Windows and double glazing in a South East Melbourne rental: who pays, what the rules require, how fast it has to happen
In Victoria the rental provider pays to repair the windows, because they are part of the building. The renter pays only for damage they, a visitor or a pet caused. A window that leaves the property unsafe or insecure is an urgent repair and must be attended to immediately: if you cannot be reached, the renter can spend up to $2,500 and you must reimburse within 7 days. Non-urgent window faults have 14 days from written notice. Double glazing itself is not a minimum standard, it is an optional upgrade at $580 to $2,400 per opening, and it is capital, not a repair.
Situation, who is responsible, the legal timeframe, and what it costs
The rules below come from the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 in Victoria and the rental minimum standards that sit under it, administered by Consumer Affairs Victoria with disputes decided at VCAT. Victorian wording changed in 2021: the landlord is the rental provider, the tenant is the renter, and the lease is a rental agreement. Costs are our 2026 fitted rates across Berwick, Narre Warren, Cranbourne, Hampton Park, Endeavour Hills and Dandenong.
| Situation | Who is responsible | Timeframe | Typical 2026 cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Window smashed in a storm or break-in, house now insecure | Rental provider | Urgent repair, attend immediately | $280 - $550 after-hours make-safe, then $220 - $420 per pane |
| Renter, a visitor or a pet broke the glass | Renter, if the provider can show they caused it | Still fixed as an urgent repair, then recovered | $220 - $420 per pane fitted |
| External window will not latch or lock | Rental provider (a minimum standard) | Urgent if insecure, otherwise 14 days | $120 - $280 per window |
| Window designed to open is painted shut or seized | Rental provider (a minimum standard) | 14 days from written notice | $95 - $140 an hour, most houses 2 to 4 hours |
| External door will not deadlock | Rental provider (a minimum standard) | Urgent, premises insecure | $180 - $380 fitted |
| No window covering in a bedroom or living room | Rental provider (a minimum standard for privacy) | 14 days from written notice | $90 - $260 per opening for blockout blinds |
| Mould and damp caused by the building, not by living in it | Rental provider (a minimum standard) | 14 days, urgent if a health risk | $350 - $900 draught and seal work, $350 - $700 for an exhaust fan |
| Fogged double glazed unit | Rental provider | 14 days, non-urgent | $660 - $1,300 per unit remade and fitted |
| Sliding door dropped, sticking, hard to open | Rental provider | 14 days, urgent if it will not close | $180 - $450 rollers and realignment |
| Renter asks for double glazing because the house is cold | Nobody is obliged. It is an upgrade | No legal timeframe | $580 - $2,400 per opening retrofit, $18,000 - $35,000 whole house |
| Renter arranged an urgent repair because nobody answered | Rental provider reimburses | Within 7 days of written notice | Up to $2,500 of qualifying urgent repairs |
| Entry to quote or carry out a non-urgent repair | Rental provider gives notice | 24 hours written notice, 8am to 6pm, not public holidays | No cost, but a missed access wastes a $95 - $140 hour |
General information for Victorian residential tenancies in 2026, not legal advice. Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes the current minimum standards and urgent repair list, and VCAT decides disputes.
Managing a portfolio in Casey or Cardinia?
Send us the address and the fault. We attend, photograph, and email an itemised invoice with before and after shots for the file.
The line between an urgent repair and an ordinary one
This is the distinction that causes most of the friction, and it is worth knowing precisely because it changes who can spend money without asking. Victorian law lists specific urgent repairs, and two of them catch windows: serious storm, fire or impact damage, and any fault or damage that makes the premises unsafe or insecure. A pane out of a ground floor bedroom at 8pm is urgent by any reading. A sash that rattles is not.
Treat as urgent
- Any opening that cannot be closed and secured, including a slider that will not lock.
- Broken or hanging glass anywhere a person could reach it, and all broken door glass.
- Storm damage that is letting water into the building.
- A window that has fallen out of its frame or a sash hanging from one hinge.
- Anything the renter has reported as a safety risk to a child in the property.
Non-urgent, 14 days
- Fogged double glazed units and failed edge seals.
- A sash that will not stay open, a stiff winder, worn friction stays.
- Draughts, whistling and condensation complaints with no mould present.
- Cracked glass in a high fixed pane that is still weathertight and out of reach.
- Flyscreens, which are not part of the minimum standards but are usually fixed anyway to keep a good renter.
When a renter gives written notice of a non-urgent repair, the clock is 14 days. Miss it and they can ask Consumer Affairs Victoria to inspect and issue a report, then apply to VCAT for a repair order. Neither of those costs them anything, and a VCAT order for a $260 roller replacement is an expensive way to save a phone call.
