Toronto Landlords: How to Manage and Repair Heating in Your Rental Property
Maintaining the heat in your rental property is critical. If your property is in the City of Toronto, bylaw requires that you keep the heat at a minimum temperature of 21 degrees Celsius from September 15 to June 1. For the rest of Ontario, the minimum temperature is 20 degrees.
Fixing problems, maintaining your furnace regularly, and ensuring that your tenant has access to temperature controls in your unit are all vital to a good tenant relationship and keeping your property in good repair.
Repairing a faulty or broken furnace
If your tenant reports that heat is off in the unit, it must be fixed immediately both for their comfort and to ensure that your property doesn’t suffer any further damages, such as burst pipes. It’s advisable to set up a relationship with a company in advance that can handle this for you – look for ones that have emergency repair service which is available evenings and weekends.
Under City of Toronto bylaw, you must respond to a tenant complaint about no heat in the unit within 24 hours. This does not mean that the heat must be fixed within 24 hours, but that you have contacted the contractor and arranged for service. Obviously, you want it to be fixed as soon as possible, but be sure to keep a record of your communication with the contractor in case of further tenant complaints. You must take these measures even if the tenant is behind in rent or has damaged the property.
Give tenants access to temperature control for a good relationship
There have been recent news stories and social media posts about landlords locking up access to thermostats. While there is no specific law which governs access to temperature control as long as the unit is at the required 21 degrees Celsius, it goes a long way towards a good relationship with your tenant to give them access to the thermostat. Additionally, many of these incidents in the media are taking place in shared rooming houses rather than individual units. When someone is paying rent for a property, they generally expect to have control over the heating system.
If you are concerned about heating bills going up, talk to your tenants about what you would like them to keep the temperature at and most will be happy to do so with the odd exception for when they are sick or extremely cold days. For future tenancy agreements, consider not including utilities so that tenants will have to pay heating bills separately where this arrangement is possible.
Regular furnace and heating system maintenance is a must
Once a year, ideally in the fall, schedule a maintenance visit to check the operation of your furnace and change filters and parts as necessary. It’s also worth doing a quick check mid-winter in February or March to make sure your furnace is not going to fail during its most important season. Make sure ducts are kept clean and clear of debris. This minor inconvenience may save you lots of money on an emergency repair.
If you want to download responsibility for maintaining your unit to us, we’ll make sure everything is in good repair and be there for any heating emergencies that may come up for your tenants. We’ve been managing properties for decades and can remove the stress of dealing with emergencies like this and regular maintenance. Contact us today to find out how we can help!
