Windows are the last thing anyone thinks about and the first thing the exit inspection photographs, because a window is the one surface in the property that is lit from behind. Every smear shows. Nothing else in the house is graded under a spotlight like that.
The good news is that Victoria’s guidelines are unusually specific here — more specific than for walls, more specific than for floors. There is an actual line, written down, about which panes of glass are yours and which are not. Most renters clean past it, and a fair number of exit reports demand well past it.
The line runs at the ground floor
Two separate guidelines say the same thing from opposite directions, which is what makes this one hard to argue with.
Guideline 2 (Cleanliness) lists what you would expect in reasonably clean premises. Three of those items are windows:
Windowsills free from dust and dirt.
Windows, including the outside of any external ground floor windows, to be free from marks, smears, dust, and dirt.
Curtains or blinds free from dust and stains.
Guideline 1 (Maintenance) then splits the same work between the two parties. In the renter’s list of general maintenance:
Cleaning the inside of any windows and the outside of any ground floor windows.
Cleaning the inside of the balcony doors, windows, and tracks.
And in the rental provider’s list, under things outside the property:
Washing the outside of windows that are not easily accessible to the renter (especially those on upper levels).
So the split is:
| Surface | Whose job |
|---|---|
| Inside of every window in the property | Renter |
| Outside of ground floor windows | Renter |
| Windowsills | Renter |
| Balcony doors, windows and tracks (inside) | Renter |
| Outside of upper level windows | Rental provider |
| Outside of any window not easily accessible to you | Rental provider |
If you are in a first floor flat, or the top half of a two storey house, the outside of those upper windows is not on your list. An exit report that charges you for them is asking for something Guideline 1 assigns to the other party.
Guideline 2 carries a related limit worth knowing. Alongside heating ducts and exhaust fans it notes that “cleaning at heights may often be considered maintenance which is the responsibility of the RRP”, and that renters “are not expected to access ceiling fans where access may be dangerous.” The principle behind that sentence — you are not expected to put yourself on a ladder at height to hit a cleaning standard — is the same principle that puts upper level exterior glass on the provider’s side.
Tracks are where the money actually is
In practice, nobody loses bond over a smear on the glass. They lose it over the tracks.
Tracks collect a particular kind of grit — dust that has been rained on through the flyscreen and then dried into a paste, plus whatever the vacuum can’t reach in the corners. It sits in a channel about a centimetre wide, and it is visible in a photo taken from directly above. That combination is why it turns up on exit reports so reliably.
Guideline 1 names them: the inside of the balcony doors, windows, and tracks. So they are genuinely yours. But the standard is the general one, and the general one has a ceiling built into it. Guideline 2:
Generally, an item or surface may be considered reasonably clean if it is free from marks, dirt, cobwebs, stains or dust etc. and cannot be further improved by additional cleaning to a reasonable standard (e.g. wiping down a benchtop again doesn’t produce a higher standard of cleanliness).
Cannot be further improved by additional cleaning to a reasonable standard. An aluminium track that has been in the weather for fifteen years has pitting and discolouration that no amount of work removes. Once the loose grit is out and another pass changes nothing, you have met the standard. A demand to make it look new is a demand for something above the standard.
Note the word cobwebs in that sentence too. It appears twice in Guideline 2 — once in the definition and once in the case law summary, where VCAT “has previously found that cobwebs, dusty walls and dirty kitchen appliances are indicative of a state which is not ‘reasonably clean’.” Window frames, external sills and the top corners of sliding door reveals are exactly where cobwebs live. That is a five minute job with a broom and it is on the wrong side of a line VCAT has already drawn.
Blinds get judged twice
Blinds are unusual in that all three guidelines touch them, and they say different things.
Guideline 2 puts the cleaning obligation on you: Curtains or blinds free from dust and stains. Dust and stains. Not “as new”, not “restrung”, not “professionally laundered”.
Guideline 3 (Damage and fair wear and tear) then splits the condition question. Its lists put:
- Faded curtains or blinds → fair wear and tear
- Curtains or blinds which are stained or ripped → damage
That distinction does most of the work in a dispute. Vertical blinds in a west facing living room go brittle and yellow. Roller blinds lose their tension. Venetian slats bow. None of that is a deduction, and Guideline 3 says why in one sentence:
The RRP is not entitled to compensation merely because things wear out.
Where a blind genuinely is torn or stained, age still matters. Regulation 90 of the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 prescribes the ATO Rental Properties 2020 Guide as the depreciation scale, and Guideline 3 says VCAT “must consider the depreciation scale in the Guide, when determining compensation payable by a renter for the damaged part of the rented premises.” Its own worked example uses carpet: a renter of eight years “could not be expected to pay for the replacement of carpet at the end of the tenancy given carpet is considered to have an 8-year life span.” The same arithmetic applies to a window covering — you would be looking at the remaining life of that blind, not the price of a new one.
And the minimum standards put a supply obligation on the other side entirely:
Windows in rooms likely to be used as bedrooms or living areas must be fitted with curtains or blinds that can be closed, block light and provide privacy.
All external windows in the rented premises which are capable of opening must have a functioning latch to secure the windows against external entry.
From 1 December 2025, all corded internal window coverings, such as blinds and curtains, must have an anchor installed to secure the cords and prevent them forming loops.
If a bedroom has no covering, or a window won’t latch, or a corded blind has no cord anchor, those are not exit cleaning items. They are standards the property has to meet, and they are worth raising as a repair request rather than absorbing quietly on the way out.
The condition report is still the referee
Everything above is the general rule. What actually decides a specific argument is the paperwork, and Guideline 2 is blunt about it:
VCAT has held that ‘reasonably clean’ does not mean a condition which is superior to that documented in the condition report and the fact that the premises are in a lesser state than they were at the beginning of the tenancy does not necessarily mean that the renter is liable to compensate the RRP.
