Broken glass in a rental: a guide for property managers
A smashed window is one of the most common maintenance requests a property manager gets, and one of the most time-sensitive. Here’s how to handle it quickly and keep everyone (tenant, landlord and your own inbox) happy.
1. Treat security and safety first
Broken glass that leaves a property insecure, or exposes sharp edges, is usually treated as an urgent repair in Victoria. Check the current rules on the Consumer Affairs Victoria renting pages for what counts as urgent and the timeframes that apply.
If the glass can’t be replaced the same day, a glazier can make the opening safe and secure, then return with the made-to-measure pane.
2. Replace like-for-like, or upgrade to safety glass
Older rentals often have plain float glass in doors and low windows where today’s standard (AS 1288) calls for safety glass. When a pane in one of these spots breaks, replacing it with toughened or laminated glass is the sensible fix, and worth flagging to the landlord.
3. Get a price without waiting for a quote
Ask the tenant for a rough width and height, then use our instant quote to get a supplied-and-installed price you can send to the landlord for approval in minutes, not days.
4. Keep a paper trail
Before-and-after photos, the glass type installed and the invoice should land in your property file. For agencies on an Edgeform trade account, we send all three automatically.
Managing a rent roll? Our trade accounts give property managers fixed per-pane pricing, tenant-direct booking and one monthly invoice.