The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has introduced legislation for landlords in England to make it a mandatory requirement to have electrical safety checks carried out in their properties. These electrical safety checks are to be carried out at intervals of no more than 5 years by a qualified and competent person.

This new legislation comes into force on 1st June 2020 for Landlords in England for electrical safety checks to be completed on their properties following the timeline below-

This is a series of inspections and tests of the electrical installation, which does not include electrical appliances. It is recommended that appliances are also checked for safety, however it is not a requirement of the legislation. 

This will depend on the work carried out, for some existing installations there may be a valid (less than 5 years old)Electrical Installation Certificate covering the whole property, this would have been issued when the installation was first installed or rewired. If there is no valid Electrical Installation Certificate then a report is required, this is generally known as an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). This report will provide you with an overview of the condition of the electrical installation and, where relevant, will list any remedial works that may be required.

If the report has an Unsatisfactory outcome the EICR will list the issues and a code will be attributed to the severity of the issue, these codes are:

Code C1   ‘Danger present’     Risk of injury    Immediate remedial action required

Code C2   ‘Potentially dangerous’      Immediate remedial action required

Code C3   ‘Improvement recommended’

Code FI     ‘Further investigation required’

Yes, Electrical Safety First have issued Best Practice Guide No. 4 for use by electrical contractors undertaking electrical safety checks, it can be downloaded click here


WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO WITH THE ELECTRICAL SAFETY CHECKDOCUMENTS?

You or your agent is required to supply a copy of this electrical safety check / report to the existing resident/tenant within 28 days of the inspection and test, to a new tenant before they occupy the premises, and to any prospective tenant within 28 days of receiving a request for the report. The landlord must also supply the local housing authority with a copy of this report within 7 days of receiving a request for a copy and retain a copy of the report to give to the inspector and tester who will undertake the next inspection and test. Where the report shows that remedial work is necessary, you must complete this work within 28 days or any shorter period if specified as necessary in the report. Then you or your agent must supply written confirmation of the completion of the remedial works to the tenant and the local housing authority within 28 days of completion of the works.

If the local housing authority finds that landlords are in breach of their duties in relation to electrical installations, they       must serve a notice, which will set out the remedial works required to comply with these duties       may impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000