Routine inspection
A periodic inspection of a tenanted property by the landlord or property manager to check its condition, for which the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 requires written notice of not less than 48 hours and not more than 14 days.
A routine inspection is a periodic check of a tenanted property’s condition carried out by the landlord or the managing property manager during a tenancy. It is distinct from the ingoing and outgoing condition reports taken at the start and end of a tenancy.
Under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, the landlord or property manager must give the tenant written notice of a routine inspection of not less than 48 hours and not more than 14 days before the inspection, and inspections must be at reasonable intervals. Tenancy Services, administered by MBIE, publishes the current notice and frequency requirements.
For a property manager, each routine inspection produces a record — notice served, inspection report, and any photographs — that forms part of the property’s evidence trail and supports later maintenance, bond, or Tenancy Tribunal decisions. The bottleneck is usually not the visit itself but the report turnaround afterwards.
Primary source
Tenancy Services — Maintenance and inspections →Last reviewed 21 May 2026. Rates, thresholds, and deadlines change — always verify against the primary source before making decisions.
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