Do not judge a move-out bill by age or rent
You cannot judge whether a move-out bill is reasonable from the building’s age and the rent alone. Age is not necessarily the last day the wallpaper or the equipment was replaced. Rent is not the unit price of the work.
This article is not a standard for accepting a bill, and it is not a standard for a reduction. It is a way to see which information is missing before you compare.
Building age and the age of a part are different
Even in an old building, wallpaper or equipment replaced before you moved in is new as a part. Even in a new building, a part may not have been replaced since the previous tenant. What you check is not the year the building was finished. It is the last replacement date of the part being billed. If that date is unknown, leave it unknown.
The guidelines’ example of 6 years for wallpaper also does not finish from years of residence alone. The detail is in What to check on a wallpaper replacement charge.
Months of rent are only a sense of scale
Dividing the total by the rent produces a number of months. That is a sense of size. It is not a judgment of high or fair. Combinations of rent and bill amounts that appear in consultation cases are not reused here as a market price.
If the lease says “cleaning is a number of months of rent,” that is a formula in the contract. It is a different sentence from a market price for the work. How to read the formula is in What to look for in a lease special term.
What a unit price needs
The Ministry’s way of looking at cost is to go in order: the fact of the damage and responsibility, the scope of the work, the age of the part, the share, then quantity and unit price. Unit prices change by region, method, and material, and they are not a single national table. The reference is the guidelines on restoration to original condition.
So when the invoice has no unit price, do not fill it from the building’s age. Ask for the unit price, the quantity, and the scope. How to split the fields is in What to read first on a move-out invoice.
The same split applies if you are the landlord
If you are the one renting the home out, putting move-out cost into a yield from age and rent is a provisional number unless that property’s replacement history exists. Separating the deposit, the invoices, and vacancy is in How a landlord reads move-out cost.