RENTAL
REPAIRS IN
CANBERRA.
One visit to get a Canberra rental through an inspection, ready for a new tenancy, or cleared at the end of a lease. Send the list, get one fixed price.
Polytechnitis gets Canberra rentals ready in a single visit. A routine inspection is a week away, a tenancy has ended and the place needs to show well, or an exit report has come back with a list on it. Whatever started it, the shape of the job is the same: a list of small things, a deadline, and a property somebody else lives in.
A Polytechnitis rental repair visit is deliberately fixed-scope rather than an ongoing arrangement. You send the list, our team quotes 1 price for the lot, we attend once, and you get a written summary of what was done if you need it for the file. If what you actually want is a trade on standby across a portfolio year-round, that is our ongoing property maintenance service instead, and it is a different conversation.
What a rental repair visit covers
Polytechnitis handles the 10 repairs below, which are the ones that actually turn up on condition reports and exit lists. Almost none of them are big. All of them stop a property passing cleanly.
- Wall damage: picture hook holes, scuffs, dents and cracked cornice patched and touched up
- Doors that stick, drag, will not latch or have dropped on their hinges
- Locks, handles, strike plates, deadbolts and window catches
- Sliding and screen doors: rollers, tracks and flyscreens
- Blinds, curtain rails, towel rails, robe hooks and shelving refixed or replaced
- Cupboard doors, drawer runners and kitchen hardware
- Mouldy shower silicone and failed grout cut out and replaced
- Gutters cleared and downpipes flushed before a handover
- Driveways, paths and patios pressure washed so the place photographs well
- Fence and gate repairs, and general outdoor tidy-ups
The individual jobs are covered in more depth on our door and sliding door repair, painting and wall repairs, shower regrouting, gutter cleaning and pressure washing pages. On a rental job they are priced together as one list, not separately.
The 3 moments landlords call us
Polytechnitis sees the same 3 triggers over and over, and each one has a different deadline attached.
A routine inspection is coming
The property is tenanted, the agent has given notice, and there are items outstanding from last time. This is the tightest window we work to, because the notice period is 1 week. Our team quotes from photos, attends once, and works around the tenant rather than through them.
The tenancy has ended
The place is empty and has to be re-let quickly, because every week vacant is a week unpaid. This is the biggest list of the 3 and the easiest to run, since there is nobody in the property and we can do everything in a day. Wall patching, touch-up paint, door adjustments and a pressure wash of the approach do most of the visible work.
An exit report has landed
A list of items has come back with a dollar figure against it, and someone has to fix them. Polytechnitis works from the report itself. Send it through as it came and we will tell you what is genuine repair work, what is fair wear and tear, and what needs a licensed trade instead of us.
What the ACT rules actually require
Polytechnitis works to the ACT timeframes, and it is worth knowing them because they set the deadline on most of this work. The ACT Government publishes the rules directly.
- Urgent repairs must be completed as soon as practicable
- Non-urgent repairs must be completed within 4 weeks
- A landlord must give 1 week written notice before entering to do non-urgent repairs or to inspect repairs
- A standard inspection needs at least 1 week written notice, and can happen in the first month, the final month, and twice in each 12 month period
- Showing the property to prospective tenants in the final 3 weeks needs 24 hours notice
Source: the ACT Government's During a tenancy guidance, last updated 30 January 2026 and read on 11 September 2026. It is guidance on the law rather than the law itself, so for a dispute take advice on the Residential Tenancies Act rather than a tradesperson's summary of it.
The one urgent repair a handyman can fix
This is the part most landlords get wrong, so Polytechnitis says it plainly. The ACT lists 12 categories of urgent repair. Eleven of them are licensed work: a burst water service, a blocked or broken toilet, a serious roof leak, a gas leak, a dangerous electrical fault, flooding, serious storm or fire damage, loss of gas, electricity or water supply, failure of a supplied fridge or laundry appliance, and failure of hot water, cooking, heating or cooling. Calling a handyman for any of those wastes a day you do not have.
The twelfth is ours. A serious fault in a door, staircase or common area that stops a tenant getting into the property, or makes it unsafe or insecure, is exactly the work our team does: a door that will not lock, a broken strike plate, a sliding door off its track, a failed handle on the only entry. If a tenant cannot secure the property tonight, that is the call to make to us and we will treat it as urgent.
What we don't do
Polytechnitis is straight about scope on rentals, because a trade who says yes to everything creates the delay you were trying to avoid. These 5 things are outside what our team takes on.
- Plumbing work, including taps, cisterns and anything connected to the water supply
- Electrical work of any kind, including appliance and fixture replacement
- Gas appliances, heating and cooling units
- Structural repairs, roof replacement and anything needing a builder's licence
- End of lease cleaning, carpet cleaning and pest control
Where the line sits job by job is set out in our guide to handyman vs licensed tradie in Canberra. When something on your list falls the other side of it, we say so at quote stage.
What it costs
A rental repair visit is priced as one job, not per item. Polytechnitis quotes a fixed price from the list and photos before we start, and charges no call-out fee. Pricing per item is what makes these jobs expensive, because 6 small repairs become 6 minimum charges.
