How much notice does a landlord have to give to enter a rental property in Queensland?

Since 1 May 2025 most entries need at least 48 hours written notice on the RTA Entry notice (Form 9): repairs and maintenance, checking repairs were done, smoke alarm and safety switch work, valuations and showing the property to prospective tenants or buyers. A routine inspection needs at least 7 days notice. Before 1 May 2025 the general period was 24 hours.

What hours can a landlord enter a rental in Queensland?

Between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday. Entry on a Sunday, a public holiday, or before 8am or after 6pm is only allowed if the tenant agrees. For a routine inspection the notice must state a time or a 2-hour window and the entry must happen inside it.

How often can a landlord do a routine inspection in Queensland?

Once every 3 months, unless the tenant agrees in writing to more. After a Notice to leave (Form 12) or a tenant's Notice of intention to leave (Form 13) has been given, the owner or agent cannot enter more than twice in any 7-day period, with limited exceptions.

What is the penalty for a landlord entering without proper notice in Queensland?

Unlawful entry is an offence under section 202 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 with a maximum of 20 penalty units. From 1 July 2026 a Queensland penalty unit is $172.70, so the maximum is $3,454 for an individual. Interfering with the tenant's quiet enjoyment is a separate offence with the same maximum.

Entry notice rules for QLD landlords: how much notice, for what, and when you can go in

Written for Queensland owners who manage their own rental. Checked against the Residential Tenancies Authority's entry pages and fact sheet on 21 October 2026. Links to the official source are under each section.

The short version. You need a written Entry notice (RTA Form 9) for almost every visit. Routine inspections need at least 7 days notice and can happen at most once every 3 months. Nearly everything else, including repairs, smoke alarm work, valuations and showing the property, needs at least 48 hours. You can only enter between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday, unless the tenant agrees otherwise. The 48-hour period replaced the old 24 hours on 1 May 2025, so a lot of advice online is stale.

The notice periods, reason by reason

Every one of these must be given in writing using the RTA Entry notice (Form 9). The periods are minimums. You can always give more.

Routine inspection: 7 days. No more than once every 3 months unless the tenant agrees in writing. The notice must state a time or a 2-hour window.
Repairs or maintenance: 48 hours. The 1 exception is a remote property where there is a shortage of qualified repairers, where no notice is needed.
Checking that repairs the tenant asked for were done: 48 hours, and the entry must be within 14 days of the work being completed.
Checking a significant breach was fixed after you served a Notice to remedy breach (Form 11): 48 hours, within 14 days after the remedy date on the Form 11 passes.
Installing, testing or replacing smoke alarms: 48 hours.
Safety switch compliance: 48 hours.
Valuation: 48 hours.
Showing the property to a prospective tenant: 48 hours, with a reasonable gap since the last entry for the same reason. Only once the tenant has given a Notice of intention to leave (Form 13) or you have given a Notice to leave (Form 12). State a 2-hour window.
Showing the property to a prospective buyer: 48 hours, with a reasonable gap since the last showing. You must give a Notice of lessor's intention to sell (Form 10) before or with the entry notice. State a 2-hour window. Buyers cannot wander through unaccompanied unless the tenant agrees, and an open home or on-site auction needs the tenant's written agreement.
You reasonably believe the property has been abandoned: 48 hours.

No notice is needed in an emergency, to protect the property from imminent or further damage, or if the tenant agrees to you coming in, but only at the time they agreed to.

Source: RTA, Entry to the property and RTA, Rules of entry fact sheet

What changed on 1 May 2025

Stage 2 of Queensland's rental law reforms started on 1 May 2025. For entry there were 2 changes that matter:

The general minimum entry notice went from 24 hours to 48 hours. That covers repairs, maintenance, smoke alarm and safety switch work, valuations and showings. Routine inspections stayed at 7 days.
Once a Notice to leave (Form 12) or a Notice of intention to leave (Form 13) has been given, you cannot enter more than 2 times in any 7-day period. The exceptions are entry the tenant agrees to, smoke alarm or safety switch compliance work, and entry to prevent imminent or further damage. Giving a Form 12 at the start of a tenancy does not get around this.

