Letting Agents and Homeowners: are you properties Electrical Installations and Appliances safe and legal?

As you are aware, you have to ensure that all electrical appliances and installations in your tenanted homes are SAFE.

Under The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 (as amended) / The Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Additional Provisions) (England) Regulations 2007 (as amended), the fixed electrical installation in HMOs must be inspected and tested at least every 5 years by a qualified and competent person. Appliances should be tested before any new tenants take occupancy or annually.

The only way you can be absolutely sure they are safe is to have them tested and an electrical safety certificate issued to verify their conformance by qualified electricians.

This will enable you to protect your landlord’s clients, their tenants and your staff, in the light of current legislation. Penalties for infringement can be severe – with fines of up to £5,000, six months’ (or more) imprisonment, or both!

You should ensure that tenants are given copies of operating and safety instructions for ALL equipment in the premises and you should carry out regular checks.

THE TENANTS  have a duty to look after the property they are occupying and to use it in a responsible way. If you become aware of an electrical fault or suspect that there may be a problem, you must report it as soon as possible to the landlord or managing agent because faulty electrical installation or appliances can result in serious harm from electrocution and fire.

Landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that electrical installations are safe and are maintained in a safe condition for the duration of a tenancy. A landlord can be liable to pay damages to a tenant or resident for personal injury or death that was caused by an unsafe Electrical Installation.

THE LANDLORD MUST:
1. Ensure there are written instructions for all electrical equipment in the property.
2. A safety check should be carried out by a qualified electrician in the NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contractors), preferably annually or when the tenancy changes.

3. Provide the agent and tenant with written proof of the safety check prior to the tenancy commencing.

In the case of commercial property and houses in multiple occupations there is a statutory duty under the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005 for the responsible person (the property manager) to carry out annual Fire Safety Risk Assessments, which include electrical safety risks.

PENALTIES:
Should the electrical equipment not comply with the Regulations and an incident occurs the penalties are:
3 months and/or £5000 fine if there is risk of fire and/or an animal is injured
6 months and/or £5000 fine if a human is injured or killed.

HOMEOWNERS

Safeguard your family and perhaps prevent a costly disaster by having a Safety Inspection designed for owner-occupied homes carried out by one of our professional electricians.

For years people in rented properties have been protected from illness, injury and even death by legislation which requires landlords to have regular electrical inspections carried out and safety certificates produced every year.

Now your family can have that same protection.

Full functional checks are carried out to the installations and a written 4-page Report is produced, identifying the individual components inspected in each installation. The Report concludes with any appropriate recommendations for attention on each installation.

Testing of the sockets in the electrical installation is included.