Bathroom with no window

Hi, I have moved into a rental that has a bathroom with no windows. The light and fan comes on automatically when someone enters the bathroom. It is hooked up to a sensor in the ceiling. There is a timer that can be adjusted if I climb up on a ladder. The problem is when I am using the toilet I may only be in there for a minute or sometimes longer. I may take a short shower or a longer one. If I set the timer for a long time, the light and fan stay on for ages after I leave the bathroom. If I set it for a short time the light and fan go out while I am in the shower. Because of this I requested it be changed to two switches on the wall that I could turn on and off when I wanted. I was told that since it’s an internal bathroom the fan and light had to be on the one switch, according to the building code. And that changing it to a switch would be a big job that would take hours. I live in NSW. I was also told that the cost of having the light and fan running for long periods of time would be minimal. What is true and what is not true about what I have been told?

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Write politely to your property manager and ask them to fix a serious health and safety issue at your rental. Keeping the fan going and light on for a long time affects your amenity and 'quiet enjoyment of the property' as well as wasting your energy. You cannot be expected to climb up a ladder in a bathroom to reset the timer each time. Nor can you be expected to use the bathroom in darkness, as well as not adequately ventilate the moisture which can result in unhealthy mould growth. Also the agent won't be able to blame your 'lifestyle factors' for any mould or moisture damage. Give them 5 days to respond and 5 more days to fix it. If they still fob you off lodge a claim with NCAT.

each time the sensor detects movement it should restart the timer
set to around 10 minutes and leave it alone

off memory (i am not a sparky/builder) the regulation is that the LIGHT can't be on without the FAN being on, they could have wired it up so that only the FAN could be on by itself then had the light switched on top of that. However what they have sounds legal and was in place when you rented it so your chances of getting them to change it is very minimal an depending on how the wires are run difficult/expensive. I also think you would have an extremely hard time arguing it effects quiet enjoyment and its a health risk ...

They are right the cost of running a light/fan for an extra hour a day is stuff all agree with aussieta set it at a reasonable limit remember if you have 10 minutes worth of shower/toilet/etc... then leave it will still stay on for another 10 minutes.

There just needs to be a fan if there is no window. The switching is up to you. You rented it like that so the landlord is not obliged to fix it. I see that it can be annoying.

Landlords sometimes wire them together since some tenants will steam up the bathroom regularly, mould will grow, then the landlord is obliged to remove it.

As has been said, set it for 10 minutes and don’t worry about it. It is a quick job to add a switch provided the wires are already there and connected at the existing switch. You could offer to pay for it and rectify at the end of the lease if it really bothered you.

There are two requirements under the NCC-BCA. (1) a bathroom must be provided with adequate ventilation, this is generally via a window but due to position within the dwelling has to be a exhaust fan if a window to the outside is not an option. (2) a room must be provided with a certain amount of light (subject to room use) for safe use. This is why the light & fan both operate at the same time.

The reason for the fan running longer is that the steam from the shower needs to be exhausted from the room or it will condensate on the walls and ceiling. As the tenant if you cause damage to the dwelling due to condensate from showers you can actually be charged for the cost of repairs.