Who's Responsible for Repairs: Landlord vs Tenant Maintenance Checklist
Written By- Drashti
Ask landlords who will be responsible if a geyser gets broken and you'll probably get many different answers. Some may be right, some wrong, and some somewhere in between.
Nobody argues much about a collapsed ceiling — almost everyone agrees that is the landlord's problem. The real friction begins in the grey areas.
Who pays for AC servicing? Who calls the plumber when a pipe bursts at 11 PM and the landlord is out of town? Who is responsible when the tenant says a wall crack was already there at move-in, while the landlord says it was not?
These situations highlight the documentation and clarity gap that often exists between tenants and property owners. Understanding the applicable legal framework and clearly documenting responsibilities in the rental agreement can help both sides avoid unnecessary repair disputes.
Key Takeaways
Structural repairs such as roofs, walls and core building infrastructure generally sit with the landlord under the framework described in the article.
Tenants are generally responsible for cleanliness, daily upkeep, minor maintenance and damage caused by their own behaviour, guests or pets.
Promptly reporting leaks, electrical problems and other damage can prevent a small repair from turning into a bigger dispute.
Appliances such as ACs and geysers can become grey areas when the tenancy agreement does not clearly assign responsibility.
A detailed tenancy agreement and documented move-in inventory are among the strongest ways to prevent repair and damage disputes.
The Legal Baseline: What the Law Actually Says
Before getting into who fixes what, it is important to understand the legal framework described in the source material.
According to the article's interpretation of Section 17 of the Model Tenancy Act, 2021, landlords are responsible for maintaining the structural integrity of the property.
This includes areas such as walls, the roof and the overall structure, along with embedded electrical wiring and plumbing lines that form part of the building's core infrastructure.
In simple terms, the article draws a distinction between the building's core infrastructure and the day-to-day maintenance that occurs while someone is living inside it.
Why State Adoption Matters
The source emphasizes that the Model Tenancy Act framework does not automatically operate identically across every state.
This makes the applicable state rules and the wording of the tenancy agreement important when trying to determine who is responsible for a particular repair.
Where a specific default repair framework does not apply, the rental or tenancy agreement may carry even greater importance in resolving disputes.
Tenant Responsibilities: The Checklist
If the landlord is responsible for the building itself, the tenant is generally responsible for many aspects of everyday use and upkeep while living in the property.
Cleanliness and Daily Upkeep
Regular cleaning, garbage disposal and keeping the rented property reasonably maintained generally fall on the tenant.
Minor Repairs
Small and low-cost maintenance such as replacing bulbs, batteries and certain minor fixtures may be treated as routine tenant maintenance depending on the agreement.
Prompt Reporting
Tenants should report leaks, wiring problems or other defects promptly. Failing to report an issue can allow additional damage to develop and may create disagreement over who should pay for the resulting repair.
Damage From Negligence, Guests or Pets
Damage caused by tenant behaviour, guests, family members or pets is distinguished from ordinary wear and tear and may be the tenant's responsibility.
Put simply: landlords are generally responsible for the condition of the building, while tenants are responsible for what happens to it during everyday occupation, subject to the tenancy agreement.
Landlord Responsibilities: The Checklist
The article places landlord maintenance responsibilities mainly around the structure, core services and overall habitability of the rented property.
Structural Maintenance
Roofing, walls, foundations and other structural parts of the building generally fall under landlord maintenance.
Electrical and Plumbing
Failures caused by age, existing faults or normal deterioration in the property's electrical and plumbing infrastructure are generally distinguished from damage caused by tenant misuse.
Habitability
The landlord is responsible for keeping the property in a condition that is suitable for occupation under the legal framework described in the source.
Common Area Maintenance
Shared corridors, lobbies, building exteriors and other common areas are generally maintained by the property owner rather than individual tenants.
The article also makes clear that landlords are not responsible for every type of damage. Damage resulting from a tenant, their guests, pets or family members is treated differently from structural deterioration or ordinary wear and tear.