The practical fix for the access problem
Most window jobs need two visits: measure, then fit when the glass arrives 5 to 15 business days later. Give one 24 hour written notice for the measure and a second for the install, and tell the renter both dates up front. Two clean entries beat one missed appointment and a re-book fee of $95 to $140.
What windows look like at a vacate inspection
At the end of an agreement the property is compared with the condition report taken at the start, and the only question that matters is fair wear and tear against damage. Windows sit on both sides of that line. Faded and slightly chalky powder coating, worn latch springs, a sun perished seal and light scratching on old glass are wear. Broken glass, a forced lock, a bent sash from being levered, holes drilled through frames for cables and adhesive residue from stick-on film are damage.
Bond is held by the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority. In practice, if the renter claims the bond at the end and you believe there is damage, you have to apply to VCAT within 14 days to dispute it, so the evidence has to already exist. Photograph every window at the start of the agreement, including a close shot of each latch and each pane, and photograph them again at vacate. A dated pair of photographs settles a $420 pane argument in about a minute, and nothing else does.
One caution about stick-on window film, which turns up constantly in rentals for privacy or heat. Removing it after a few Melbourne summers often takes the coating with it, and on a double glazed unit film can also create enough heat build-up to stress the glass and void the manufacturer warranty. Put a line in the agreement about it, and offer obscure glass or a blind instead at $90 to $260.
The tax line between a deductible repair and a capital improvement
This is general information, not tax advice, and your accountant decides your situation. The Australian Taxation Office draws a line that matters a lot on window work. Restoring something to the condition it was in is a repair, and if the property is producing income, it is generally deductible in the year you pay it. Making it better than it was, or replacing an entire asset, is an improvement and is generally capital.
- Usually a repair: replacing one broken pane like for like at $220 to $420, new rollers on a slider, a replacement latch, resealing a leaking sill.
- Usually capital: upgrading single glazing to double glazing, replacing all the windows in the house, changing timber frames to aluminium or uPVC.
- Always capital: repairs to defects that were already there when you bought the property, even if you fix them in year one.
- Capital works treatment: building improvements are typically written off at 2.5 per cent a year across 40 years, so a $25,000 retrofit is roughly $625 a year, not a $25,000 deduction.
That 2.5 per cent number is the reason double glazing rarely stacks up as a tax play on a rental. It stacks up when you plan to hold the property for a long time, when you are already replacing rotten frames, or when noise or mould complaints are costing you renters.
What we would tell you not to spend money on
We would rather do one honest job for you every couple of years than sell you a whole house of glass you did not need. If your renter says the property is cold, double glazing is almost never the first thing to buy. In a 1980s or 1990s brick veneer in Narre Warren or Hampton Park the air is usually leaking around the frames, under the doors and through the exhaust fans, not through the glass. Draught sealing the whole house is $350 to $900, it can be done in a day, and it fixes more complaints than $25,000 of glazing.
- Do not double glaze to raise the rent. Rent can only be increased once every 12 months in Victoria, and renters in Casey do not filter listings by glazing. You will not get the money back through rent.
- Do not replace sound frames. If the timber is solid, a retrofit unit into the existing rebate is $580 to $2,400 an opening against $1,500 to $4,200 for full replacement.
- Do not fix mould with glass alone. Ventilation, an exhaust fan that vents outside and a working heater fix condensation mould. Glass helps, but it is the expensive part of the answer.
- Do not do half a house. If comfort is the goal, doing the living areas and the west facing rooms first gets most of the benefit. Doing one bedroom achieves nothing you can feel.
When double glazing genuinely is the right call in a rental, it is usually a long-hold property near an arterial road such as Clyde Road or the Princes Highway where noise is driving turnover, or a house where the frames are being replaced anyway. Read retrofit into existing frames against uPVC, aluminium and timber frames, check the numbers on the pricing page, and if a renter has just reported broken glass, the triage table on our emergency window page tells you in thirty seconds whether it is a tonight job. Insurance questions after a storm are covered on the storm damage claim page, and our coverage across the region is on the South East Melbourne page.
Questions rental providers and property managers ask
Who pays to fix a broken window in a Victorian rental?
Is a broken window an urgent repair in Victoria?
How long does a rental provider have to fix a non-urgent window fault?
Do the Victorian rental minimum standards require double glazing?
Is replacing single glazing with double glazing a tax deduction?
How much notice do we need to give a renter to get a glazier in?
Get a fixed price for a rental window repair or upgrade
Send the address and the fault and we come back with a fixed price, an access plan for the renter and an invoice format your trust account will accept, usually within 1 business day.
One glazier for the whole rent roll
Urgent make-safe, minimum standards work, fogged units and full retrofits across Berwick, Narre Warren, Cranbourne, Hampton Park, Endeavour Hills and Dandenong.