Here at Wiring Works, we find all too often, that Landlords are potentially exposing themselves to the significant financial risk of heavy fines and invalidated insurance cover because they’ve failed to comply with their obligations under electrical safety legislation. Even worse, they are exposing their private tenants to the risk of a serious accident or fire.
I thought it might help if I clarified Landlords obligations for electrical safety in rental properties.
Landlords are required by law to ensure that:
- the electrical installation in any rented property is safe when tenants move in, and is then maintained in a safe condition thereafter.
- a rental property with multiple occupation (HMO) has a periodic inspection carried out every 5 years. If your property is not an HMO then this isn’t a legal obligation however, Wiring Works would recommend that a periodic inspection and test is carried out by a registered electrician every 5 years regardless.
- any appliance provided by the Landlord is safe to use and has as a minimum, the CE marking (proving that it meets the minimum requirements of European Law).
It is the responsibility of the landlord to undertake regular basic safety checks to ensure that the electrical installation and all appliances are safe and working.
Wiring Works recommends that you ensure you use a Registered Electrician for any work on your property and carry out regular safety checks on all electrical appliances provided as part of the tenant’s agreement. You should also ensure your property has adequate RCD protection (an RCD is a sensitive safety device that switches off power automatically if a fault occurs).
For more information, or if you have any questions, please call Paul at Wiring Works on 01952 270278.
I have also attached the following documents that you can download below:
