Section 45 landlord repair duties NZ: the practical checklist before winter

Section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Act is the landlord repair-duty section many NZ landlords only meet after something has gone wrong. In practice, it says a rental needs to be clean at the start, kept in a reasonable state of repair, compliant with smoke alarm and healthy homes duties, and handled properly when serious or urgent disrepair appears.

For a small landlord, the useful question is not "what does section 45 say?" It is "what workflow would prove we acted on it?"

This guide is general information for New Zealand landlords. It is not legal, tenancy-dispute, building, insurance, tax, or property-specific advice. Use Tenancy Services, the current Act, qualified tradespeople, and a lawyer for decisions about a specific tenancy or dispute.

What does section 45 require from a landlord?

Section 45 requires landlords to provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair, comply with smoke alarm and healthy homes requirements, comply with building, health, and safety requirements that apply to the premises, and avoid interfering with essential services except for danger or repair work.

The latest online version of the Act, shown by New Zealand Legislation as in force as at 1 December 2025, also says failure to comply with key parts of section 45 can be an unlawful act. That is why the operating record matters. A landlord should be able to show what was reported, when it was triaged, who was contacted, what was fixed, and what evidence was kept.

Why does this matter more before winter?

Winter turns slow repair admin into tenant welfare, compliance, and evidence problems. Heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture, drainage, draught stopping, leaks, hot water, locks, and electrical issues all become harder to ignore once cold and damp set in.

Tenancy Services says landlords should carry out regular inspections and repairs promptly. It also says landlords and tenants both have maintenance responsibilities, and that landlords cannot give notice to end a tenancy because a tenant asked for maintenance work to be done.

The practical winter risk is simple: if a tenant reports an issue and the landlord handles it across texts, emails, missed calls, and contractor notes, the facts are scattered right when the record matters most.

What should happen when a repair request arrives?

Start with triage, not panic. A repair request should move into a simple decision lane:

1. Record the request date, time, tenant, property, and exact issue.
2. Decide whether it is urgent, safety-related, habitability-related, compliance-related, or routine.
3. Ask for photos, video, access windows, and any immediate safety details.
4. Check whether the issue touches healthy homes, smoke alarms, services, locks, water, power, drainage, mould, heating, or structural safety.
5. Assign a contractor or inspection step.
6. Tell the tenant what is happening and when they should expect the next update.
7. Keep the quote, approval, invoice, photos, and completion note with the tenancy record.

That record is not bureaucracy for its own sake. It is the proof that the landlord took the issue seriously and moved it through a reasonable process.

Which repair requests need faster triage?

Some issues should be treated as faster than ordinary admin because they may involve injury, property damage, services, or habitability.

Examples include:

• no heating in the main living area during cold weather
• no hot water
• serious leaks or water ingress
• electrical hazards
• gas smells
• broken external locks or security issues
• sewage, drainage, or toilet failures
• ceiling, wall, stair, deck, or structural concerns
• heavy damp, mould, or ventilation failures
• smoke alarm faults

This does not mean every issue has the same legal urgency. It means the landlord should have a triage rule that separates "schedule it" from "act now and document why."

How do healthy homes standards fit section 45?

Section 45 now includes healthy homes compliance as part of the landlord responsibility frame. Tenancy Services says the healthy homes standards cover heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage, and draught stopping, and that all rental properties must comply unless an exemption applies.

Before winter, that turns five areas into an operating checklist:

• can the main living room be heated by acceptable fixed heating?
• is ceiling and underfloor insulation compliant and in reasonable condition?
• do living spaces, kitchens, and bathrooms have the required ventilation?
• are drainage, guttering, downpipes, and ground moisture barriers handled where required?
• are unreasonable draught gaps blocked?

The key is not only whether the property passed once. Tenancy Services says landlords are responsible for ensuring the property meets the standards and continues to over time. Records, inspections, and follow-up work need to stay connected.

What records should landlords keep?

Keep records that show the decision path, not just the invoice.

Useful records include:

• inspection notes and dates
• tenant repair requests
• photos before and after work
• contractor messages and quotes
• landlord approvals
• invoices and completion notes
• smoke alarm checks
• healthy homes compliance documents
• insulation reports, R-values, or installer notes where relevant
• tenant updates and access arrangements
• any reason a repair was delayed, rescheduled, or escalated

For healthy homes specifically, Tenancy Services says landlords must keep records and documents showing how they are complying, and tenants can request compliance information.

Where landlords get into trouble operationally

The common failure is not always refusing to repair. It is losing control of the thread.

That looks like:

• the tenant reports a fault by text
• the landlord asks for a photo by email
• a contractor confirms by phone
• the quote is approved in a separate message
• the invoice sits in another inbox
• the tenant asks for an update two weeks later
• no one can quickly show what happened

Even when the landlord acted reasonably, the evidence is hard to reconstruct. That is the problem a workflow should solve.

How Keel handles this operating layer

Keel does not give legal advice or decide a tenancy dispute. It helps landlords keep repair work, approvals, records, and follow-ups in one operating flow.

The useful model is:

• tenant request comes in
• Skip helps structure the issue
• the landlord reviews and approves the next step
• contractor evidence and tenant updates stay attached
• healthy homes or urgent-repair signals are visible
• the record is still findable months later

The landlord stays in control. The admin stops living across scattered threads.

The takeaway

Section 45 should not sit in a legal tab until there is a dispute. For small landlords, it should become a winter repair workflow: triage the issue, act promptly where required, keep the tenant updated, store the evidence, and make healthy homes records easy to find.

If you want repair requests, approvals, evidence, and follow-ups in one review-led flow, see how Keel works for landlords.

Source notes

• New Zealand Legislation, Residential Tenancies Act 1986, section 45: current online Act text for landlord responsibilities, repair duties, healthy homes references, essential services, urgent repair compensation context, and unlawful-act notes.
• Tenancy Services, General maintenance responsibilities: maintenance responsibilities, prompt repairs, regular inspections, and retaliatory notice warning. Last updated 16 April 2026.
• Tenancy Services, Healthy homes standards - what a landlord needs to know: healthy homes areas, compliance, records, and tenant information requests.
• Tenancy Services, Insulation standard: insulation standard, R-value context, condition requirements, and exemptions.