If you are still using an old lease pack, a template notice or a checklist from an agent that says 24 hours, throw it out. The RTA updated Form 9 for the change. Use the current version from the RTA site every time.

Source: RTA, New Queensland rental laws in effect from 1 May 2025 and Department of Housing, Rental law changes

Work out the earliest time you can enter

Pick the reason, then enter the day and time the tenant receives the notice. This works out the earliest moment you can enter and moves it to the next allowed slot if it lands outside 8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday. It assumes the notice is handed over, emailed (where your agreement allows electronic notices) or sent by text, which all count from the moment it arrives. If you post it, the clock only starts the day after it reaches the property, so add delivery time.

Reason for entry Day the tenant receives the notice Time they receive it

A date helper, not legal advice. It does not know Queensland public holidays, so if the result lands on one, move it to the next working day or get the tenant's agreement. For a routine inspection or a showing, the notice must also state a time or a 2-hour window, and you must enter inside it.

The notice itself: Form 9, and how to deliver it

The Entry notice is a prescribed RTA form. Download the current Form 9 from the RTA, fill in every field (the address, the reason, the date, and the time or 2-hour window), sign and date it, and keep a copy. A text message saying "coming round Thursday" is not an entry notice.

The RTA says notices can be given by hand, by post, by text message or by email. Email only counts if your tenancy agreement provides for electronic notices, so check the box you ticked on the Form 18a. You do not have to hand it to the tenant personally. Leaving it in the letterbox is fine, but then it is treated as received when it arrives, so plan the timing around that.

How the clock runs, straight from the RTA's example: a 48-hour entry notice emailed at 2pm on 12 June means you cannot enter before 2pm on 14 June. Posted notices are different. The period starts the day after the letter reaches the property, so post is a poor choice for a 48-hour notice.

Source: RTA, Entry notice (Form 9) and RTA, Allowing time when serving notices

When you can be there

Entry is between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday.
Sundays, public holidays, and any time before 8am or after 6pm need the tenant's agreement. Get it in writing.
If your notice states a 2-hour window, you must arrive inside it. Early is not a technicality. In July 2025 a Gold Coast agency was convicted after staff entered before 8am on the day stated on the Form 9, among other breaches, and fined $10,000.
The tenant does not have to be home unless being present was a condition of an entry they agreed to. The RTA still recommends you offer a time they can attend, and it saves arguments later.

Source: RTA, Entry to the property and RTA, Agency fined $10,000 for unlawful entry and tenant privacy breaches

How often you can enter

Routine inspections: at most once every 3 months. The first one can be any time after the agreement starts, with 7 days notice. More often only if the tenant agrees in writing.
Showings: there is no fixed number, only a "reasonable interval" since the last entry for the same reason. Once a Form 12 or Form 13 is in play, the 2 entries in 7 days cap applies on top.
After a notice to leave either way: no more than 2 entries in any 7-day period, for any reason, unless the tenant agrees, it is smoke alarm or safety switch compliance work, or you need to prevent imminent or further damage.

On top of all of this sits the general duty not to interfere with the tenant's reasonable peace, comfort and privacy. 4 technically valid entries in a fortnight for reasons that could have been combined into 1 visit is the kind of pattern that ends up in front of the Tribunal.

Source: RTA, Routine inspections and RTA, Rules of entry fact sheet

Photos and the tenant's belongings

Taking photos of the condition of the property during an inspection is normal. Photographing the tenant's possessions is where people get into trouble. Photos that show a tenant's belongings, including in advertising, can only be used if the tenant agrees in writing. Showing a tenant's possessions in an advertisement without that consent is a separate offence with a maximum of 20 penalty units.

Since 1 May 2025 there are also rules on personal information generally. Once a tenancy has started you may only collect or access a tenant's personal information, which includes photographs of their belongings, for the purpose of managing the property. It has to be stored securely and destroyed 7 years after the tenancy ends. Photograph walls, floors, fittings and damage. Avoid photographing desks, bedside tables, documents and anything that identifies a person.

