The Government has proposed regulatory requirements for mandatory five-year periodic electrical reporting on electrical installations in the private rented sector from July 2020.
The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 were laid to Parliament earlier this year. These standards require parliamentary approval for them to be enforced, but it is anticipated that this approval is imminent.
The proposal, when it is approved, requires that:
- landlords will be required to carry out electrical safety checks on a five-yearly basis
- an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) is to be issued to the landlord with confirmation of remedial works completed
- the EICR, indicating a satisfactory outcome to the inspection and testing of the property, will be given to the tenant at the beginning of the tenancy
- this report should also be available to the local authority upon request
- legislative requirements would be phased in, with new tenancies complying in year one and existing tenancies in year two
- Visual checks of the electrical installation would be considered as good practice at the change of tenancy, on condition that an EICR indicating a satisfactory outcome, had been issued previously and within the last five years.
These electrical safety checks will need to ascertain if the electrical installation being inspected and tested complies with the current edition of the IET Wiring Regulations, which is the 18th Edition.
Periodic Inspection and testing of an electrical installation with regard to compliance with the 18th Edition of the IET Wiring Regulations are likely to identify departures within the installation. However, many electrical installations are likely to meet the requirements of the IET Wiring Regulations that were applicable at the time. Accordingly, when this proposal comes into being, it is anticipated that the vast majority of privately rented properties are unlikely to meet the new standards and a great degree of judgement and common sense will be required by the Inspector to ascertain what departures require urgent remedial works. It is important, therefore, that experienced and qualified people are available to do this inspection and testing work to enable them to come up with a sensible solution to what remedial work is actually necessary, in terms of electrical safety.
A ‘qualified person’ for the purposes of these regulations, is a person competent to undertake the inspection and testing required and any further investigative or remedial work in accordance with the electrical safety standards.
A qualified person is likely to have undertaken a City and Guilds Inspection and Testing course, now the C&G 2391, or may have previously undertaken the C&G 2394/95 course and has kept up to date with the Inspection and Testing procedures and requirements.
Courses provided by Redford Charles:
C&G 2391 which has proved to be popular in the past and is expected to be even more popular in the future given the above government proposals being approved
Testing Refresher training day for those that have acquired the qualifications some time ago
Correct compilation of the EICR, in particular, how to assess the electrical installation and identify correct coding of each departure observed
If you are interested in any of these courses, then please call Lisa or Becky on 01634 711955; email via the website Contact Us page or direct email to admin@redfordcharles.com for more information.