Last updated: 14 July 2026
TL;DR — The changeover between tenants is the single best moment to verify window safety devices: the unit is accessible, the condition report is being prepared anyway, and the incoming household — possibly with young children — deserves to move into a compliant home. Haven’s end-of-lease window safety audit tests every qualifying window in the unit against the section 118 requirements and delivers a photographic report for the tenancy file, so agencies and landlords start every tenancy with evidence instead of assumptions. Call +61 2 8000 0287.
Because devices quietly fail during tenancies. Restrictors get disengaged and never re-locked, fixings loosen with use, hardware breaks and nobody reports it, and departing tenants’ removalists knock screens and locks about in the last week.
A unit that was compliant at the ingoing inspection can be non-compliant at the outgoing one — and the standard condition report will not catch it, because it records marks on walls, not newtons of force. The end of a lease is also the moment of lowest friction: no entry notices to negotiate, no tenant to schedule around.
Ten minutes inside an empty unit closes the question for the next twelve months.
Every openable window in the unit is assessed against the section 118 criteria — is it a qualifying window, is a device fitted, and does that device restrict the opening to 125mm or less and hold 250 newtons? Fixings are checked for tightness and corrosion, engagement is tested, and each window is photographed with its result.
You receive a short, dated report per unit: pass or fail per window, photos, and — where anything fails — an itemised quote to fix it, usually before the new tenant moves in. The full self-check routine is in our end-of-lease window safety guide; the audit is that routine done professionally, with evidence.
You get the finding and the fix in the same document. Failed hardware is quoted per window using compliant REMSAFE hardware, and because the unit is empty, remediation is usually completed within days.
The new tenancy starts with every window compliant and documented. Where the failure sits on common property, or the pattern suggests a building-wide issue, we flag it so the owners corporation — which carries the underlying s118 duty — can act at building level.
Your file shows the agency identified and escalated the issue properly.
After a window fall, the questions are brutal and specific: when were the devices last checked, by whom, and where is the record? An agency that audits at every changeover answers in one attachment.
A dated, photographic report in the tenancy file is the difference between demonstrating diligence and reconstructing memories. It also protects the relationship between agent and landlord: the landlord sees a small, fixed cost at each changeover instead of an uninsured catastrophe risk, and the agency turns a statutory duty into a visible service.
Our guide to the cost of non-compliance sets out the exposure this retires.
Most agencies put us on a simple standing arrangement: when a vacate date is confirmed, the audit is booked into the vacancy window alongside the outgoing inspection. Single units are welcome; portfolios get scheduled priority.
A single-unit end-of-lease audit is $250 + GST with the report delivered the same day; agencies auditing at volume are quoted a standing per-unit rate. Reports are delivered the same day as the audit, in a format that drops straight into your property management system next to the condition report.
The sweet spot is immediately after the outgoing inspection and before any make-good trades arrive. Audit too early — while the tenant is still moving out — and removalists can undo the result.
Audit too late — after painters and handymen have been through — and you have missed the second most common failure moment, because trades routinely unscrew devices and forget them. The sequence that works: outgoing inspection and audit in the same visit window; remediation (if needed) booked alongside the other make-good work; a one-line confirmation in the file before the ingoing report is signed.
For agencies running tight vacancy periods, we schedule against the vacate date the moment it is confirmed, so the audit never becomes the thing holding up a lease start.
The agencies that do this well change almost nothing about their workflow — they add one trigger and one filing habit. The trigger: a confirmed vacate date automatically generates an audit booking, the same way it generates the outgoing inspection.
The filing habit: the audit report is saved against the tenancy alongside the condition report, so the evidence lives where a future dispute would look for it. From there the program runs itself: portfolio pricing per audit, reports in a consistent format across every property, and a quarterly summary showing landlords the compliance status across their holdings — which, for many agencies, becomes a quiet point of difference at listing presentations.
No specific end-of-lease check is mandated — but the section 118 duty on the owners corporation is continuous, and the changeover is the practical moment to verify a unit. Best practice is an audit at every vacate, documented in the tenancy file.
Minutes per unit — the inspector needs clear access to each openable window in an empty property. It slots easily into the same visit window as the outgoing condition report.
Yes. The key is that a dated check happens between tenancies. Auditing at vacate leaves time to fix failures before the new tenant’s move-in date, which is why most agencies prefer it.
The audit is typically a landlord cost, like smoke alarm servicing. Required devices under section 118 are funded by the owners corporation; additional or replacement devices within the lot are quoted to the owner before any work proceeds.
A dated, per-window photographic report — pass/fail against the 125mm and 250N requirements — plus an itemised remediation quote if anything failed. It is designed to sit in the tenancy file beside the condition report.
Vacate coming up? Book an end-of-lease window safety audit and start the next tenancy with proof, not assumptions. Volume arrangements for agencies. Call +61 2 8000 0287 or email admin@havencompliance.com.au.
