Electrical Safety Standards, New Regulations 2020

As you may be aware on 18^th March 2020 the UK government brought in the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020.  These regulations come into effect on 1^st June 2020 and will apply to all private rented properties in England, they will apply to all new tenancies starting from 1^st July 2020 and will apply to all existing tenancies from 1^st April 2021.

The regulations relate to the electrical installations in a property and these are defined as ‘Fixed electrical cables or electrical equipment located on the consumer’s side of the electricity supply meter’. This essentially covers anything that is fixed and immovable and does not include anything that is plugged in and portable.

Under the regulations, Landlords are required to ensure that the electrical safety standards are met during any tenancy and that every electrical installation in a rented property is inspected and tested by a qualified person every five years (or sooner if required by the authorised person).

The authorised person will prepare a report and the Landlord must supply a copy of that report to the tenant prior to commencement of a new tenancy or within 28 days of the inspection if an existing tenancy. The Landlord is also required to supply a copy to the Local Authority within 7 days of receiving a written request to do so.

If the report requires remedial works or further investigation to be carried out, the Landlord must arrange to have these carried out by an authorised person within 28 days of the inspection (or sooner if stated in the report) and obtain written confirmation from the authorised person that the work has been done. The written confirmation of the remedial work together with a copy of the original report must be sent to the tenant and the Local Authority within 28 days of the work being completed.

If the Landlord does not carry out the remedial work or further inspection the Local Authority can instruct an authorised person to carry out the work and recover the cost from the Landlord.

If a Landlord fails to comply with these regulations, the Local Authority can impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000. The Local Authority can also impose more than one penalty for continuing failure.

Every new property has to have a Certificate of Compliance for the electrical installations before it can complete and this certificate satisfies these regulations. The certificate is contained in the new home buyers pack given to the purchaser at handover and a copy of this certificate should be supplied to the tenant and Local Authority in the same way as the report following inspection. The certificate will be valid under these regulations for five years from the completion date stated on the certificate after which the property will need inspection and testing.

Chase Evans has negotiated preferential, bulk rates for carrying out these inspections with a number of suitably authorised contractors and we will be pleased to arrange the testing on your behalf and give you the benefit of these rates.

We will contact Landlords individually when inspections are required to ensure that you can comply with these regulations.

If you would like to know more, the full legislation can be found HERE