Landlord electrical certificates
Millions of UK private renting tenants are at risk of electrocution and fire.
This problem boils down to landlords having a lack of knowledge towards their electrical responsibilities. It’s not necessarily the landlord’s fault, after all, you don’t know what you don’t know.
The law requires for a landlord to provide their tenants with a property which is ‘safe’ to live in, and to continuously maintain the property throughout the tenancy.
The government intends to provide legislation that will require landlords to have electrical safety checks carried out during periodic intervals of a tenancy. These electrical safety checks will need to be carried out by a ‘competent’ and ‘qualified’ electrician.
Councils have been provided with the power to combat any cowboy-landlords with fines of up to £30.000. Landlords who are putting their tenants at risk and refuse to comply may also be issued with a banning order.
Heather Wheeler MP is the Minister for Housing. She has said, “These new measures will reduce the risk of faulty electrical equipment, giving people peace of mind and helping to keep them safe in their homes. Everyone deserves a safe place to live. While measures are already in place to crack down on the minority of landlords who rent out unsafe properties we need to do more to protect tenants. That’s why we introduced powers to enable stronger electrical safety standards to be brought in along with tough penalties for those who don’t comply. We want to ensure we strike the right balance between protecting tenants while being fair for landlords. So I want to hear from as many people as possible whether these independent recommendations are the right approach. It will also provide clear guidance to landlords on who they should be hired to carry out these important electrical safety checks.”
Requirements of a landlord:
- HMO (House in Multiple Occupancy) has an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) carried out on the property every 5-years.
- That all appliances issued by the landlord complies with BS (Britsh Standards) and carries a CE mark.
- 1 smoke alarm is installed on every storey of their private rental property.
- 1 carbon monoxide (CO2) is installed in every room which a fuel-burning appliance.
Electrical tests available to tenanted properties:
- EICR’s (Electrical Installation Condition Report). This is an electrical test, inspection and report of all fixed wiring within the property. It is usually charged by either the qty of rooms or electrical circuits.
- Visual Electrical Inspections. These are often carried out between tenancies to ensure that the property is safe for new tenants. It will check the connection of earth bonding connections and the condition of electrical sockets, switches and fixtures.
- Portable Appliance Testing (PAT). It’s sometimes required from various insurance companies that all landlord issued appliances are tested and certificated periodically.
- Fixed Appliance Testing (FAT). Just like PAT but these tests are for fixed appliances (no plug-top) such as induction hobs, ovens, towel rails, boilers, immersion cylinders and panel heaters.
- Fire Alarm Certificate. Smoke detectors should be tested on installation and between tenancies. They should also be replaced when the ‘date sticker’ located on their base has expired.
Accreditations
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