Landlords and Letting Agents

Stay Current, Stay Safe, Stay Alive

I am a qualified electrician and work with Landlords and Letting Agents all over North Yorkshire, including Scarborough, Filey, Bridlington, Whitby, Malton and Driffield. My commercial clients need to know they can trust someone to be professional, tidy and efficient - and work with their clients in a personable manner. I'm that person.

Services Provided

The services I provide so that the Landlord/Letting Agency has peace of mind knowing that they comply with Mandatory Electrical & Safety Regulations are listed below;

Routine Inspections (Carried Out Annually And/Or On Change Of Tenancy)
Electrical Installation Condition Reports
Installation & Testing Of Heat - Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarms

Please see the sections below for more information

Periodic Inspections (Electrical Installation Condition Reports)

I regularly carry out Periodic Inspections across North Yorkshire to check whether a rented home complies with the relevant electrical regulations. As a registered electrician I inspect and test to ascertain if the electrical installations are safe and of the required condition for continued use.

All Periodic Inspections result in an Electrical Installation Condition Report which will detail all observations including any non-compliance issues related to present-day standards.

How often does a Period Inspection need to be carried out?

It is recommended by the IET that periodic inspection and testing is carried out every five years - or at each change of occupancy (whichever is sooner) and at least every five years for a business.

Annual - Routine Inspections

Commercial installations which include Rented Out Accommodation should have a Routine Inspection annually or upon change of occupancy.

These inspections will look for

Breakages
Wear/deterioration
Signs of overheating
Missing parts
Loose fixings

and will confirm

Switchgear is accessible
Enclosures are secure
Labelling is adequate

correct operation will also be checked for

Switchgear
Equipment
RCD's

Electrical Installation Condition Report

All Landlords and Letting Agents have a duty of care when it comes to the safe installation and maintenance of all electrical items within a tenant's home. The Landlords and Tenants Act (1985) requires that all electrical installations in a rented property are not only safe at the point the tenancy begins but also throughout its term. To help this it's recommended to have a registered electrician carry out an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) which will certify that all electrics are safe and/or highlight areas that require attention.

It is paramount that all homeowners and tenants are safe - and an EICR can ensure this. It also helps with insurance-licensing and mitigates risk related to tenants being harmed due to poor internal wiring or faulty fittings.

Electrical Installations Deterioration/Damage

Electrical installations can deteriorate over time, consider just general wear-and-tear when it comes to broken sockets, faulty switches, loose connections. DIY electricians can cause many dangers in your home due to their lack of experience and knowledge. I often see dangerous situations due to incorrect installation being carried out in the first place.

An EICR is one of the best ways to get peace of mind that all is well and everyone living in a rented property will be safe against any potential electrical risks.

An EICR is created following a comprehensive inspection and records anything that's not only hazardous but genuinely dangerous too.

Heat - Smoke And Carbon Monoxide Detectors/Alarms

I am qualified to install heat- smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and also provide an annual inspection & testing service.

From the 1st October 2015 regulations require heat - smoke alarms to be installed in rented residential accommodation and carbon monoxide alarms in rooms with a solid fuel appliance.

The Regulations apply both to houses and flats. Failure to comply can lead to a civil penalty being imposed of up to £5,000. The requirements are imposed on the immediate Landlord. It is of vital importance that Letting Agents ensure that the properties that they look after comply with the regulations to avoid any potential Lawsuits.

The Landlord is specifically required to carry out a check to ensure that heat - smoke and carbon monoxide alarms installed comply with the Regulations and are in proper working order on the day a tenancy begins where it is a new tenancy. A new tenancy is a tenancy granted on or after 1st October 2015.

There are various exemptions:-

A tenancy under which the occupier shares any accommodation with the landlord or a member of the landlord's family. There must be a sharing of an amenity which includes a toilet, personal washing facilities, a kitchen or a living room but excludes any reference to storage or access.
A tenancy which is a long lease or which grants a right of occupation of the premises, i.e. for more than 21 years.
Student halls of residence.
Hostels
Care homes
Hospitals
Accommodation relating to health care provision

Requirement for Smoke alarms

From 1st October 2015, while the premises are occupied under a tenancy the landlord must ensure that a heat - smoke alarm is installed and in working condition on each floor of the premises on which there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation. A living room will include a lounge, dining room or kitchen, it also includes a hall or landing. This means that a smoke alarm must be provided in working order on each storey. As regards individual flats located on one floor then there will have to be at least one alarm within the flat itself or alternatively one provided outside the flat on the same floor of the building, i.e. a communal alarm.

Likewise, for flats comprising more than one storey there will need to be a smoke alarm on each floor.

The Regulations do not stipulate what kind of alarm is required. Ideally it should be a hard wired alarm system, it can however, be a single standalone alarm. Landlords are recommended to fit ten year long life battery tamper proof alarms, otherwise there is a problem of batteries being taken out and not being replaced.