Form questions

Move in inspection questions for a condition report

Ask all of them; a condition report is the one form where more detail protects both sides. Never skip a condition grid for every room, dated photos of anything marked unclean, damaged or not working, and the tenant's own review of the report. Missing any of the three is how bond disputes start.

A move in inspection has to record the state of every room, fitting and key on the day the tenancy starts, so nobody argues from memory when the bond is claimed. These questions walk the property room by room and add the details usually missing at the end: meter readings, key counts, smoke alarm dates and photos.

The questions

Property and people

  1. Property addressAddressRequired

  2. Inspection dateDateRequired

  3. Who is completing this part of the report?Single choiceRequired

    Landlord or agent, or tenant. Each side fills in its own copy.

  4. Name of the person completing itNameRequired

  5. Tenancy start dateDate

  6. Was the other party present?Single choice

Living areas and bedrooms

  1. Entry and hallwayRating gridRequired

    Rows for walls, floor, doors, lights and power points; columns clean, undamaged, working, not applicable, several ticks per row.

  2. Living roomRating gridRequired

  3. Bedroom 1Rating gridRequired

    Add a wardrobe row and a window coverings row to every bedroom grid.

  4. Bedroom 2Rating grid

  5. Any further bedrooms or a studyRating grid

  6. Photos of the living areas and bedroomsFile upload

    File upload takes up to 10 files where a photo field takes one. Allow images only.

  7. Comments on the living areas and bedroomsLong text

    Describe every unticked box: where, how big, and which photo shows it.

Kitchen, bathroom and laundry

  1. KitchenRating gridRequired

    Benches, cupboards, oven, cooktop, rangehood, sink and taps, dishwasher.

  2. BathroomRating gridRequired

  3. Second bathroom or ensuiteRating grid

  4. LaundryRating grid

  5. Photos of the kitchen, bathroom and laundryFile upload

  6. Comments on the kitchen, bathroom and laundryLong text

Outside, safety and services

  1. Outside areasRating grid

    Gardens, fences and gates, paths, garage or carport, clothesline, external lights.

  2. Photos of the outside areasFile upload

  3. Are smoke alarms installed where required?Single choiceRequired

  4. Date the smoke alarms were last checkedDate

    The NSW condition report guidance asks for this date.

  5. Date the smoke alarm batteries were last replacedDate

  6. Any visible electrical hazards, such as a loose power point or exposed wiring?Single choice

Keys, readings and sign off

  1. Electricity meter readingNumber

  2. Water meter readingNumber

  3. Gas meter readingNumber

  4. Number of keys handed overNumber

  5. Number of garage remotes or access cards handed overNumber

  6. Anything else not shown in the gridsLong text

  7. Do you agree with the condition recorded?Single choice

    Yes, or no with the reasons in the comments above.

  8. SignatureSignature

Which questions to make required

Ten questions are required: the address, the date, who is completing the report and their name, the grids for the rooms every home has, and whether smoke alarms are installed. A report without a date or a named author proves little, and a room with no grid is exactly where a later dispute lands. Grids for a second bathroom, extra bedrooms, a laundry and the outside stay optional, because not every property has them.

The form built from these questions

A static copy of the finished form, from its own example page.

Page 1 of 5

Routine inspection

Ashcombe Property Management. Complete on site. The PDF goes to the owner and the tenant within two working days.

Step 1: property

Three ways to change this bank

For the exit condition report, keep every grid in exactly the same order and wording, so the two reports can be compared row by row, then add the cleaning still needed, the keys returned and a forwarding address for the bond. For a furnished holiday rental, add an inventory table with columns for item, quantity and condition, and ask guests on departure about breakages and missing linen rather than walls and fences. For the handover of a commercial tenancy, replace bedrooms and laundry with the fit out, fire equipment, signage and services, and record the photos as the make good baseline the tenant will be held to when the lease ends.

Questions people ask

How long does a tenant have to return the condition report?

It depends on the state. In New South Wales the tenant returns a completed copy within seven days of moving in. In Victoria the renter returns it within five business days, not counting weekends and public holidays. Put the deadline for your state in a paragraph block at the top of the form.

Does a form like this replace the official condition report?

Not where a state publishes its own. NSW and Victoria both provide an official condition report form. Check whether yours must be used, then treat this bank as the room by room checklist and photo record behind it, so every entry on the official report has a dated answer and a picture to support it.

Why tick clean, undamaged and working separately?

Because a fitting can fail one and pass the others. An oven can be spotless and broken, and a carpet can be clean but torn. A grid where several boxes can be ticked per row records each condition on its own, and every unticked box becomes a prompt to describe the problem in the comments.

How many photos should a move in inspection include?

At least one wide shot of every room, plus a close up of every item marked unclean, damaged or not working. NSW guidance recommends time stamped photos. A file upload takes up to 10 files, so give each area its own upload rather than one large one, which keeps photos matched to the right room.

Why record smoke alarm dates on the report?

In New South Wales the condition report guidance asks whether smoke alarms are installed and the dates they were last checked and had their batteries replaced. Other states have their own smoke alarm rules. Recording the dates at move in also shows when the next check is due and who was responsible for the last one.

What if the tenant disagrees with the report?

The tenant should note every disagreement on their own copy, with photos, and return it within the state's deadline. In Victoria, either party who thinks the report is wrong or incomplete can apply to VCAT within 30 days of the start of the agreement. The agree question here captures the disagreement in writing from day one.

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Sources

Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .