Repairs

Report a repair

• Call 1800 203 383 from 8am – 4pm Monday to Friday (free call from land line)
• Email maintenance-wa@hcau.org.au
• For emergency repairs only, see details below about our 24hr hotline.

When you are reporting a repair to us, try to give us as much detail as you can. The more we know about the problem, the easier it will be for us to fix it quickly.

Housing Choices WA has a dedicated property services team and maintenance hotline to help keep your property well maintained. Our staff plan and coordinate the work orders and outsource contractors to undertake maintenance work at your property.

Our response time frames

We prioritise repairs based on their risk to tenant safety and whether the issue could lead to further damage to the property. We have four categories of repairs with different response times.

Emergency repairs

• Works actioned within 6 hours
• Affects your immediate health or safety
• Affects the structural integrity of your home
• Examples: burst pipe, gas leak or loss of power

Urgent repairs

• Works actioned within 24 hours
• Does not affect your immediate health or safety but may do if it continues
• May damage your home if not fixed soon
• Examples: no hot water or faulty smoke alarm

Priority repairs

• Works actioned within 7 working days
•  Does not affect your health or safety
• May get worse over time
• Examples: faulty stove or oven or slow leaking tap

Routine repairs

• Works actioned within 21 days
• Does not affect your health or safety
• Are inconvenient, but does not affect your home
• Examples: loose towel rail or broken cupboard hinge

24-hour maintenance hotline

Our maintenance hotline is available after office hours for emergencies only. If you call 1800 203 383 on the weekends or when our office is closed, you will be diverted to our after-hours team.  Please only call our maintenance line outside of office hours if you are experiencing an emergency otherwise you may be charged the cost of the emergency call out.

An emergency repair is for a situation affecting your health or safety right now or is causing serious damage to the property. Further examples include:

• burst water pipe
• blocked or broken toilet (when you only have one toilet)
• serious roof leak
• gas leak
• broken external doors or windows
• serious storm, fire or flooding damage

If you use the after-hours service to report an emergency situation, please make sure someone is home to allow access for contractors to tend to the repair.
Afterhours emergency maintenance issues may be temporarily made good until a permanent repair can be made during normal working hours. For example, a broken window may be boarded and re-glazed the following day.

Who pays for repairs and maintenance work?

Housing Choices WA pays for the replacement or repair of fixtures and fittings in your home that deteriorate over time with normal use. This is called fair wear and tear.

Examples include worn carpet from high traffic use, leaking taps or showerheads caused by worn washers and cracked blinds due to sun damage.

Tenants will be charged for any damage caused by neglect or damage that has been caused deliberately or accidentally by you, members of your household or visitors. This is called tenant liability.

Examples of tenant liability include broken windows, holes in walls or doors, blocked toilets due to flushing sanitary towels or nappies and carpet burns from cigarettes.

What happens if I lock myself out?

If you lock yourself out of your home during office hours, you can contact your local Housing Choices WA office to borrow our set of keys for your home – but you’ll need to make sure you return them.

Outside of business hours, you can ring our Maintenance Hotline for an emergency call out, but you will be charged for the locksmith and an after-hours call out fee.

The best way to avoid this situation is to think ahead and plan what you will do if you lock yourself out. This may be as simple as getting a spare key cut and giving it to a trusted friend or family member or keeping a spare key in your purse or wallet.

Hiding a spare key outside your home is not recommended. There are key safe boxes you can buy, which vary in cost and quality. Make sure you seek advice and information from a reliable source before making a purchase.

Please never change the locks for the property without our consent or you will be in breach of the WA Residential Tenancies Act 1987.

Can I make changes to the property?

We understand that you may want to make changes to your home to make it more comfortable and suitable for your needs, but you need to talk to us and get written permission before making any changes to your home.

If you carry out works at your home that you did not get approval for, you may be charged the cost of removing the works and the repair of any damage to the property.
Common alterations include the installation of air-conditioners, satellite dishes, shelves, picture hooks or shade cloth. Please note that in the interest of child safety, we will not approve any kind of swimming pool, spa or pond water feature.

If your request is approved, you will be responsible for the costs associated with the changes and we ask that you make sure all works are completed to a professional standard. You also may need to remove the alterations at the end of your tenancy, but this will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

If you have any questions about alterations to your home, please contact your Tenancy Officer.

Can I affix furniture to the walls?

You can apply for permission to affix furniture (secure furniture to wall) to ensure the safety of a child or person with a disability.

A change in tenancy law means landlords must grant permission to tenants who submit a request form to fix furniture to walls to prevent a child or person with a disability from being hurt or killed by falling furniture. This can include the fixing of freestanding wardrobes, chests of drawers, televisions, tables and benches.

Please complete a  Tenant Request to Affix Furniture Form (Form 24) and return to your Tenancy Officer. Housing Choices WA may refuse a request if affixing furniture will disturb asbestos or of it is against strata by-laws.

Information sheets

• Avoiding Tenant Liability

Maintenance request

If you require maintenance or would like to report a repair, please call our maintenance hotline on 1800 203 383 or email maintenance-wa@hcau.org.au.