Landlord Electrical Safety Responsibilities
If you’re a landlord with a number of tenants, whether that’s one, two or fifty, you’ll want to adopt responsible electrical safety checks in your role as landlord.
It’s very important because you want your tenants to have a safe and healthy tenancy, but also because, if these responsibilities are not met you could land in hot water. You could face a penalty in the shape of a fine or even a prison sentence, depending on the severity of the hardships experienced by your tenants. If you put their lives at risk because you’ve not paid attention to shoddy workmanship, and as a result, they’ve had an accident, it could have serious repercussions for you.
Expert electrical services for landlords
In light of this today’s post is all about electrical safety responsibilities of landlords. How you can stay on top of these by hiring trustworthy electrical contractors and ensuring you know what your full responsibilities are in line with legal and regulatory requirements. As a landlord not only are you placing your tenants in danger you are also placing yourself at the risk of financial ruin, which could be through a combination of invalidated insurance and a series of hefty fines.
How can you act on your electrical obligations?
Firstly, it’s best to know what they are, and you can firm up this knowledge about your obligations by reading dedicated websites. To help, we’ll just summarise the main points.
You should always work towards making sure a property you intend renting out has an electrical installation that is safe to use, and that it will maintain safety during the tenancy
You must also ensure that any house with more than one person occupying it, has periodic inspections every five years. If you’ve only one person occupying a property you won’t be legally obliged to do this, but tests and periodic inspections are encouraged
Always make sure these tests are carried out by registered electricians
If you supply any appliances yourself then you’ll need to make sure they’re safe to use and that they come with a CE marking, making it safe as deemed by European Law
In order to make sure the appliances remain safe to use; a landlord will need to have them tested regularly by a competent registered electrician
In between tenancies, as one tenant moves out and before another moves in, you should make sure a visual inspection of the property is carried out by yourself and then a registered electrician who should carry out a check on the electrical installation.
That way you’ll know it’s safe to use, and you should make your electrical safety checks are provided as part of your rental contract with the tenant.
RML Electrical – superior landlord electrical services from superior electrical contractors in Scotland.
If you need your properties inspected by registered electricians who you can rely on to get the job done professionally, then get in touch with us here at RML Electrical, we’re here to help. All of our electricians are registered with a government approved scheme so we’re able to carry out complex electrical work and have the necessary experience and training to do so.
Give us a call today and make sure you carry out your landlord duties required by law.