Landlords & Letting Agents

Electrical Testing for Landlords and Letting Agent Services

We work closely with our landlords and letting agents to ensure they stay compliant with the law whilst also ensuring their tenants have us on call to provide a quick and lasting solution to any electrical problems they may experience because we provide electrical testing for landlords and letting agents besides other electrical services.

Am I responsible for electrical testing as a landlord?

As a landlord, you are required by law to ensure that:

– The electrical installation in your rented property is safe when tenants move in and remain in a safe condition throughout the duration of the tenancy.

– Any appliance provided to tenants is safe and has the CE marking, this is the manufacturers claim that it meets requirements of European Law.

– A House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) has an Electrical Condition Report carried out every five years by a qualified electrician. A HMO is a residence where a property is occupied by three or more people who form more than two households, this includes shared houses, flats and houses rented by students.

EICRs for Rental Properties and HMO’s

Under the Landlords and Tenants act 1985, landlords must ensure that the electrical inspection in their rented property is safe when tenants move in and throughout their tenancy; this is achieved through an Electrical Installation Condition Reports, sometimes referred to as a periodic inspections, electrical safety certificates, landlord safety tests or homebuyers tests.

During an EICR, the consumer unit (or fuseboard), wiring and electrical accessories of a property are tested and inspected for faults or deviations from the Wiring Standards.

Recommended Frequencies of EICRs for Landlords and Letting Agencies

In a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) such as a student house, it is a legal requirement to have an EICR carried out at least once every 5 years. In a buy to let rental property, an EICR should be carried out at least once every five years or at a change of tenancy in order to keep your tenants safe and keep yourself compliant.

Portable Appliance Testing (PAT)

If you’re a landlord, we recommend carrying out portable appliance tests on common electrical equipment such as kettles, microwaves, hoovers and other ‘moveable’ items regularly.

Whilst there is no law that says PAT tests must be carried out, the law states that all electrical equipment within a rental property must be safe to use and it’s the landlord’s responsibility to ensure this before tenants move in and throughout the tenancy. Therefore, if a tenant was to suffer an injury as a result of unsafe electrical equipment, the landlord would be penalised.

Our competent electricians can carry out affordable PAT tests along with fire alarm and emergency lighting testing to ensure peace of mind.