Are you aware of the latest electrical safety and PAT testing legislation?
As a landlord or estate agent, it’s important you keep up-to-date with all the latest regulations to ensure that your tenants are safe and that you’re covered if anything does go wrong the property.
However, I’m often surprised by how many clients I come across who aren’t fully aware of their legal responsibilities as landlords when it comes to making sure electrical safety standards are followed.
Below, I’m going to highlight some of the latest electrical safety and PAT testing legal musts that landlords and estate agents MUST adhere to, via the Electrical Safety Council.
The latest electrical safety legislation
Ever since 1st December 2015, every private landlord in Scotland has been required by law to make sure that their properties are electrically safe.
This includes:
- Any installations that supply electricity to the property
- All electrical fixtures, fittings and lights
- All portable appliances that you provide to tenants
It is also the landlord’s responsibility to ensure an electrical safety inspection is carried out by a registered electrician every five years – at a MINIMUM.
But what does that entail? Well, the safety inspection itself is really split into two parts, and consists of:
- An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) – covering the safety of electrical installations, fittings and fixtures
- A PAT (Portable Appliance Testing) check– covering all portable appliances provided to tenants
Landlords must also be able to prove that all of the above mentioned installations, fittings and appliances are in a “reasonable state of repair and in proper working order”.
TIP: This can often be proved with the clearly labelled stickers that are supplied to each appliance upon conducting a PAT test, as well as detailed in their EICR report (in the case of fixtures and fittings).
When should these checks be carried out?
At the very minimum, an electrical safety inspection should be carried out at the start of a new tenancy, as well as during the tenancy (every five years, if not sooner). Tenants (new and existing) should also receive a copy of the latest EICR report for their records.
As for PAT safety checks, it can be a bit of a grey area. It’s recommended by the Electrical Safety Council that landlords – at the very least – make a visual inspection every year of all the electrical appliances they provide.
However, many letting and estate agents will refuse to take on a property unless these checks are carried out annually – despite annual checks not actually being compulsory by law. You could also argue that paying £50 – £100 for an annual pat test along with the checks for your gas appliances is worth it for a good night’s sleep.
Who carries out these checks?
According to the Electrical Safety Council, anyone who carries out an electrical safety inspection “must be employed by a firm that is a member of an accredited registration scheme operated by a body recognised by the Scottish Government” – normally this means they will be registered with NICEIC or be a member firm of the Electrical Contractors’ Association of Scotland (SELECT).”
You can find local members via the handy tools on the NICEIC website and the Electrical Contractors’ Association of Scotland (SELECT).
As for your annual PAT checks, they can be carried out by any qualified person orregistered electrician, and you can also usually organise this around the same time as your annual gas safety check and CP12 – so ask your local heating engineer.
Conclusion
There we have it – the legal musts for electrical safety and PAT tests that you should be aware of as an estate agent or landlord. If you’re unsure of anything we’ve covered here, I’d advise checking the official Electrical Safety Council website for more detailed information.
I hope this blog has proven resourceful, although new regulations are being introduced all the time to ensure that tenants’ safety is put first, and it is your responsibility to keep up-to-speed with these.
