Tenant's Guide to Electrical Safety

Deaths due to electrical accidents sadly seem to increase with every year, so it’s never more important than now to make sure you stay safe as a tenant. Is your landlord doing everything possible to make sure you’re safe in your home?

Your landlord has responsibilities for you and everyone else that lives in their property. It’s important to make sure they’re doing all they can to make sure everything works as it should and that you’re safe to live there.

England catches up with Scotland on electrical safety in private rented property.

From early June 2020, in England, all private landlords were told that they were now required to have electrical installations checked by a licensed electrician to make sure that everything was safe to use. If you’re a tenant living in England, check with your landlord that he’s carrying out these checks.

Electrical Safety is Paramount

If you live in Scotland this was the case from 2015, that is, to make sure all private rented property they own was electrically safe for tenants. This would cover any installations they are responsible for, fixtures and fittings, and any appliances provided by your landlord. It is their responsibility to make sure everything electrical provided to you by them is safe to use. 

EICR

Once an electrician has inspected the property, he or she will then put together an electrical report known as an EICR which is an Electrical Installation Condition Report. Ask your landlord about this if you’re unsure, they should be able to provide evidence that this has been done prior to you moving in and then make sure it’s carried out on an annual basis.

All electrical investigations should be carried out on request

As we’ve already established then, a complete investigation of the electrical installations of the property you are renting should have been carried out prior to you moving in, that is before the tenancy began. It should also be carried out during the tenancy, and at regular intervals after.

A copy of electrical safety inspections should be available on request.

A new landlord should provide you with a copy of any safety inspections when you ask. This isn’t all the landlord is responsible for, he must also ensure that the person carrying out the investigations and reports is competent and qualified to carry out the work. 

Scotland has its own electrical safety schemes.

In Scotland, this would mean that they’d have to have registered with NICEIC. They’d need to hire a firm of contractors who were members of a registered and accredited scheme, one that is operated by a body of people who are responsible for the safe working of electrical engineers. This would be an organisation such as NIVEIC or SELECT (Electrical Contractors’ Association of Scotland). The final one is NAPIT (The National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers).

Ask your landlord about electrical installation checks

Make sure you ask your landlord about EICRs and whether the electrical engineers they hired were suitably qualified and registered. This will give you peace of mind knowing that the electrical installation is safe to use and that any appliances owned by the landlords are safe to use also. 

PAT Testing

Pat testing is something that’s carried out on appliances and will form part of the EICR. They can also be carried out independently aside from the EICR. This will need to be done by a qualified electrician too and they will test all appliances supplied by your landlord. If you work in an office, you may have noticed electricians carrying out PAT testing in your place of work, they are then given a certificate to pass them as fit to use and the individual appliances are given stickers to confirm this. This is similar to what an electrician will do in your rented home.

RML Electrical - Expert Electricians

If you are in need of an electrician speak to your landlords about it immediately. If you’re a landlord requiring some work to be carried out on your property then get in touch.