The majority of landlords will know that it’s a legal requirement to obtain an Electrical Installation Condition Report – or EICR – for their rental property. Many, however, are likely to be unaware that an additional qualification is required to enable electricians to provide this service, and that failing to research the credentials of your chosen supplier might in fact be endangering your tenants’ lives.
Section 5 of the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 states that landlords are legally obliged to have the electrical installations within their properties inspected every five years. What’s more, this obligation extends to engaging a ‘qualified and competent person’ to undertake the test. Given this, selecting your electrician based on price instead of their qualifications is not only a false economy – it can actually be putting your tenants at risk.
Choosing an NICEIC or NAPIT-accredited electrician who is also registered as an EICR tester – such as ourselves – is the only way to ensure that your rental property will meet all the required safety test results. In reality, any electrician can promote their EICR service, but it’s only those who have taken an additional qualification who are registered as EICR competent. As well as being able to show an NICEIC certificate demonstrating that they are ‘competent to provide Electrical Safety Inspections in the Private Rented Sector (England) in accordance with the requirements of BS7671 (IET Wiring Regulations)’, your electrician should also be prepared to invest the required time and expertise in testing the rental property’s electrical installations thoroughly. Only then can both the landlord and the tenants have confidence that the property meets all the stipulated electrical safety standards.
For Mark Smith, owner of MS Electrical, responsible landlords must recognise the importance of working with a testing specialist who ticks all the right boxes. ‘We work with a number of landlords and letting agents across Cambridge, and they all understand how vital it is to be placing their electrical safety testing in the right hands’, comments Mark. ‘As with anything, there is always the opportunity to buy a service more cheaply, but tenants who are placing their faith in their landlord should be able to move in and live in confidence that all measures have been taken to ensure the safety of their new home. That’s why we invest in our team and ensure that they all boast the qualifications needed to carry out landlords’ EICRs.’
MS Electrical offers landlords’ EICRs in Cambridge. Please call us on 01223 850301 or complete our enquiry form to request a no-obligation quotation.