Which means: if the blinds were already sun-bleached at the start, if the tracks were already stained, if a pane already had a scratch — and that is in your entry report or your move-in photos — the argument is over before it starts. If it isn’t recorded, you are relying on a general principle instead of evidence, which is a much weaker place to stand. Our condition report guide covers what to record and how.
The other frequent overreach is a demand for professional window cleaning. Regulation 12 limits that to two situations — professional cleaning was carried out immediately before your tenancy started and you were told so, or it is required to restore the premises to their condition at the start, having regard to the condition report and allowing for fair wear and tear. Outside those two, the obligation is the ordinary one.
A sane order of work
Windows go badly when they are done first, because everything you do afterwards puts dust back on them. From doing this in occupied and empty properties, the order that saves the most re-work is:
- Cobwebs first, before anything wet — frames, external sills, the top corners of sliding door reveals, the underside of the eave right above a ground floor window.
- Blinds next. Dust them before you touch the glass, because dust falls. Slats, headrail, the cord or chain.
- Dry debris out of the tracks before adding any water. Wet grit becomes paste and paste is a much longer job than grit.
- Sills and frames.
- Glass last — inside everywhere, outside on the ground floor only.
- Photograph it in daylight, from the same angle the exit report will use.
That last step is not busywork. Glass and tracks are the two things in the property most likely to be photographed close-up by someone else, and the only reliable answer to their photo is your photo of the same surface on the same day. It slots into the same evidence habit as the rest of the end of lease checklist, and it is the same habit that settles arguments about marks on the walls.
The short version ① The inside of every window, the outside of ground floor windows, the sills and the tracks are yours — the outside of upper level windows is the rental provider’s, in writing, in Guideline 1 ② Blinds must be free of dust and stains; faded is fair wear and tear, stained or ripped is damage, and even then age is discounted through the ATO depreciation scale prescribed by regulation 90 ③ The standard is “cannot be further improved by additional cleaning to a reasonable standard” — not new — and a demand for professional cleaning is only enforceable in the two situations set out in regulation 12
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to clean the outside of the windows before I move out?
Only the ground floor ones. Guideline 2 (Cleanliness) expects "Windows, including the outside of any external ground floor windows, to be free from marks, smears, dust, and dirt." Guideline 1 (Maintenance) puts the same split in the renter's list — "Cleaning the inside of any windows and the outside of any ground floor windows" — and puts "Washing the outside of windows that are not easily accessible to the renter (especially those on upper levels)" in the rental provider's list instead. If your place is a first floor flat or a two storey house, the outside of the upper windows is not your job.
What about window tracks and sills?
Both are named. Guideline 2 expects "Windowsills free from dust and dirt", and Guideline 1's renter list includes "Cleaning the inside of the balcony doors, windows, and tracks." Tracks are the single most commonly written-up item in this whole category, and they are also the one where the guideline's own limit applies — the standard is that the surface "cannot be further improved by additional cleaning to a reasonable standard", not that it looks new.
The blinds are faded and brittle. Can they charge me?
Not for the fading. Guideline 3 lists "Faded curtains or blinds" as fair wear and tear and "Curtains or blinds which are stained or ripped" as damage, and it states the principle plainly - "The RRP is not entitled to compensation merely because things wear out." Regulation 90 also prescribes the ATO Rental Properties 2020 Guide as the depreciation scale VCAT must consider, so age is built into what a damaged item is actually worth.
There are no blinds in the bedroom. Is that on me?
No, that is a supply obligation on the rental provider. The rental minimum standards require that "Windows in rooms likely to be used as bedrooms or living areas must be fitted with curtains or blinds that can be closed, block light and provide privacy." Separately, from 1 December 2025 all corded internal window coverings must have an anchor installed to secure the cords and prevent them forming loops, and every external window capable of opening must have a functioning latch.
Can they require a professional window clean?
Only in the two situations in regulation 12 — professional cleaning was carried out immediately before your tenancy started and you were told so, or professional cleaning is needed to restore the premises to their condition at the start, having regard to the condition report and allowing for fair wear and tear. Otherwise the obligation is the ordinary one, which is to leave the place reasonably clean.
- Consumer Affairs Victoria — Guideline 2, Cleanliness (Director's Guidelines)
- Consumer Affairs Victoria — Guideline 1, Maintenance (Director's Guidelines)
- Consumer Affairs Victoria — Guideline 3, Damage and fair wear and tear (Director's Guidelines)
- Consumer Affairs Victoria — Rental properties, minimum standards
- Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 (Vic)
- Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic)
This guide is general information based on official sources current at the date shown above. Tenancy law differs by state and by agreement. For decisions about your own bond, check the official body linked above or get advice for your situation.
Keep reading
Victorian renters can put up hooks, swap the shower head or hang their own curtains without asking. At the end of the lease each of those changes has to be reversed or paid for, unless the rental provider agrees in writing or you paid a modification bond. Here is the list, item by item.
Walls are where most final inspections turn into an argument, and Victoria has two documents that settle it: the Director's Guidelines on cleanliness and on damage, which VCAT must have regard to. Here's the line they draw between a scuff you have to wipe and a mark nobody can charge you for, why hook holes sit on the other side of it, and what depreciation does to a repainting claim.
Victoria's Residential Tenancies Act says damage does not include fair wear and tear, which it defines as deterioration from reasonable use and natural forces. Consumer Affairs Victoria's Guideline 3 gives side-by-side examples, and VCAT has to weigh the age of an item using the ATO depreciation guide. An 8-year-old carpet is the example CAV uses for one a renter can't be charged to replace.