NSW Entry Condition Report: Property Manager's Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

The NSW entry condition report performs a specific and legally significant function under section 29 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW): it establishes the agreed condition of the premises at the start of the tenancy. This record is what a property manager relies on twelve or twenty-four months later when a bond dispute reaches the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

New South Wales mandates the prescribed Schedule 2 form under the Residential Tenancies Regulation 2019 — a form administered by NSW Fair Trading. Unlike South Australia, which does not prescribe a specific format, NSW does not allow custom templates. The form uses a Y/N rating system assessing each item as clean, undamaged, and working. It is this binary structure, not a written description, that makes the NSW form distinctive compared to Queensland's Form 1a or Victoria's Form 4.

The practical consequence of this structure is straightforward: if the entry condition report records that a carpet is undamaged (Y), and the exit inspection finds the carpet has a large stain, you have a clear comparison. NCAT can establish the baseline from your entry report, see the departure in the exit report, and assess the claim. Without the entry record, the baseline cannot be established — and the claim becomes very difficult to substantiate.

This guide focuses entirely on the entry side of the NSW condition report: how to prepare for it, conduct it systematically, handle the tenant review period, and deliver a record that holds up at NCAT. For the full legislative framework including bond deadlines and NCAT process, see the NSW condition report requirements guide. For the exit process, see exit condition report NSW.

The Schedule 2 condition report form uses a Y/N (Yes/No) rating system across three dimensions for each item: clean, undamaged, and working. For each item, the agent marks Y if the item is clean, undamaged, and working in that order, or N if it is not, with a comments field to explain each deficiency.

This is distinct from other Australian states. Queensland's RTA Form 1a uses a written description approach. Victoria's Form 4 is also description-based. NSW's binary system is faster to complete on-site and produces a clear, unambiguous record for tribunal — but it shifts the burden to the comments field, which must contain enough detail to be useful when the item is inspected at exit.

The form covers the property room by room. Standard sections include the entrance and hallway, living and dining areas, kitchen (with specific sub-items for stove, oven, rangehood, dishwasher, taps, and sink), each bedroom, bathroom and toilet (separate sections where applicable), laundry, garage or carport, and outdoor areas including garden, lawns, fences, paths, and any sheds or structures.

Smoke alarms are specifically called out on the NSW Schedule 2 form. The agent must record whether smoke alarms are installed and enter the dates they were last tested and had batteries replaced. NCAT has noted in decisions that failure to document smoke alarm status at entry can create complications if a tenant later disputes the condition of a property's safety equipment.

At the bottom of each section is a comments field where any N response must be explained. "N — carpet stained near bedroom door, approximately 300mm x 200mm, circular" is the level of specificity that holds up at tribunal. "N — carpet poor" does not. For every item marked N, the comments field should answer: if someone reads this at exit in two years, can they tell what the item looked like today?

The Schedule 2 form is available from NSW Fair Trading at fairtrading.nsw.gov.au. Property management software generating NSW condition reports should produce output that mirrors the Schedule 2 structure — specifically the Y/N columns for clean, undamaged, and working — rather than a generic multi-state template that does not match the prescribed format.

A well-completed entry condition report starts before you arrive at the property. The following preparation steps reduce on-site time and improve the quality and completeness of the final record.

Schedule the entry inspection before final handover day. The report must capture the property's condition after cleaning and maintenance, while the premises are still vacant. An inspection conducted while the tenant is moving furniture in cannot accurately document floors, storage interiors, or walls behind where items will sit.

Prepare your Schedule 2 template in advance. If you use inspection software, configure it for the specific property before you leave the office: number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, and any specific inclusions listed in the tenancy agreement — particular appliances, furniture for a furnished tenancy, pool or spa equipment, garden shed. Setting up the template in advance takes ten minutes and removes that task from the on-site inspection workload.

Check the tenancy agreement's inclusion list. Every item listed as a tenancy inclusion must appear in the entry condition report. If the agreement lists curtains, blinds, specific appliances, or furniture, those items need to be documented in the Y/N columns with comments for any N responses. An inclusion absent from the entry report cannot be claimed against the bond at exit.

Charge your devices and clear storage. For a thorough entry condition report with photographs, you will take between 60 and 150 images depending on the property size. Arrive with a full battery, sufficient storage space, and a backup plan — a second device or inspection software with automatic cloud backup.

Prepare the smoke alarm documentation. The NSW Schedule 2 form requires the date each smoke alarm was last tested and the date batteries were last replaced. Have this information ready before the inspection or confirm it on-site by checking the maintenance log. Do not leave the smoke alarm fields blank — this is one of the few items on the NSW form with named sub-fields specifically for maintenance dates.

