Routine inspection scheduling for property managers

AI routine inspection scheduling builds each week’s inspection run from your due list, drafts entry notices that meet the state’s notice period, and confirms times with tenants by SMS. In Victoria a general inspection needs 7 days’ written notice and can happen at most once every 6 months. A property manager approves every run and notice before it goes out.

Inspections are where scheduling errors turn into compliance problems. A notice served a day late, an inspection booked inside a tenancy’s first 3 months in Victoria, or a visit on a public holiday can each give a tenant grounds to refuse entry. The AI’s job is to check those rules on every booking and do the back-and-forth with tenants, so property managers spend their time in the properties.

Notice periods and limits by state

Each state and territory sets its own rules for routine inspections. The AI holds the rules for every state you manage in and applies the right set to each property. The table summarises each regulator’s guidance as checked on 26 October 2026; follow the link before relying on a detail.

State	Notice for a routine inspection	How often	Entry times and other rules
Victoria (CAV)	7 days, in writing, stating the reason	Not in the first 3 months; at most once every 6 months	8am to 6pm, not on public holidays, unless the renter agrees
New South Wales (NSW Fair Trading)	At least 7 days’ written notice each time	Up to 4 times in 12 months	All days, including weekends, count towards the notice period
Queensland (RTA)	7 days, on an Entry notice (Form 9)	Not more than once every 3 months unless the tenant agrees in writing	A set time or a 2-hour window
Western Australia (Consumer Protection)	7 to 14 days’ written notice on Form 19	No more than 4 times a year	8am to 6pm weekdays, 9am to 5pm Saturdays; tenant may refuse on a public holiday
South Australia (SA.GOV.AU)	7 to 28 days’ written notice	4 times a year	A period of up to 2 hours, 8am to 8pm, not Sundays or public holidays
Tasmania (Consumer Affairs Tasmania)	At least 24 hours’ notice	Once every 3 months, including once in the first month	8am to 6pm
ACT (ACT Government)	At least 1 week’s written notice	Twice in each 12 months, plus the first and last month	Not Sundays, public holidays, before 8am or after 6pm
Northern Territory (NT Government)	At least 7 days’ notice	Once every 3 months, or longer if the agreement says so	7am to 9pm; tenant present unless an exception applies

In Victoria these rights of entry are set by the Residential Tenancies Act 1997. For other states, the regulator page linked in the table is the reference the AI’s rules are built from.

How an inspection run is scheduled

Due list. The AI reads a list of properties due for inspection from your property management software: address, lease start date, last inspection date, assigned property manager and state.
Eligibility check. For each property it works out the earliest lawful date (for example, after the first 3 months of a Victorian tenancy and no sooner than 6 months after the last general inspection) and the latest date your agency’s own schedule allows.
Draft run. It groups eligible properties by suburb and travel order, fits them into the property manager’s available half-days, and proposes a time or time window for each.
Approval. The property manager reviews the run, moves or removes properties, and approves it. Nothing is sent before this step.
Notices. The AI prepares each notice in the form the state requires, dated so the notice period is met for the delivery method. Where a Victorian renter has agreed in writing to receive notices electronically, it can go by email; otherwise it goes by post, with postage time allowed, or by hand to the renter between 8am and 6pm.
Tenant contact. Tenants receive an SMS with the date and time window, whether they need to be home under that state’s rules (in the Northern Territory the tenant is generally present), and a question about pets or anything that affects access.
Reschedules. If a tenant asks to move, the AI offers other slots inside the rules. If the new time falls outside the original notice, it tells the property manager that a fresh notice is needed.
Reminders. A reminder goes the day before. On the day, the property manager can trigger a “running 20 minutes late” SMS to the next tenant from their phone.
Close-out. After the visit, the next due date is calculated and added to the due list.

Common causes of a refused or invalid entry

Counting the notice period from the day the letter was posted instead of the day it is likely to arrive.
Booking a Victorian general inspection inside the first 3 months of the agreement.
Booking on a public holiday, or on a Sunday in South Australia or the ACT.
Exceeding the yearly limit in New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia or the ACT because inspection dates were lost when the property changed managers.
Taking photos for advertising without the notice South Australia requires. SA.GOV.AU says tenants must get 7 days’ written notice if photos or video taken at an inspection may be published or could show their possessions, and must agree in writing before images of their possessions are published.

The AI checks each of these on every booking and blocks the booking, with a reason, when a rule would be broken.

What you configure

Your inspection frequency policy, which can be stricter than the law.
Property managers’ inspection days and the suburbs each covers.
Notice templates for each state, approved by your agency.
Delivery method for each tenancy, including any written consent to electronic notices.
SMS wording, sender name and the reply options tenants see.

What it does not do

It does not serve a notice or confirm a time without a person’s approval. It does not inspect, take photos, or write the condition assessment; property managers keep using their usual inspection app. It does not decide whether a tenant has breached the agreement or send breach notices. It does not give tenants legal advice about entry rights; it links them to the regulator’s page.

Scheduling and notice drafting are workflow automation, scoped against your software and quoted. The phone line tenants call to reschedule runs on the answering plans, from $299 per month a month ex GST for business hours; SMS notifications and appointment booking come with Professional, which is $599 per month per month before GST. The cost guide covers sizing, and how to automate property management with AI shows where inspections sit in a rollout. Yes AI’s wider workflow work is at ai-automation.au.

Inspection findings often feed the monthly owner update; see landlord reporting automation. To see a draft run built from a sample of your due list, send it through the enquiry form.