By the HalfKey team
Inspection notices in a Tokyo apartment: who may enter
Four visits reach a Tokyo apartment building every year or so: a gas safety check, a fire-equipment inspection, a water-tank cleaning, and a drain flush. Three have a law behind them. The drain flush is a building rule, and every visit has a recovery path if you miss the date.
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Nobody enters a rented Tokyo apartment without your consent, except in an emergency. That is the rule. The notices that ask for your time work inside it, and the key your operator holds does not change it.
Three layers decide any visit: the law, the building's management company, and your lease. A law sits behind the gas check, the fire inspection, and the water-tank cleaning. Building rules cover the drains. Your lease covers the operator (the company that runs the furnished apartment). Read each notice at those three levels and the answer is usually short.
Reading the 点検のお知らせ
点検のお知らせ (tenken no oshirase — "inspection notice," the paper announcing a scheduled visit) arrives as a mailbox flyer, a sheet on the entrance board, or a note inside the elevator. Five fields matter.
- 点検日 (tenken-bi — inspection date), often with a time band such as 10:00〜16:00
- 点検内容 (tenken naiyō — what is inspected): ガス, 消防設備, 貯水槽, or 排水管
- 実施会社 (jisshi-gaisha — the company doing the work), with a phone number
- 立会い (tachiai — attendance): 要 means you must be there, 不要 means you need not
- 不在の場合 (fuzai no baai — "if absent"): what happens when nobody answers the door
Match the company name against the building. Most Tokyo apartment buildings post the 管理会社 (kanri-gaisha — management company) name and phone near the entrance or the mailboxes. A notice from a company that is on neither the sign nor your lease is not a notice yet. Call the number on the sign, not the number on the flyer, and ask whether the visit is real.
The gas check with a law behind it
Tokyo Gas visits every customer at least once every four years for the ガス設備定期保安点検 (gasu setsubi teiki hoan tenken — periodic gas-equipment safety check). ガス事業法 (Gasu Jigyō Hō — the Gas Business Act) makes the survey the gas company's duty. Staff come from Tokyo Gas or its contractors, Tokyo Gas Lifeval and Enesta. They check that the water heater and bath heater draw air and vent properly. They check that each appliance sits tight on its gas tap. The visit takes 10 to 15 minutes. It is free.
Someone needs to be home. The flyer names the date in advance, and it may carry your operator's name rather than yours, because the gas contract is theirs. The check is still for the appliances in your room. Tokyo Gas Network runs a separate leak test on the pipes inside the property line, about 10 minutes, also free.
If you are out, the crew leaves a ご不在連絡票 (go-fuzai renrakuhyō — absence notice) in the mailbox and asks you to pick a new date by phone or online. Do it within the week. A missed check does not stop your gas. It leaves the survey open, and the company keeps asking until it is done.
Impersonation is the real risk, not the check. Tokyo Gas group staff wear the uniform and carry a group ID card. The company's own warning page says to ask for the card whenever you are unsure. It also says no fee is ever requested at the door. The flyer prints a lookup code that confirms the visit date on the Tokyo Gas website. A "gas inspector" who wants cash, a bank card, or a look at your passport is not from Tokyo Gas. Close the door and call the number on the building sign.
The fire-equipment visit
消防法 (Shōbō Hō — the Fire Service Act), Article 17-3-3, requires the building owner to have the fire equipment inspected. The Tokyo Fire Department sets the rhythm: a 機器点検 (kiki tenken — equipment check, by sight and simple operation) every six months, and a 総合点検 (sōgō tenken — full working test) once a year. Apartment buildings report the results to the fire station every three years. Buildings the public walks into, such as hotels and shops, report every year.
Inside your unit the inspector looks at the ceiling smoke or heat detectors, any sprinkler heads, and the balcony. If the balcony has an escape ladder under a hatch, or a thin partition marked as the emergency route to the next balcony, both get checked and both must stay clear of planters and bicycles. Ten to fifteen minutes per unit.
The law binds the owner, not you. A resident who misses the visit pays no fine. Your lease is a different layer: most Tokyo leases copy the entry clause below, and a refusal without a good reason breaks it. So be home for the fifteen minutes, or ask the management company for the option some buildings offer: leave a key with them, in writing, for that date only. How much fire equipment there is to inspect depends on the building's license tier; the fire-code guide sets that out.
