Following our blog on the 14th January, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 have been published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Approval of the regulations is pending, and further amendments may be made between now and 1 June, but one thing is certain…they are not going away. At the time of writing this blog we understand that the regulations will 1) apply in England only 2) apply to all new tenancies (excluding holiday lets) starting on or after 1 July 2020 3) tenancies that started prior to 1 July 2020 need to comply on or before 1 April 2021 4) all renewals and most likely statutory periodic tenancies (rolling month to month) commencing on or after 1 July 2020 will be considered new tenancies.
The 2 main requirements will be that all electrical installations must comply with the 2018 edition of the IET Wiring Regulations (BS 7671:2018) and those installations be tested every 5 years by a qualified person and a report produced. The current test is commonly known as ‘periodic inspection’ or ‘domestic electrical installation condition report’ (EICR). The test typically looks for overloaded electrical circuits or equipment, potential electric shock risks and fire hazards, identifies any defective electrical work and lack of earthing or bonding; tests wiring and fixed electrical equipment safety. The certificate produced will record damage, deterioration, defects, dangerous conditions and any non compliances. EICR codes determine whether your report is “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory using C1, C2 & C3 codes to determine risk and remedial works that must be done.
The cost of the test and remedial works to rectify unsatisfactory codes will fall on the Landlord. Many Landlords may already have an in date EICR certificate as we recommend such tests as best practice. If you are an existing AB Landlord and would like to check your compliance or would like us to arrange a test please contact our offices on 01892 525522 Tunbridge Wells or 01342 321142 East Grinstead for more information.
