Legislation introduced by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has made it a mandatory requirement for private landlords to have electrical safety checks carried out in their rental and HMO properties. These electrical safety checks must be carried out by a qualified and competent person at least every five years. The new legislation came into force on 1 June 2020 with landlords in England compelled to comply as follows:
(a) all new specified tenancies from 1 July 2020
(b) all existing specified tenancies from 1 April 2021
Electrical safety checks are a series of inspections and tests of the electrical installation, which does not include electrical appliances. It is recommended that appliances are also checked for safety, but it is not a requirement of the new legislation. When the tests are carried out, the documents you receive will depend on the current status of your property. For some existing installations there may be a valid but less than five years old Electrical Installation Certificate covering the whole property, which would have been issued when the installation was first installed or rewired. If there is no valid Electrical Installation Certificate a report known as an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) will be required. This report will provide you with an overview of the condition of the electrical installation and, where relevant, will list any remedial work that may be required.
As a landlord, you or your letting agent will need to give a copy of your electrical safety check/report to the existing resident/tenant within 28 days of the inspection and test, to a new tenant before they occupy the premises, and to any prospective tenant within 28 days of receiving a request for the report. You must also supply a copy of this report to the local housing authority within seven days of receiving a request for a copy, and retain a copy of the report to give to the inspector and tester who will undertake the next inspection and test.
If your report shows that remedial work is required, you must complete this work within 28 days or any shorter period if specified as necessary in the report. Then you or your agent must supply written proof that the work has been carried out within 28 days of completion.
If the local housing authority finds that you are in breach of your duties in relation to electrical installations, they must serve a notice, which will set out the remedial work required to comply with these duties and they may impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000.
Whether you’re a landlord or a letting agent, you must use a contractor from the Electrical Competent Person Scheme or complete the government’s checklist to ensure that you are engaging a suitable registered person. You can find an electrical contractor that has been assessed as being able to undertake electrical safety checks here.
As Mark Smith, owner of MS Electrical Services, observes, the new electrical safety testing legislation will help to ensure that tenants can take on a tenancy with more confidence. ‘We spend our working lives carrying out fixed wire testing and PAT testing so we are fully behind this new legislation,’ comments Mark. ‘Until now, tenants moving into a rental property have generally taken it on trust that the electrical installation has been checked and is completely safe. That, sadly, has not always been the case, with many unscrupulous landlords having failed to meet their duty of care to their renters. We’re very pleased that landlords and letting agents are now engaging us to carry out electrical safety testing on their rental properties as we specialise in this service and can provide all the reports and paperwork they need to prove their compliance.’
At MS Electrical we focus on keeping electrical safety in check by offering fixed wire testing for landlords and letting agents in Cambridge. For advice on electrical safety testing in your private rented property or to request a no-obligation quotation please call us on 01223 850301 or complete our enquiry form.