Work through the property systematically using the Schedule 2 form sequence, starting at the entrance and progressing room by room. This ensures nothing is overlooked and makes the report easy to review in sequence — by the tenant during their 7-day review, and by NCAT if a dispute arises.

Entrance and hallway. Check the front door and lock. Note the number of keys issued to the tenant on the form (this becomes important at exit when keys are returned). Document the entry floor surface, walls, ceiling, light fittings, and any built-in storage. For each item, mark Y if clean, undamaged, and working, or N with a specific comment.

Living areas. Check all four walls including below windows and around power points and light switches. Ceiling — note any water marks, staining, or previous repairs that might be confused with new damage at exit. Floor surface. Windows and flyscreens. Window coverings — note the type (blinds, curtains) and their current condition. Light fittings and any fixed inclusions such as a wall-mounted bracket, fireplace, or split-system air conditioning unit.

Bedrooms. For each bedroom: all four walls, ceiling, floor, windows and flyscreens, the interior of built-in wardrobes (shelves, hanging rails, and the wardrobe floor), door condition and hardware. Note ceiling fans and any included heating or cooling units.

Kitchen. This room requires the most detailed documentation because the oven, cooktop, rangehood, and benchtops are consistently among the most disputed items at NCAT. For the oven: mark N if the interior is not clean, and describe specifically — "oven interior, baked-on residue visible on base and rear wall" — rather than marking N without comment. For the cooktop: note each burner or element. For the benchtop: note material, any pre-existing scratches or marks with their location. For the dishwasher if present: document the interior, racks, and filter condition. Do not mark Y for the oven if there is any residue — you will not be able to claim cleaning costs at exit if the entry report shows it was clean.

Bathrooms. Shower tiles and grout — note any existing mould or discolouration specifically, as these are frequently disputed. Shower screen and seals. Bath if present. Toilet bowl and cistern. Vanity and mirror surface. Exhaust fan condition and operation. Tapware. For each bathroom and separate toilet (where the property has a separate toilet), document each sub-item individually.

Laundry. Tub and tapware. Walls — often subject to splash marks around the tub. Floor. Washing machine if it is a tenancy inclusion — exterior condition and any notes about visible defects.

Outdoor areas. Garden beds and lawns — their condition at entry sets the standard the tenant is expected to maintain throughout the tenancy. Paths and paving. Fencing. Letterbox. Garage or carport including floor surface and door operation. Any shed or outbuilding. If the property has a pool or spa, document the pool equipment, water condition, and pool fencing separately. Pool safety is an area of additional compliance obligation in NSW under the Swimming Pools Act 1992.

The comments standard throughout: for every N response, the comment must be specific enough that a reader at exit can determine whether the item's condition has changed. "N — walls, dining area, scuff mark approximately 400mm above skirting, west wall" will support a claim or comparison. "N — walls, some marks" will not.

The NSW Schedule 2 form directs that photographs and video recordings should be dated, verified by both parties if possible, and attached to the condition report. While photographs are not strictly mandated by the Act in the same way the form itself is, NCAT consistently expects photographic evidence — and a bond claim submitted without entry photographs is at a substantial disadvantage.

The practical photography protocol for an NSW entry condition report:

Photograph every room from two positions. A wide shot from the doorway showing the overall room — walls, floor, and ceiling in the same frame — and a second shot from the opposite corner to capture what the first missed. These whole-room photographs establish the general condition of the room before any close-up detail.

Photograph every item for which you mark N. If you mark N with a comment describing a stain, scratch, or damage, there must be a photograph of it. Pre-existing damage recorded in the comment field but without a photograph can be challenged by a tenant who claims the defect appeared during the tenancy, not before.

Prioritise high-friction items. Ovens, carpets, bathroom tiles, and walls are the items most frequently disputed at NCAT bond hearings. For the oven: interior from the front, interior base, rear wall of the oven cavity, racks pulled out, and the door glass. For carpets: the overall floor surface from the doorway, plus close-ups of any pre-existing staining or wear marks. For bathrooms: tiles and grout, shower screen and seals, toilet bowl, and vanity surface.

Photograph smoke alarms. Document each smoke alarm's location, mounting, and any maintenance information visible on the unit. If you also have a maintenance record showing last test and battery replacement dates, photograph that too.

Ensure timestamps are accurate. The photograph's embedded metadata — date and time — is the primary timestamp. Check your device's date and time are correctly set before starting the inspection. Inspection software that attaches timestamps to image files or overlays the capture time on the photograph provides a second layer of confirmation.

