New South Wales Consolidated Acts

RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT 2010 - SECT 39

39 Water usage charges payable by tenant

(1) A tenant must pay the water usage charges for the residential premises, but only if--

(a) the premises are separately metered or the premises are not connected to a water supply service and water is delivered to the premises by vehicle, and

(b) the premises contain water efficiency measures prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this section, and

(c) the charges do not exceed the amount payable by the landlord for water used by the tenant.

(2) A tenant is not required to pay the water usage charges unless the landlord gives the tenant a copy of the part of the water supply authority's bill setting out the charges, or other evidence of the cost of water used by the tenant.

(3) A landlord must give the tenant not less than 21 days to pay the water usage charges.

(4) A tenant is not required to pay the water usage charges if the landlord fails to request payment from the tenant within 3 months of the issue of the bill for those charges by the water supply authority.

(5) Subsection (4) does not prevent a landlord from taking action to recover an amount of water usage charges later than 3 months after the issue of a bill for those charges, if the landlord first sought payment of the amount within 3 months after the issue of the bill.

(6) A landlord must ensure that the tenant receives the benefit of, or an amount equivalent to, any rebate received by the landlord in respect of any water usage charges payable or paid by the tenant.

Note : Tenants under social housing tenancy agreements may be subject to different provisions in relation to the payment of charges for water usage (see Division 3 of Part 7).

(7) This section is a term of every residential tenancy agreement.