Landlords electrical safety certificate in Nottingham Derby
As a Landlord, it is important to act on your electrical safety obligations, or you could be exposed to significant financial risk from fines, invalidated insurance and most importantly, an increased risk of harm to tenants. Dangerous electrics can contribute to a serious risk of fire, extreme cold, and insufficient lighting.
Landlords are required by law to ensure that the electrical installation in a property is safe when tenants move in and is maintained in a safe condition throughout its duration. Electrical systems should be regularly inspected in order to ensure the safety of the occupants.
Any domestic electrical system should be inspected and tested by a registered competent person in accordance with procedures in the Standard (BS7671). This ensures that the design and installation of the system is safe to use, maintain and alter. As a result, every property owner should have a landlord domestic electrical safety certificate.
Officially called an ‘electrical installation condition report’ or EICR, these reports may also be referred to as landlord safety test, periodic inspection report or homebuyers test.
The law says that an EICR must be carried out once every five years in a House of Multiple Occupation. This is a property occupied by three or more people who form more than two households; this could be a student house, professional house share or similar.
The penalty for not inspecting every five years, and not being able to provide a copy of the EICR on request can be a civil fine of up to £30,000.
Although not yet a legal requirement, an EICR is also recommended to be carried out in single occupation properties at least every 5 years by a registered electrician.
The assessment begins with a visual check, looking for any visible signs of damage, deterioration or unsafe use e.g. plug sockets being overloaded.
The second part of the test involves a series of tests to check that everything is working correctly and safely. For example, the wires are all connected and insulated properly, the earthing is adequate, and the system is able to disconnect the power supply correctly if there is a fault. Many faults can’t be seen simply by looking and are only picked up during testing.
An EICR should only be carried out by a skilled and competent registered electrician with the experience to know what they are looking for.
Call me today to arrange your testing and put your mind at rest…