Take photographs in the same sequence as the condition report. When you assemble your evidence package for a bond claim — potentially months after the inspection — photographs organised room by room in the same order as the Schedule 2 form are far easier to cross-reference than an unorganised folder of 120 images.

Section 29 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW) requires the landlord or agent to give the tenant the completed and signed condition report before or at the time the tenant signs the tenancy agreement. This is a pre-signature obligation — not a handover-day obligation, and not "within a few days of moving in."

In practice this means: complete and sign the entry condition report at the pre-tenancy inspection, have it ready before the tenant attends to sign the lease, and provide it at the same time the lease is executed.

For paper delivery: give the tenant two printed copies, both signed by the agent. The tenant keeps one and uses the other to complete their section and return it within 7 days. Retain the agent's own signed original.

For electronic delivery: a single electronic copy satisfies the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 requirement. Email the completed and signed report to the tenant before or when they sign the tenancy agreement. Retain a delivery confirmation showing the date and time the tenant received it. Inspection software generates a timestamped delivery record automatically — this is more convenient and more defensible than paper, because you have documented evidence of exactly when the report was delivered.

Sign the report before you send it. The agent must sign the entry section before it is provided to the tenant. An unsigned entry condition report does not satisfy the section 29 obligation and may be challenged in a dispute.

Note the tenant's return deadline at the time of delivery. The tenant has 7 calendar days from taking possession of the premises to return their completed section. Calculate and note that deadline on the day of delivery — and set a calendar reminder — so you don't overlook the follow-up a week later when other tenancies are also competing for your attention.

Once the signed entry condition report has been delivered to the tenant, they have 7 calendar days from the date they took possession of the premises to inspect the property, complete their section, and return a signed copy to the agent or landlord.

Calendar days, not business days. A tenant who takes possession on a Wednesday has until the following Wednesday — not a week and two business days — to return the report. This is the same 7-day window that Queensland allows for the entry Form 1a, and longer than Victoria's 5-business-day window.

If the tenant returns the report with no amendments: the entry condition report — agent's section and tenant's signed acknowledgement — is the agreed baseline for the tenancy. File it securely alongside the entry photographs in a location that will remain accessible for the duration of the tenancy and for a reasonable period after it ends.

If the tenant returns the report with comments: review each point of disagreement. If the tenant identifies a genuine condition issue you missed — "bathroom tiles, cracked grout at base of shower, not recorded" — acknowledge it, add a note to the tenancy record, and take a photograph if possible. If the tenant disputes something you believe is accurately recorded and photographed, note the disagreement on file. Both the agent's assessment and the tenant's comment form part of the record. Neither party can later claim the other's observations do not exist.

If the tenant does not return the report within 7 calendar days: under section 29 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010, the agent's completed and signed entry report stands as the record of the property's condition at the start of the tenancy. Document the non-return — a brief file note with the date the window closed is sufficient. Do not rely on this outcome without having confirmed the tenant actually received the report; a claim that the tenant agreed to the condition report because they did not return it is weakened if there is any doubt about whether it was delivered.

Send a reminder at day 5. A brief email — "Just a reminder that your condition report is due back by [date]" — reduces the likelihood of a non-return and creates a documented communication trail. This also demonstrates good faith if a dispute about the entry condition arises later.

NSW's bond dispute timeline puts a premium on the quality of the entry condition report in a way that is more operationally demanding than most other Australian states.

NSW bonds are managed through NSW Fair Trading's Rental Bonds Online (RBO) platform. When a tenant submits a refund request through RBO without the landlord's consent, the agent and landlord have 14 calendar days from Fair Trading's notification to dispute the claim at NCAT — or the bond is released to the tenant by default.

This 14-day window starts the moment the tenant submits their refund request. Tenants can do this the day they return the keys. If they do, you have 14 days to complete the exit inspection, compile exit photographs, compare entry and exit conditions item by item, obtain quotes or invoices for each claimed item, and submit your response through Bond Online.

The entry condition report's role in this process is not optional. NCAT requires the entry report as part of the bond claim evidence. Without it, the tribunal cannot establish the baseline condition that the claimed damage allegedly departs from — and the claim fails.

This creates a direct line from the quality of the entry condition report to the outcome of a bond dispute months or years later. An entry report completed quickly with vague comments and no photographs makes the 14-day assembly of evidence significantly harder. An entry report completed thoroughly with specific descriptions and timestamped photographs for every room and every N item means the exit evidence package can be assembled within days, not with everything scrambled in the last 48 hours before the deadline.