Landlord vs Tenant Responsibilities at a Glance
| Maintenance Item | Usually Landlord | Usually Tenant |
|---|---|---|
| Roof, walls and structure | Yes | No, unless tenant-caused damage |
| Embedded plumbing and wiring | Age or structural faults | Damage caused by misuse |
| Cleanliness | No | Yes |
| Small routine maintenance | Depends on agreement | Often |
| Tenant-caused damage | No | Yes |
| Common areas | Generally | Generally no |
| AC / geyser servicing | Depends on agreement and cause | Depends on agreement and cause |
Roof, Walls & Structure
Landlord: Generally responsible.
Tenant: May be responsible if damage was caused by the tenant.
Electrical & Plumbing
Landlord: Structural or age-related failures.
Tenant: Damage caused through misuse.
Cleanliness & Daily Upkeep
Tenant: Generally responsible.
AC & Geyser
Responsibility depends heavily on the tenancy agreement and the cause of the problem.
Why Tenancy Agreements Matter in Repair Disputes
The article's central point is that while legal frameworks may provide default responsibilities, rental agreements often determine how those responsibilities work in practice.
Many repair disputes happen because the landlord and tenant never clearly documented responsibilities before the tenancy began.
A clause explaining who services the AC, who maintains appliances, or who pays for particular routine repairs can prevent arguments later.
A photographed move-in inventory is equally useful because it creates a dated record of the property's original condition.
A well-drafted tenancy agreement should not be treated as a formality. It is one of the most important tools for preventing a repair disagreement before it starts.
Laws at a Glance: What Landlords and Tenants Should Know
Model Tenancy Act, 2021: The source describes structural elements such as walls, roofs and embedded plumbing or electrical infrastructure as landlord-side responsibilities.
MTA Second Schedule: The article explains that it provides more detailed divisions between certain landlord and tenant repair responsibilities.
Tenancy agreement: The article emphasizes that agreed contractual terms can be critical in determining practical repair responsibilities.
State adoption matters: The applicability of the framework discussed in the article depends on the relevant state's legal position.
Habitability: Landlords are expected to maintain the property in a livable condition under the framework discussed in the source.
Tenant-caused damage: Damage caused by tenants, guests, family members or pets is generally treated differently from ordinary deterioration.
Appliances: Items such as ACs and geysers should ideally be addressed explicitly in the tenancy agreement to avoid grey-area disputes.
Conclusion
When repair disputes arise between a landlord and tenant, much of the disagreement eventually comes down to what was documented and what was left unclear.
The legal framework discussed in this article may establish default responsibilities, but in practice the tenancy agreement, specific clauses, appliance responsibilities and move-in documentation can make a major difference.
Both landlords and tenants should therefore discuss maintenance responsibilities before signing, document the condition of the property at move-in and clearly specify responsibility for grey-area items such as appliances.
The clearer the repair responsibilities are at the beginning of the tenancy, the less room there is for disagreement when something eventually breaks.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Who pays for AC servicing in a rented flat?
The article states that there is no universal default rule for this situation. Responsibility depends heavily on what is written in the rental agreement. If the agreement is silent, both sides may interpret the responsibility differently.
2. Can a tenant deduct repair costs from rent?
According to the source, this may be possible only in specific circumstances, generally after the landlord has been informed in writing and where the agreement or applicable local rules allow it. Doing so without documentation can create another rent dispute.
3. Is the landlord responsible for a broken geyser?
The source states that responsibility generally depends on whether the geyser was supplied by the landlord, whether the fault resulted from age or normal wear and tear, whether there was tenant misuse, and what the tenancy agreement says.
4. What happens if there's no move-in inventory?
Without a documented move-in inventory, it becomes much harder for either party to establish whether damage existed before the tenant moved in. This can make wear-and-tear and damage disputes much more difficult to resolve.