Source: RTA, Rules of entry fact sheet and Department of Housing, Rental law changes

If the tenant says no

A properly served entry notice gives you a right to enter under the Act. It does not give you the right to push past a tenant who objects, and doing so is the fastest route to a quiet enjoyment complaint. The RTA's sequence is: talk to the tenant before the planned time and try to fix it, which usually means moving the time. If that fails, either party can ask the RTA for free dispute resolution (online or on a Dispute resolution request, Form 16). If that fails too, the RTA issues a Notice of unresolved dispute and you can apply to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, urgently if the entry is for something like a safety repair.

Source: RTA, Rules of entry fact sheet

What happens if you get it wrong

Entering without a valid notice, outside the stated time, or outside permitted hours is unlawful entry under section 202 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008, with a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units. Interfering with the tenant's quiet enjoyment under section 183 carries the same maximum. A Queensland penalty unit is $172.70 from 1 July 2026, so each offence can cost an individual landlord up to $3,454. Corporations face higher multiples. The RTA does prosecute: the July 2025 Gold Coast case above involved both offences, a $10,000 fine and $4,713 in costs.

Separately from the fine, the tenant can serve you a Notice to remedy breach (Form 11) and, if it continues, apply to end the tenancy or seek compensation. A record of sloppy entries also makes every later dispute about bond, damage or rent harder to win.

Source: RTA, List of offences under the Act (PDF) and Penalties and Sentences (Penalty Unit Value) Amendment Regulation 2026

A simple plan for a self-managing landlord

Save the current RTA Form 9 to your phone and computer. Delete any older version or agent template.
Put routine inspections in your calendar every 3 months from the tenancy start, and set a reminder 10 days before each one to send the Form 9 with a 2-hour window inside 8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday.
Combine jobs. If the smoke alarm test, a tap repair and the inspection can happen in 1 visit, do that, and list each reason on the notice.
For anything other than an inspection, send the notice at least 3 days ahead so weekends and late replies do not catch you short of 48 hours.
Keep a dated copy of every notice and how you sent it. If you email, keep the sent item. If you letterbox, take a timestamped photo.
Photograph the property, not the people in it. Never put a photo with the tenant's belongings in a listing without written consent.
If the tenant objects, move the time. Only escalate to RTA dispute resolution if a reasonable alternative is refused.

Entry notice is 1 of about 30 things you are meant to track

Inspection windows, rent increase dates, smoke alarm tests, bond lodgement, pool certificates, safety switches, fixed-term end dates. The free Landlord Minder checklist puts every Queensland date and obligation on 1 page with a link to the official source for each.

Read the free checklist Get reminded before each date

Frequently asked

Does 48 hours mean 2 business days?
No. It is 48 clock hours from when the tenant receives the notice. Emailed at 2pm Tuesday means not before 2pm Thursday. But you still have to land inside 8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday, so a notice received at 5pm Friday puts the earliest entry at 5pm Sunday, which is not allowed, so the first real slot is 8am Monday.

Can I do the first inspection in the first month?
Yes. The first routine inspection can be any time after the agreement starts, with 7 days notice. After that, at least 3 months between inspections.

Can I text the notice?
The RTA lists text message as a way of giving notices, but what you send still has to be the completed Form 9, not a one-line message. Send the form as an attachment or a clear photo, and keep the sent message. Email is the easier option if your agreement allows electronic notices.

What about pool safety inspections?
The RTA's list of entry reasons does not name pools separately. Treat it like any maintenance entry: 48 hours on a Form 9, or agree a time with the tenant. If a licensed pool safety inspector is attending, they go in under your notice.

My tradie can only come at short notice. Can I just send them?
Not without the tenant's agreement. Either give 48 hours notice for a window the tradie can commit to, or ask the tenant to agree to the shorter time and keep their reply. The remote-area exception only applies where there is a genuine shortage of repairers.

Do these rules apply to rooming accommodation?
Rooming accommodation has its own periods: 24 hours for cleaning and 48 hours for other entries, with different forms. This page covers general tenancies (houses, units and townhouses).

This page is general information, not legal advice. It summarises public information from the Residential Tenancies Authority and the Queensland Government. Check the linked official source or get professional advice before you act. Spotted something wrong or out of date? Sign up and reply to the welcome email, and it will be fixed.