For NSW property managers, the practical workflow implication is: the entry inspection is not a one-time administrative task that ends when you email the report to the tenant. It is the foundational document that the entire end-of-tenancy evidence structure rests on. Treat it accordingly.

For a full breakdown of the NSW Bond Online process, the 14-day dispute window, and how to assemble evidence for NCAT, see the NSW condition report requirements guide.

These are the entry condition report errors that most frequently undermine NSW property managers' bond claims at NCAT.

Completing the report after the tenant has moved in. The report must reflect the property before the tenant's belongings are present. An inspection conducted with furniture in place cannot accurately document floors, wall surfaces behind furniture, or storage interiors. NCAT will note this and may give the entry report reduced weight in any dispute.

Not providing the report before or at the time the lease is signed. Section 29 requires the report to be given before or when the tenant signs the tenancy agreement. A condition report provided days after signing, or at key handover a week later, does not satisfy this obligation and can be challenged by a tenant.

Using a generic or non-Schedule 2 template. NSW requires the prescribed form. A multi-state generic template that does not replicate the Y/N structure and specific items of the Schedule 2 form is not a compliant NSW condition report. Inspection software claiming NSW compliance should generate output that mirrors the Schedule 2 structure — specifically the clean, undamaged, and working columns — rather than an adapted version of the same template used for QLD or SA.

Leaving comment fields blank for N responses. Marking N with no comment is not useful at NCAT. If an item is not clean, undamaged, or working, the comment must describe the deficiency specifically enough to enable comparison at exit. "N — carpet, main bedroom, small circular stain approximately 50mm in diameter near east wall" is what the comments field is for.

No photographs attached to the report. The Schedule 2 form directs that photographs be attached. NCAT consistently expects them. A bond claim submitted without entry photographs is at a severe disadvantage even if the condition report is thorough.

Not documenting smoke alarms. The NSW form specifically includes smoke alarm fields — whether installed, last tested, and battery last replaced. Leaving these blank is a gap in the condition record and, separately, a potential compliance issue given NSW's smoke alarm obligations under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

Missing the tenant's 7-day return deadline without documentation. If the tenant does not return their section, document it with a file note. If you do not document the non-return, the fact that the agent's version stands as the baseline is harder to demonstrate in a dispute.

Deleting inspection records too soon after the tenancy ends. NCAT bond applications can be made after the tenancy ends, and NSW Fair Trading complaints can arise at any time. Retain all condition reports, photographs, and supporting documents for at least 12 months after the tenancy ends. Where a dispute is known to be pending or likely, retain everything until it is resolved.

Purpose-built inspection software reduces the time per entry inspection while improving the quality and defensibility of the report. For NSW property managers, the key features to look for are:

Schedule 2-compliant format. The software must generate a report that satisfies the NSW prescribed Schedule 2 form — specifically the Y/N columns for clean, undamaged, and working, with comment fields for N responses, smoke alarm fields with date prompts, and the room-by-room structure of the Schedule 2 template. Confirm with the vendor that their NSW output mirrors Schedule 2 specifically, and request a sample NSW report to check against the NSW Fair Trading prescribed form before committing.

Per-item photo attachment. Photographs should be embedded alongside the specific item and room they document, not uploaded as a separate gallery. When you later assemble a bond claim evidence package for NCAT, photographs organised alongside their relevant items in the condition report are far more useful than a folder of images that requires the reader to cross-reference manually.

Electronic delivery with a delivery record. The software should be able to email the completed and signed report to the tenant with a timestamped delivery confirmation. This satisfies both the section 29 delivery obligation and the need for documented evidence of exactly when and how the report was provided.

Tenant return tracking. Some tools can flag when the tenant's 7-calendar-day return window is approaching or has passed. Even a basic reminder feature reduces the risk of missing the return deadline unnoticed.

Entry-to-exit comparison view. At the end of the tenancy, the exit inspection should pull through the entry descriptions and ratings for direct item-by-item comparison. When assembling bond claim evidence for the 14-day NCAT window, having entry and exit conditions in the same view is significantly faster than cross-referencing two separate documents.

ConditionHQ generates AI-assisted condition descriptions, produces Schedule 2-compliant NSW condition reports, and maintains a timestamped audit trail suitable for NCAT submissions. The free tier covers three full reports per month — enough to run a real NSW entry inspection and evaluate whether the report output meets the Schedule 2 standard and your agency's compliance requirements before committing to a paid plan.