Make Your Rental Safe from Any Shock or Burns with an Electrical Certificate for

Posted by Trade Facilities Services on February 26th, 2018

If you are providing a furnished property for rent, then it’s your responsibility to always look out for the safety of the tenants. As a landlord, you need to get electrical certificates to prove that your house or property is free from electrical hazards that may occur unexpectedly. But how exactly do you do this?

You can get EICR or Electrical Installation Condition Report Certificate, which is issued by licensed electricians after doing a thorough visual inspection and electrical testing of your rental property. You need to secure an EICR certificate if you have new equipment installed, or if the property is older (because electrical systems deteriorate over time).

It is recommended to have them checked, inspected and possibly repaired to prevent electrical emergencies and accidents. With a thorough inspection, you can avoid any overloading of equipment, electric shocks caused by lack of ground lines, and defective or malfunctioning connections. Securing an electrical certificate for landlords also shows your tenants (and prospective tenants) that you are serious about keeping your rental property safe.

To be clear, the law requires building owners to provide an EICR certificate only if they added new devices to the list of equipment used inside the property. But no law requires regular inspection. Still, landlords need to ensure that all repair and maintenance works on the electricals should be accomplished to prevent legal issues down the road should accidents happen.

You can also have PAT testing done on all your equipment. This is the electrical safety testing for all portable appliances like ovens and dryers. According to the Electricity at Works Act, you are required to provide a maintenance program, too, and it should include PAT Testing to ensure that your appliances are safe to use.

Electrical certificates should only be issued by reputable providers that employ accredited electricians. They can send an expert over to your property, who should be registered with the NICEIC or National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting and NAPIT or National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers. He or she should know the proper sequence of electrical safety testing and should implement the accurate measurement and inspection before and after supply connection.

Protect the health and safety of your tenants by securing an electrical certificate for landlords. They are on your property, and all measures should be undertaken to ensure that the area where they live, or work are free from electrical and potential dangers.

About the Author

I am James Livingstone the owner of Trade Facilities Services, we provide electrical certificates and electrical testing in London, Essex and Kent at reasonable and fair prices. The company is fully insured, and all electricians are qualified and are members of either NAPIT or the NICEIC. We believe in publishing the correct information for our consumers to ensure they get value for money.