Who Pays for Repairs in a Rental Apartment in Cambodia?

As a practical rule, the landlord usually pays for age-related failure, normal wear, hidden defects and problems with the apartment itself. The tenant usually pays for damage caused by misuse, negligence or failing to report a visible problem before it became worse. Where the source is a shared pipe, roof, façade or another common building system, condominium management needs to be involved.

The mistake is to argue about the bill before anyone knows what failed. An air conditioner may stop cooling because of an old compressor, a filter that was never cleaned, or a blocked shared condensate line. All three may appear on an invoice as “air-con repair”, but responsibility is not the same.

The practical baseline: landlords cover wear, tenants cover damage they cause

Cambodian leases matter, but a broad clause should not turn every breakdown into an automatic tenant charge. The Civil Code provides a useful starting point: the landlord is responsible for repairs needed for the tenant to use the property, while the tenant must use it properly, take reasonable care and report repair needs without delay. Normal wear is not the same as tenant-caused damage.

That usually places an ageing appliance, a concealed plumbing defect, worn bathroom fittings or faulty apartment wiring on the landlord’s side. A refrigerator shelf broken by impact, electronics damaged by water, or a door forced off its hinges sits on the tenant’s side. A tenant may also be responsible for extra damage where a minor, obvious problem was ignored for weeks.

There is a third category in a condominium: the building. Water appearing inside a unit may come from the roof, exterior wall, a shared riser or the apartment above. Neither landlord nor tenant should decide responsibility by looking only at the stain. Building management or a competent contractor must first identify the source.

Air conditioners and refrigerators: the disputes that happen most often

Air conditioners work hard in Cambodia’s hot, humid climate. Without routine cleaning, they may lose performance, smell or start dripping. The lease should separate maintenance from component failure. A common arrangement is for the tenant to arrange or pay for scheduled cleaning, while the landlord pays when an ageing compressor, control board, fan motor or another major component fails through normal use.

When an air conditioner stops cooling, do not accept “it needs more gas” as a complete diagnosis. Refrigerant normally escapes because there is a leak. Repeated top-ups without finding that leak may only postpone the same problem. A worn unit or poor installation points towards the landlord. A filter left blocked for months, combined with a leak the tenant noticed but never reported, may justify charging the tenant for the avoidable part of the damage.

A refrigerator follows the same logic. A failed compressor in an old appliance is normally an ownership cost. A cracked shelf caused by impact or a damaged door after moving furniture is tenant damage. Nobody needs a complicated depreciation model for an ordinary household dispute, but age and previous condition still matter. Charging a tenant the full price of an upgraded new refrigerator when an old one had reached the end of its life is difficult to justify simply because it stopped working during the tenancy.

The best prevention is basic: test the appliances before move-in, list them in the inventory and record existing issues. A model number, a few photographs and a note such as “cools correctly but makes noise” are far more useful than competing memories six months later.

Leaks and blocked drains: stop the damage first, allocate the cost second

With an active leak, turn off the water where it is safe to do so, protect electrical equipment and contact both the landlord and building management immediately. Do not wait for an agreement about payment while water is entering another apartment. Taking emergency action does not automatically make the person who called the contractor financially responsible.

The source comes next. An old washing-machine hose that fails inside the unit will usually be a landlord issue. A hose installed incorrectly by the tenant may be different. A leaking shared riser, roof or façade requires building management to investigate and arrange the common-system work under the building’s rules. Water from the unit above brings another owner or occupier into the picture.

Blocked drains need the same distinction. Hair, grease, wipes or foreign objects found in the unit’s local waste pipe commonly point to tenant use. Repeated backflow, several affected apartments or a blockage in a vertical stack should be referred to building management rather than treated as another private drain-cleaning bill.

For a normal household incident, the contractor does not need to produce an engineering dossier. A useful diagnosis is short: where the blockage or failure was found, what probably caused it, what was done and whether the problem is likely to return. Add photographs and an itemised invoice, and most parties have enough information to apply the lease fairly.

Mould is not always a cleaning problem

Mould in Cambodia often develops where humidity, limited ventilation, a cold air-conditioned surface or water ingress meet. That means “the tenant did not clean” can be just as misleading as demanding that the landlord repaint every mark without investigating it.

A small amount of surface mould in a poorly ventilated bathroom may be connected to everyday use and cleaning. Mould that returns after treatment, spreads along an external wall, appears after heavy rain or comes with a damp ceiling suggests an underlying problem. Possible causes include a plumbing leak, failed waterproofing, water entering through the façade, a faulty air conditioner or persistent condensation.

The tenant should report visible growth early, send photographs and avoid painting over it before inspection. The landlord should look for the moisture source rather than paying only for cosmetic work. Responsibility may be shared where clear ventilation guidance was ignored and the problem was allowed to grow for months. Where the cause is a wall, roof, pipe or defective appliance, the landlord or building management must deal with that source.

What the lease should say about repairs

A useful lease does not try to predict every broken item. It answers the questions that matter when something goes wrong: who must be notified, who calls the contractor, who can approve spending, what counts as an emergency and how final responsibility will be decided.

The repairs section should make clear:

• which air conditioners, refrigerator, washing machine, water heater and other appliances are supplied with the unit;
• who arranges routine servicing, including air-con cleaning, and at what intervals;
• that the landlord covers normal wear, age-related failure and hidden defects;
• that the tenant covers proven damage caused by misuse or by failing to act after an obvious incident;
• whom to contact for leaks, burning smells, electrical faults or suspected common-pipe problems;
• whether the tenant may call an emergency contractor without prior approval and how reimbursement works;
• how quickly each party should respond and how access to the unit is arranged;
• that any deposit deduction must be supported by the move-in condition, photographs and a reasonable invoice rather than a vague “repair” charge.

“Tenant pays for all minor repairs” is not enough unless “minor” is explained. Replacing a light bulb and replacing an old compressor are plainly not the same. A clause making the tenant liable for every appliance breakdown is even more likely to create conflict whenever ageing equipment fails through normal use.

How to settle a repair dispute without turning it into a deposit fight

Start with a factual message: what happened, when it was noticed, whether further damage is possible and what temporary steps have been taken. Attach photographs or a short video. Avoid opening with “this is your fault”. That language makes both sides defend a position before the facts are known.

Agree who will call the contractor. For a non-urgent job, approve the inspection and an estimated cost in writing before work begins. In an emergency, stopping the damage comes first, but the landlord and building management should still be informed as quickly as possible. After inspection, ask for a plain answer: what failed, why it failed and what repair is required.

Mixed causes call for a proportionate solution. The landlord might pay for an old part that needed replacement, while the tenant covers additional cleaning or damage made worse by late reporting. For a modest bill where the cause cannot be proved, sharing the cost may be cheaper and calmer than prolonging the dispute. Record it as a one-off compromise so it does not silently rewrite the lease.

A tenant should not deduct a repair cost from the next rent payment without written agreement. A landlord should not retain the full amount from the deposit without explaining the basis and showing supporting evidence. Serious damage, injury risk, affected neighbours, unsafe electrical work, prolonged loss of use or a possible lease termination may justify advice from a Cambodian lawyer who can review the actual contract and facts.

Most household repairs never need to reach that stage. A clear lease, prompt reporting and one sensible contractor diagnosis will usually resolve the question without legal citations, depreciation spreadsheets or a battle over the security deposit.