Mandatory Electrical Safety Inspections for Rental Property 2021
January 2020 marked the introduction of the government mandate for electrical safety inspections, aimed at forcing private landowners to bring their electrical circuits and appliances up to code.
This new mandate, which was dubbed The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 went into effect at the beginning of April.
By July 2020, all new households required EICR certification, but after the implementation of the aforementioned mandate, all new and old houses must observe the requirements of this legislation. A qualified electrician in Mayfair should know the details of this plan and apply them in their electrical installation works.
The new codes are aimed at landlords, requiring them to upgrade and install up-to-date electrical installations, and have introduced rather hefty fines if the household does not meet their expectations upon inspection. Of course, these regulations are only applicable to properties in England.
The state guideline published concerning this mandate clearly states that “The majority of landlords are proactive when it comes to ensuring the safety of their tenants and make a welcome contribution to the housing market”. The main goal for the implementation of such regulations is improving electrical safety standards across England.
This calls for new inspections, upon completion of which the landlords must receive a report from their qualified electrician that ascertains the observation of the details mandated by the new regulation.
What do these Regulations mean for me?
Under the new rules, landlords are responsible for the safety and security of the electrical installations in their property.
One of the details of the new mandate is that landlords must verify the safety of the property’s electrical facilities every five years, and this inspection must be carried out by a qualified electrician in Mayfair. As a tenant, you should ask for a certification of inspection from your landlord. Similar regulations are required for gas safety as well.
What details should be included in the report?
The classifications below are the criteria for inspection, which will determine whether repairs or replacements are in order, for the landlord to receive a safety certificate.
Code 1 (C1): Danger present. Risk of injury. The electrical inspector may make any C1 hazards safe before leaving the property.
Code 2 (C2): Potentially dangerous.
Further Investigation (FI): Further investigation is required without delay.
Code 3 (C3): Improvement recommended. Further remedial work is not required for the report to be deemed satisfactory.
If a C1, C2, or F1 code is the result of your inspection, the landlord must carry out the necessary repairs within 28 days or less, which will be included in the report.
The C3 code means that there is no need for immediate repair, but an upgrade is recommended to avoid electrical issues in the future.
What do the new regulations mean for landlords?
Upon the completion of the inspection and receiving the report, the landlord should heed the marked date for the next installation. They are also supposed to send a copy of the report to each ten within 28 days of receiving the report. The local housing authority will request a copy of the report, and the landlord must comply with their request in less than 7 days.
In addition, the landlord must save a copy of the report, to be handed to the next qualified electrician in Mayfair who will carry out the subsequent inspection.
Any other tenant or possible tenant who requests to see this report is legally able to do so, and the landlord must supply them with a copy.
How has COVID-19 impacted mandatory electrical safety inspections and EICRs?
After lockdowns were imposed landlords and agents speculated that the regulations will not be imposed soon. But the government did not heed such speculations and on the first of April, the mandate was implemented. Whilst the law was not set back by the pandemic, it did create a serious delay for electrical inspections. All in-person inspections and repair visits were stopped to prevent the further spread of coronavirus infections.
But after a while and downward trend in coronavirus infections and vaccination, it was announced that such visits are allowed, but under serious safety measures.
Now with limited qualified electricians available in Mayfair and elsewhere, and the reluctance of some tenants to let someone into their homes at a time like this, the inspections have been postponed.
How much will this cost?
In the mandate, it is stated that the cost for an electrical inspection for each property is £31 per year. However, this is only an estimate and the eventual cost will be determined by other factors such as the size of the property, etc.
What happens if my electric facilities are unsafe?
If the inspector deems some of your electrical facilities or appliances unsafe, the landlord is then required to perform repairs or apply upgrades, or order replacements to remedy the issues stated in the report. All these repairs or replacements must take place within 28 days or a period set by the inspector which may vary depending on the specifications of the repairs or replacements required. Such actions must be carried out by a qualified electrician in Mayfair.
After the contract is carried out, the qualified electrician must supply the landlord with a certificate of repair or replacement which indicates which of the violations have been remedied. Then a copy of this confirmation along with the original report must be sent to the local authorities and tenants.
Why Are These Regulations Implemented?
This regulation mandates this inspection to be carried out by a qualified electrician in Mayfair every five years and failure to do so will result in financial penalties. The measures when applied in full, which will take time, will improve electrical safety standards in private households across England. In the past few years, the energy consumption of houses across the UK has increased, and especially with the arrival of the pandemic, there is an uptake in electricity usage which will create more electrical risks in the future.