Who pays for the water?


With increasing water bills, many managers now write “excess water” to be charged on tenancy agreements but when does that actually grip? The RTA’s Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation 2008 Act has a set of requirements that need to be met in order to be able to charge for water.

Lessors are only allowed to pass on the full water consumption costs to tenants if:
• the rental premises are individually metered (or water is delivered by vehicle); and
• the rental premises are water efficient; and
• the tenancy agreement states the tenant must pay for water consumption.

If the premises are individually metered but not water efficient, and the agreement states the tenant must pay for water, the lessor must pay for a reasonable amount of water. That is based on the amount of people on the premises. 

It is best practice that the lessor and the tenant should agree upon what is a reasonable amount at the start of the tenancy, include the frequency of the charges and insert it as a special term in the tenancy agreement to avoid disputes later. The tenant is liable for any consumption above the agreed amount. 

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