to 4 days and is much easier between tenancies. If the property is empty, we can work from a lockbox and send photos.
Vacate inspections and what counts as fair wear and tear
At the end of a tenancy the condition report is the only thing that settles an argument, so photograph windows, latches, tracks and flyscreens at the start. Fair wear and tear is not chargeable to a renter: faded powder coat, a slider that has grown heavy over eight years, perished rubber, a seized winder on a 1990s awning window. Cracked glass, a snapped latch, a bent flyscreen frame and a door forced off its track usually are chargeable. In Victoria a rental provider has 14 days after the tenancy ends to claim on the bond, so get the repair quoted inside that window rather than after it. We date and photograph every job so the invoice stands up.
Managing a rental in Casey and need a fast, documented repair?
Tell us the address, the fault and the access arrangement. Urgent work is triaged the same day, and every job comes back itemised with photos for the owner file.
Repair or capital improvement: the tax line
This is general information, not tax advice, and your accountant decides your situation. The distinction the Australian Taxation Office draws is between restoring something to its former state and creating something better. Replacing a broken pane in an existing frame, replacing perished seals, re-roping a sash, fitting new rollers: these are repairs, and repairs are generally deductible in the year you pay for them.
Replacing the windows themselves is a different animal. Swapping a whole window for a new one, and certainly upgrading the house from single to double glazing, is generally capital works, which is written off at 2.5 per cent a year over 40 years from completion. Two traps catch Casey investors regularly. The first is initial repairs: fixing something that was already broken when you bought the property is capital even if you do it in the first month. The second is the entirety rule: if you replace the whole asset rather than part of it, it stops being a repair no matter how like-for-like the replacement is. Keep the invoice itemised per opening, because your accountant may be able to split a job into a deductible repair component and a capital component.
For property managers
What makes a window job run smoothly on a managed property: tell us at the point of booking whether you are treating it as urgent, give us the renter's mobile so we can arrange access directly, and send the photo from the maintenance request so we bring the right glass on the first visit. We measure once, quote itemised per opening with the owner's approval threshold in mind, and invoice with an ABN and photos attached. We do not door-knock owners, we do not upsell renters and we do not quote work the owner did not ask for.
When we tell a landlord not to spend the money
Not every tired window in a rental needs replacing. If the frames are sound and the complaint is draughts, new wool pile and gaskets at $120 to $260 a sash fixes it for a fraction of a replacement. If the complaint is winter condensation in one bedroom, a $250 exhaust fan and a habit change often does more than $2,400 of double glazing in that room. If the property is going to be sold in the next two years, read our pre-sale window guide before spending, because you rarely get the whole outlay back at auction.
Where we do say spend it: when the same window has been repaired twice in two years, when a timber sill is rotten enough that the fixings no longer hold, when latches cannot be made to work on an openable window, or when a slider has chewed its track out. Those are the ones that come back. The cheapest way to avoid the whole category is a two-hour service each year, which is set out in our maintenance schedule, and if damage is storm or impact related, check our insurance claim guide before you pay out of pocket. For an after-hours make-safe, the process is on our emergency page.
Rental window questions we get asked
Who pays for a broken window in a Victorian rental?
Is a broken window an urgent repair in Victoria?
Do windows in a Victorian rental have to lock?
How long does an owner have to fix a non-urgent window?
Is replacing windows in a rental tax deductible?
Can window replacement happen while the tenant is living there?
Get a documented window quote for your rental
Send the address and the fault and we will book access with the renter, measure once, and email an itemised quote with photos for the owner file, usually within one business day.
Urgent repair on a Casey rental?
Call and we will tell you on the phone whether it is urgent under the Act and what the make-safe will cost.