When it comes to living space, both renting and owning have their advantages. One of the biggest advantages that renters get to enjoy is the freedom of not being responsible for maintaining their place. By virtue of being tenants, the landlord agrees to provide you with a functional, habitable place to live in exchange for rent each month. When it comes to apartment maintenance though, it’s not always clear what should be repaired or maintained by the landlord…more specifically, what should be repaired or maintained free-of-charge to you as the tenant. Let’s go through 10 common examples of apartment maintenance items that landlords and maintenance staff typically perform.
What Does Apartment Maintenance Include? 10 Common Items
As a general rule for tenants and renters, here are 10 common apartment maintenance items that are typically performed by the landlord:
- Emergency Repairs (Non-911)
- Doors, Locks & Windows
- Heating & Air Conditioning
- Kitchen Appliances
- Smoke / CO Detectors, Sprinklers, Etc.
- Sinks, Faucets, Showers & Drains
- Toilets
- Power Outlets, Circuits & Wiring
- Non-Functioning Built-Ins
- Insect Protection / Extermination
We’ll cover the details of each a bit more below!
It’s important to remember that as tenants, we’re renting everything from the landlord – space, appliances, fixtures, doors, etc. Everything that’s included in the apartment upon signing the lease is the landlord’s property. While we get to enjoy the freedom, we must also respect the property as our own. Not only is this right from a moral standpoint, but it also helps our wallets – tenants can get charged when something breaks out of misuse or negligence.
Disclaimer: Know Your Lease & Local Rules
The items we’ve included in our apartment maintenance list are general in nature. While most of these items are often covered, the types of apartment maintenance that you’re entitled to as a tenant can vary from lease to lease (landlord to landlord) and also with the laws in your town, city or state. Since we’re not lawyers or any authority on the matter, it’s in your best interest to read the lease closely and know what your landlord is required to provide by law.
1. Emergency Repairs (Non-911)
Should you have a maintenance emergency, it’s vital that you contact the landlord right away. Some examples of apartment maintenance emergencies include:
- Suspected gas leaks
- Carbon monoxide detector alerts
- No heat (below certain temp.)
- Non-working refrigerators
- Power or water are completely off
- Broken / non-functioning door locks
- Sewage backups
- Flooding
To be completely clear, I’m referring to a non-911 emergency: if you’re in a situation requiring police, fire or an ambulance, make sure to contact them immediately!
2. Doors, Locks & Windows
Apartment maintenance covered under your lease will include fixing broken or poorly-functioning doorknobs, deadbolts and locks – both for your main entry as well as for interior doors. The same can be said for windows that don’t close or lock properly, and for broken glass.
It’s worth noting that landlords will likely not fix locks that you’ve installed yourself.
3. Heating & Air Conditioning
Landlords are required by law to provide tenants with heat. If you’ve got a broken heater that is provided to you by the landlord (i.e. built in), it should be covered under their apartment maintenance responsibilities. They’re definitely required to do so if you have no heat whatsoever during cold months, but that likely falls under item 1 above.
While providing air conditioning is not required by law, repairing an air conditioner will be covered by the landlord if the air conditioner is the landlord’s properly i.e. provided to you upon move-in.
4. Kitchen Appliances
The repair of built-in kitchen appliances should also be covered by your landlord as part of their apartment maintenance responsibilities. The following appliances typically included, which the items marked ‘*’ being somewhat less common:
- Oven
- Refrigerator
- Microwave
- Dishwasher*
- Garbage Disposal*
If these items are malfunctioning, it’s best to contact your landlord as soon as you can.
5. Smoke / CO Detectors, Sprinklers, Etc.
Smoke detectors, carbon monoxide (CO) detectors, fire alarms and sprinkler systems are all emergency in nature. Thus, they must always be in working order – we can never know for sure when we’ll need them!
If any of these items are malfunctioning, they should definitely be repaired as quickly as possible.
6. Sinks, Faucets, Showers & Drains
When it comes to apartment maintenance, the following types of repairs are very common:
- Leaky faucets
- Clogged drains (shower & sink)
- Broken shower heads
- Leaky pipes under the sink
While some of these can be remedied by yourself with Drano or the turn of a wrench, your apartment building’s maintenance staff should perform these repairs as well.
7. Toilets
Ah, yes. Perhaps the most common apartment maintenance repair, toilet issues are something nearly all of us experience – as both tenants or home owners. Luckily, renters get to have these repairs taken care of.
Whether your toilet is clogged, leaking, running or just not working, your apartment repair staff has likely dealt with the same issue many times before. If you need to fix your toilet on your own for some reason, there are plenty of toilet repair videos on YouTube.
8. Power Outlets, Circuits & Wiring
When it comes to all-things-electrical, it’s best to leave it to the pros – especially as a tenant. Electrical work is dangerous and requires specific knowledge and tools.
Common electrical repairs in an apartment include broken wall outlets, faulty light switches and fuse replacements. If you’ve got an electrical issue in your apartment, it’s best to bring it up to the landlord.
9. Non-Functioning Built-Ins
When we rent an apartment, we’re renting both the space and anything that’s included inside of it. This includes items that are built in to the apartment upon move-in. By built-ins, I’m referring to shelving, cabinets, mirrors, shower curtain rods and other items like that.
Given that these items are owned by the landlord, they are responsible for fixing them if they break. With this in mind, the landlord is responsible for the cost only when there hasn’t been any misuse or negligence on the part of the tenant!
10. Insects
Last on our list of landlord-provided apartment maintenance is…insect extermination.
There are a variety of commonly-found insects in apartments. Luckily for renters, the landlord is often required by law to exterminate ASAP when insects are found in an apartment. While dealing with a problem like this is not fun, it’ll at least be taken care of for you.
In Summary
One of the biggest benefits to renting an apartment is the peace of mind. Many common apartment maintenance items are included as part of your lease agreement – if something breaks or stops working right, it’s usually fixed by the landlord free of charge. That said, we must also respect that we’re merely renting our place – we don’t own it! Just as we should expect landlords to maintain our apartments, we must also not neglect or wreck the place either. I hope this article has been helpful!
