Did you know that as a residential or commercial landlord, your rental property is considered a business, and you are considered a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU); for the purposes of applying the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015?
This means that your responsibilities are different when you are organising contractors for your rental property than they are when organising them for your own home. If you organise an electrician to attend your own home, the electrician is responsible for any workplace injuries or accidents. If you organise an electrician to work at your rental property, then you have obligations in regard to accidents and injuries that may occur.
As property managers, we assume the main role of the PCBU when organising contractors to attend properties. This makes us responsible for the health and safety of the contractor and the tenants at the property while the work is being carried out. Landlords are part of the “contracting chain” (landlord – property manager – lead contractor – subcontractors – tenant), and still have some responsibilities, such as alerting parties involved of any hazards, but your property manager takes on the responsibilities of the PCBU. For more information, check out the Worksafe website.
At Aspire, we take our role as the PCBU very seriously. We employ a Health and Safety consultant to ensure we are fulfilling our obligations at all times. We understand the importance of your peace of mind, which is why we vet all of our contractors rigorously. We ensure they have robust health and safety practices, are qualified and competent in their field, and provide us with any required certifications. We meet with them to discuss their H&S practices, and we check their references so you can be confident in their abilities and our commitment to safety.
At Aspire, we don’t add fees to any maintenance we carry out. When we ask our landlords to carry out maintenance using our preferred contractors, it’s because we have a good, existing relationship with them, we know they’ll do a good and efficient job, and we have vetted them as approved contractors with the Health and Safety at Work Act in mind.
We focus on Health and Safety and our obligations. First, we don’t want anyone to be hurt or injured, and second, we don’t want to be negligent and leave ourselves open to prosecution, as it can and does happen! If you’re a landlord and have properties managed by other property management companies, it might be a good idea to ask them what their Health and Safety policies and procedures are to ensure they adhere to the Act.
If you want to know you’re covered in regard to Health and Safety – then join Aspire today!