The water tank and the planned outage
Buildings that store city water in a rooftop or ground tank clean it once a year. Under 水道法 (Suidō Hō — the Water Supply Act), a tank over 10 cubic metres is a 簡易専用水道 (kan'i sen'yō suidō — "simplified private water supply"), and the Tokyo Waterworks Bureau lists the owner's duties: an annual cleaning and an annual inspection by a registered body. Tokyo's own ordinance extends the once-a-year cleaning and inspection to tanks over 5 cubic metres. Below that, the bureau asks owners to manage the tank the same way.
Nobody enters your apartment for this. The notice is a 断水のお知らせ (dansui no oshirase — water-outage notice), posted on the board, in the elevator, and in the mailbox, and it names the hours. Fill a kettle and the bath before the window opens. Do not start the washing machine. When the water comes back, run the kitchen tap for a minute until it runs clear.
Drain cleaning is a building rule
排水管清掃 (haisuikan seisō — drain-pipe cleaning) is a high-pressure flush of the kitchen, bath, and washing-machine drains, done through every unit on the same day. No law sets an interval for an apartment building. The six-month rule in the building-hygiene law applies to large non-residential buildings of 3,000 square metres and up. Management companies book it every year or two.
This visit needs you home, because the crew works from inside the unit and will not enter an empty one. Clear the cupboard under the kitchen sink and the floor around the washing machine, and move shoes out of the entryway. Ten to thirty minutes per unit. If the date fails, the 不在の場合 line usually offers a second date. Take it. A skipped flush makes your line the one that backs up first.
When the operator wants in
Your lease governs the operator, and most Tokyo leases follow the shape of the MLIT model lease, the 賃貸住宅標準契約書 (chintai jūtaku hyōjun keiyakusho — the ministry's standard residential lease). Its Article 16 lets the landlord enter for fire prevention, structural safety, or a real management need, with your consent obtained in advance. You may not refuse without a justifiable reason. Article 9 says the same for repairs: notice first, then the work.
Furnished operators add scheduled visits on top: mid-stay cleaning, a linen swap, a meter read. Those dates sit in your contract or booking confirmation, and consent given there counts. Consent for "any time, without notice" does not appear in the model lease. A clause that tries it deserves a question before you sign.
Can anyone enter while you are out?
Only in an emergency. Article 16, paragraph 4 of the model lease lets the landlord enter without prior consent to stop a fire spreading or for another urgent need. If you were out, they must tell you afterwards. A burst pipe or a gas smell reported by a neighbour qualifies. A convenient afternoon for the cleaner does not.
Outside that exception, the room is yours. 刑法 (Keihō — the Penal Code), Article 130, makes entering a person's home without a justifiable reason a crime. Staying after being told to leave is the same offence. The penalty is up to three years in prison or a fine of up to ¥100,000. Owning the building is not a justifiable ground. Neither is holding a key.
If you come home to signs of an entry nobody told you about, do three things. Photograph what you found. Message the operator the same day and ask who entered, when, and why. Keep the reply. A one-time slip with an apology is the usual outcome. Silence, or a second entry, is the point to put the request in writing and quote the clause.
Where the visits differ
| Visit | Legal basis | How often | Must you be home | Can you refuse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gas safety check | Gas Business Act (the gas company's duty) | At least every 4 years | Yes, or someone you trust | You can reschedule; the check stays owed |
| Fire-equipment inspection | Fire Service Act, Article 17-3-3 (the owner's duty) | Every 6 months; full test once a year | Yes, or a key left with the management company | No fine for you; your lease clause still applies |
| Water-tank cleaning | Water Supply Act; Tokyo ordinance for tanks over 5 m³ | Once a year | No | Nothing to refuse; plan for the outage |
| Drain cleaning | No statute for apartment buildings | Every 1–2 years | Yes | Reschedule; a missed flush is your blockage |
| Operator entry | Your lease (model lease Article 16) | As scheduled | Consent first | Yes, with a reason; not in an emergency |
Answer the notice, keep the key
- Read the five fields the day the notice lands, and put the date in your calendar with its time band.
- Check the company name against the sign by the entrance or your lease. If it matches neither, call the management company before anyone rings.
- Gas: be home, ask for the ID card at the door, and reschedule from the absence notice if you miss it.
- Fire: be home for fifteen minutes, or leave a key with the management company in writing for that date only, and keep the balcony hatch clear.
- Water: fill the kettle and the bath before the outage window, then run the tap clear afterwards.
- Drains: clear under the sink and around the washing machine, and take the second date if the first fails.
- Operator: give consent in a message you can find again, and treat any entry you did not agree to as a same-day question in writing.