Temperature control on hot water systems?
Posted on 23. Oct, 2011 by Karen Herbert in Legislations & Laws, Repairs & Maintenance
Q: Our rental property has an old hot water system with no temperature control. Our 8yr old got burnt in the shower. Can we make the owner replace the system?
A: Under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 it just stipulates under section 185 the Lessor’s obligations – the lessor must ensure any law dealing with issues about the health or safety of persons using or entering the premises is complied with.
There is nothing in the legislation which directly relates to installing a temperature control on an exisiting hot water system however it has just been passed that if any hot water system is installed in a new house or relocated from its present position in a Queensland property there must be a tempering valve installed. Hot Water Systems must heat the water to a temperature over 60 degrees celsius to prevent growth of legionnaires bacteria. A tempering valve will reduce the temperature of the water to 50 degrees celsius maximum delivered to your taps. Hot Water at 60 degrees celsius will cause a major burn in 1 second as opposed to hot water at 50 degrees celsius which will cause a major burn in 5 minutes.
My advice would be to notify your landlord or property manager of the situation and request that a tempering valve be installed, generally an arrangement can be made between the two parties. If you are not satisfied with the outcome then you coule try involving the RTA’s Dispute Resolution Service, this service is free of charge. The RTA’s conciliators will try to help resolve the dispute between yourself and the managing agent generally over the phone. To obtain a Dispute Resolution Request (Form 16) you can collect this from Australia Post outlets in Queensland or from the RTA website.
Karen Herbert is the Principal of Position One, based in Brisbane, Australia. For further information or help with renting out and managing your property, please visit the Position One website.
