As a landlord, one of the most important things you must do to ensure your investment’s success is to keep your tenants safe. From ethical reasons and legal obligations to tenant retention, ensuring tenant safety helps foster a good relationship with them and a sense of trust that will translate into a stable revenue stream and a positive experience for everyone involved.
In this blog, we’ll provide an overview of your legal responsibilities regarding tenant safety in Alberta and offer practical steps you can apply immediately to make your rental property a safe space for your tenants.
Your Legal Responsibilities
According to the Residential Tenancies Act, Alberta landlords are responsible for ensuring that the property is “habitable at the beginning and throughout the tenancy”, meaning the property must meet the minimum standards for housing under the Public Health Act and Housing Regulation. The most important items a rental property must comply with to be considered habitable include:
- The rental property’s structure must be in good condition and kept waterproof, windproof and weatherproof.
- All plumbing fixtures must be serviceable, free from leaks, trapped and vented to the outside.
- The tenants must have adequate heat, potable water, sanitary facilities, cooking facilities, and sleeping space.
- The walls, windows, ceilings, floors, and floor coverings must be free of holes, cracks, and loose or lifting coverings and in a state that makes them easy to clean.
While fulfilling your legal obligations is essential, from a business and ethical perspective, it’s also important to take extra steps to ensure your tenants are safe, comfortable and happy while occupying your property.
8 Steps to Keep Your Tenants Safe
1 – Conduct Regular Property Inspections
Inspecting the property regularly is the best way to identify and address any safety hazards quickly. This includes checking for faulty wiring, plumbing leaks, structural damage, or potential fire hazards.
We recommend doing site inspections at least twice a year to ensure the appliances in the property are working well and meeting the tenant’s needs, and we have a checklist to help you cover all the basics to make the most of your inspections here.
2 – Schedule Preventive Maintenance Work
Scheduling professional preventive maintenance will help you keep your tenants safe and avoid costly and unexpected repairs. Preventive maintenance items include repairing broken appliances, fixing leaky roofs or windows, plumbing maintenance, servicing the HVAC system, and more. We have a detailed list of the essential preventive maintenance every rental needs to help you get started.
3 – Install Safety Features
With some preventive measures, you can mitigate the risk of common domestic, life-threatening incidents like carbon monoxide (CO) leaks, fires, and even burglary. Install and maintain safety features such as smoke detectors, CO detectors, fire extinguishers, and security systems. Ensure these devices are in working order at the end of every tenancy and during inspections, and replace batteries or perform maintenance as needed.
4 – Provide Adequate Lighting
Ensure that the property has adequate lighting inside and outside to reduce the risk of accidents and deter criminal activity. If the property is surrounded by dark or high-risk areas, consider installing motion-sensor lights or additional lighting.
5 – Secure Entry Points
Always ensure that all doors and windows are working properly, and consider installing deadbolts, security bars, or smart locks for added security.
6 – Provide Essential Maintenance Items
Depending on the tenancy agreement and the type of property, it’s a good idea to provide tenants with maintenance tools like a snow shovel, salt, and other basic cleaning appliances like hose pipes and garden implements to help them keep the exterior of the property clean.
7 – Get Your Property Insured
Hiring a comprehensive landlord insurance policy is fundamental to being prepared for unexpected events that the preventive measures we listed above can’t prevent. If you don’t have insurance yet, we have a guide with a breakdown of the elements an insurance policy must cover to make sure you, your tenants, and your property are protected.
8 – Make Sure Your Tenants Have Insurance
Last but definitely not least, we recommend that you request your tenants get renters’ insurance to cover their belongings while they occupy the property and avoid potential conflicts in case of an incident.
Rent Your Property Safely
Prioritizing tenant safety is the best way to prevent legal disputes and cultivate a long-lasting relationship with your tenants. Going beyond the legal bare minimum will help you create a safe place for your tenants, minimize the risk of accidents, and preserve and increase your property value.
If you’re a Calgary landlord struggling to keep up with all these preventive measures, hiring a property manager is the best solution. Contact us and get a free quote.