The 3 published starting points below are the figures Polytechnitis quotes publicly. Each is a starting point rather than a cap, because the price depends on the project and its scope, so send the list and photos for a real number.
| Job | What it covers | Starting from |
|---|---|---|
| Typical metro job | A standard Canberra repair visit | $150 to $180 including GST |
| Gutter clean | Single-storey home, gutters cleared and downpipes flushed | $229 including GST |
| Driveway pressure wash | Standard single concrete driveway | $219 including GST |
For what the individual jobs cost around town, our handyman prices in Canberra page sets out the published market data job by job, with every figure attributed and dated.
Areas we cover
Polytechnitis covers rental work across Canberra, the ACT and Queanbeyan, and the housing mix changes what turns up on the list. Woden Valley and the Inner South carry a lot of older unit and townhouse stock, where doors, grout and window hardware dominate. Gungahlin and Belconnen bring newer builds where it is more often wall damage and fixtures. Queanbeyan and Googong sit across the border in NSW, so the tenancy rules there are not the ACT ones quoted above.
- Woden Valley, including Phillip, Lyons, Garran and Curtin
- Inner South, Kingston, Griffith, Deakin and Red Hill
- Belconnen and Gungahlin
- Tuggeranong, Kambah and the southern suburbs
- Queanbeyan, Karabar, Jerrabomberra and Googong
Every suburb our team covers is listed on the Canberra locations page. For a portfolio spread across several of them, send the lot in one message and we will sequence the visits rather than quoting them one at a time.
Common questions
How long does a landlord have to complete repairs in the ACT?
Under the ACT rules, landlords must complete urgent repairs as soon as practicable and non-urgent repairs within 4 weeks. A landlord must also give the tenant 1 week written notice before entering to carry out non-urgent repairs or to inspect repairs. Polytechnitis works to those windows: tell us the deadline when you call and we will tell you straight whether we can meet it.
What counts as an urgent repair in the ACT?
The ACT lists 12 urgent repairs, including a burst water service, a gas leak, a dangerous electrical fault, a serious roof leak, flooding, storm or fire damage, failure of a supplied appliance, failure of hot water, cooking, heating or cooling, and any fault that makes the property unsafe or insecure. Most of those are licensed trades. The one Polytechnitis handles directly is the last category: a serious fault in a door, staircase or common area that stops a tenant getting in or using the property safely.
How often can a landlord inspect a rental in the ACT?
A landlord can inspect during the first month of the tenancy, during the final month, and twice in each 12 month period from when the tenancy begins. At least 1 week written notice is required before a standard inspection. That notice window is the reason most of our rental work is booked at short notice, and it is why Polytechnitis keeps capacity for it.
Do you work with property managers and real estate agents?
Yes, regularly. Property managers need a trade who quotes fast, turns up, and does not generate extra admin. Polytechnitis quotes from a job list and photos, attends once, and provides a written summary of the work completed on request, which is what most agencies need for their records and the exit report.
Can you do everything in one visit?
That is the point of the service. Polytechnitis prices the whole list as one job rather than charging per item, so a wall patch, 2 sticking doors, a loose towel rail and a gutter clean are one attendance and one invoice. Send the full list up front, including the small things, because a second visit for a forgotten item is what makes these jobs expensive.
Do you do end of lease repairs for tenants?
Yes. Outgoing tenants call Polytechnitis for the same work landlords do: picture hook holes filled, scuffs touched up, a door that has dropped re-hung, a broken blind replaced. Getting it done before the exit inspection is almost always cheaper than having it deducted from the bond afterwards.
Do you do plumbing or electrical work in rentals?
No. Plumbing and electrical work in the ACT is licensed work, and Polytechnitis does not take it on. If a job on your list turns out to need a licensed trade we tell you when we quote, not after we arrive, and point you to someone who holds the licence.
How much do rental repairs cost in Canberra?
It depends entirely on the list. Polytechnitis quotes a fixed price for the whole job before we start, with no call-out fee. A typical Canberra metro job starts from $150 to $180 including GST, a standard single-storey gutter clean starts from $229 including GST, and a standard driveway pressure wash starts from $219 including GST. All 3 are starting points rather than caps, because the price depends on the project and its scope, so send the job list and photos for a real figure.
Can you quote from photos without attending?
Usually, yes, and it is how most of these jobs start. Send the job list with a photo of each item and Polytechnitis will come back with a fixed price. It saves an attendance fee, it means the tenant is only disturbed once, and for an interstate or overseas landlord it is the only practical way to run it.
Do you cover Queanbeyan and the NSW side?
Yes. Polytechnitis covers Queanbeyan, Karabar, Jerrabomberra and Googong alongside Canberra and the ACT. Worth noting for landlords with property on both sides of the border: the repair timeframes quoted on this page are the ACT rules, and NSW tenancy law sets its own, so check the rules for the jurisdiction the property sits in.
GOT A JOB ON THE LIST?
LET'S SORT IT.
Send the job list and photos, and we'll come back with one fixed price for the lot.