What Tenants Must Not Open

A rental house has covers that exist to keep untrained hands off live parts, gas, roofs and other people’s meters. ManjeProp’s fault form will ask you for photos and a description. It will never ask you to open a distribution board, a gas line or a roof in the wind.

This list is for tenants and for staff who write knowledge-base tips. If a tip tells someone to open a live board, the tip is wrong.

Distribution boards and any electrical cover

Do not open the DB board. Do not remove a socket faceplate. Do not take the back off a stove, a gate motor or a geyser. Do not reset breakers you cannot name. Do not touch exposed conductors, even if they look “off.”

If something electrical has failed, switch the appliance off at the wall if that is safe and dry, check prepaid credit, and tell us which rooms are affected. Photograph the damaged fitting from a distance. Stop there.

A registered electrician opens boards. You do not.

Geysers, roofs and ceilings

A stain on a ceiling is a ticket. A hatch into a roof void is not an invitation. Durban roofs get hot, dark and structurally unkind. Insulation hides live joints. A bowing ceiling can come down.

Do not climb. Do not poke a stain with a broom to “see if it’s wet.” If it is safe, put a bucket under a drip you can reach from the floor and send photos.

Geyser covers, elements and thermostats are not tenant parts. Overflow dripping outside is something you can photograph from the ground.

Gas, if the house has it

Some kitchens still have gas. If you smell gas, do not open electrical switches as a science experiment. Ventilate if you can, leave if you need to, keep flames away, and treat it as Emergency on the phone and on the form. You do not open valves to investigate.

Municipal and prepaid meters beyond a photograph

You may photograph a dial you can see without forcing a lid. You may not break a seal, move a bypass, or open a locked municipal box with a kitchen knife. If the box is locked or damaged, write “cannot access meter” and we will send someone with a key.

Locks, gate motors and palisade

You may look for something obviously blocking a gate. You may change a remote battery if the casing is meant to be opened with a thumb. You may not strip a motor, drill a barrel, or cut a chain because a remote died.

Access faults go on the form as Access / gate / keys. Locked out at night is a phone call: +27 60 313 6961.

Other people’s rooms and the office cupboard

A shared house is not a licence to open a housemate’s door because you want a charger. Staff cupboards, key cabinets and alarm panels are not tenant furniture. If you found a key box open, report it as Security. Do not help yourself and “tell someone later.”

Why we are blunt

Insurance, fire and electrocution do not care that you watched a video. Informal electrical work on a rental is how a small trip becomes a claim nobody will pay. It is also how a deposit argument starts: a tenant-opened board is damage, not maintenance.

A parent who is handy is still a visitor. A cousin who “does electrical on the side” is still not the registered person we will send. If they have already opened a cover, say so in the first line of the ticket and keep people away. Do not ask them to close it if that means touching parts.

Staff must not send a contractor a note that says “tenant will open the board before you arrive.” Staff must not paste alarm codes into a ticket that will be exported. A gate instruction belongs on a channel you can change after the visit.

What you should open

The fault form. The nearest tap if a leak is safe to isolate. A window for ventilation if there is no security reason not to. The lease, when you want to know who pays for what.

If you are viewing, do not open boards to “test the electrics.” Ask. Put leftover questions on the enquiry form.

If a knowledge-base card on the site ever seems to contradict this page, this page wins: covers stay closed. Tell us the card is wrong so we can edit it.

The covers are there because the things behind them can kill you or flood the house. Leave them closed. Send the ticket. Phone if it is dangerous.

Report a fault · +27 60 313 6961 · emergency services first if people are at immediate risk.