Services - PAT Testing & Fixed Wiring Inspections for Landlords

Pat Testing AberdeenPat Testing for Landlords - Landlord Legal Requirements : Anyone who lets residential accommodation (such as houses, flats and bedsits, holiday homes, caravans and boats) as a business activity is required by law to ensure the equipment they supply as part of the tenancy is safe.

PAT Testing Rental Accommodation Aberdeen

The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 requires that all mains electrical equipment (cookers, washing machines, kettles, etc), new or second-hand, supplied with the rental accommodation must be safe. Landlords therefore need to regularly maintain the electrical equipment they supply to ensure it is safe.

The supply of goods occurs at the time of the tenancy contract. It is, therefore, essential that property is checked prior to the tenancy to ensure that all goods supplied are in a safe condition. A record should be made of the goods supplied as part of the tenancy agreement and of checks made on those goods.

The record should indicate who carried out the checks and when they did it. It is strongly advisable to have the equipment checked before the start of each let. It would be good practice to have the equipment checked at regular intervals thereafter. You should obtain and retain test reports detailing the equipment, the tests carried out and the results.

Aberdeen PAT Test Services have many landlords and serviced appartment porperty owners who ask us to inspect and test their private let and serviced appartments.

Fixed Wiring Testing (Periodical Testing) Rental Accommodation

First of all it is the Landlords responsibility to ensure that the electrical installation and wiring is maintained, not the tenants.
Landlords who are found to be negligent can be fined up to £5000 for each count or face imprisonment.

Most properties that are rented out contain both fixed wire and portable appliances (anything with a plug- kettle, washing machine, toaster etc). Ensuring that both of these do not cause damage to the property or endanger any tenants’ health and wellbeing is definitely a moral responsibility, but what action is required legally?

Fixed wiring, is any wiring or electrical equipment that is a permanent fixture of the house and cannot be moved. Tests take place not only to meet the legal requirements of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and BS 7671: 2008 (IEE Wiring Regulations 17th Edition as amended), but also provide you with
evidence that your electrical system is safe and that complete, thorough tests have been carried out by fully trained and proficient staff. It also satisfies insurance company’s requirements and gives YOU peace of mind.

Testing frequency Guidance Note 3 (BS7671: 2008 as amended) recommends a “Routine Check” at: Change of occupancy/1 year, whichever is less. And full inspection and test every 5 years. The routine check would, in most cases, take no more than 15-20 minutes and cause little or no disruption. The problem with only testing every 5 years is that over this length of time a lot can change and problems can drastically escalate into an issue that can endanger both the property and tenants.

Who can test?

Testing fixed wire systems involves dealing with mains voltage and can be very dangerous; because of this, the work must be carried out by a qualified electrical inspector who is competent and experienced. A
typical fixed wire test will involve a detailed visual inspection of the whole installation and parts of the property being de-energised for short periods of time while the engineer tests the integrity of the wiring. There will also be some minor dismantling of equipment and accessories. This work can be carried out on an evening or weekends as
well as during working hours.

What you will get?

Once the testing has been completed you will be provided with an
“Electrical Installation Condition Report”. This is a document detailing all the installation characteristics, test results and any
observations the inspector has noted, where the installation does not conform to current regulations. This paper work is of vital importance as it shows which parts of the building are considered safe and which will require further work to bring them up to regulation standards.

Fixed wire testing - What does it cost?
The average house/flat has between 4 and 14 circuits. Fixed wire testing can be carried out from as little as £135 + VAT per property depending on specification and requirements.

 

Need to know your Landlord Legal Requirements ?
PAT Testing Rental Accommodation Aberdeen?
Call us today on:
Aberdeen: 01224 399173 or Inverurie: 01467 290010
or contact
Aberdeen PAT Test Services today,
we supply PAT Testing and Fixed Wiring for Landlords
from as little as £45.00! Scotland wide!

 

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