For landlords across the UK and in Bristol, you are legally obliged to conduct an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) every 5 years at a minimum.
It is the landlord's duty to ensure that the home's safety levels are maintained in line with current legislation around electrical safety in rental properties. After the EICR has been completed and the results have been issued, it is the landlord's requirement that they provide a copy of the report to the tenant. It is less common but if the local council requests a copy of the results, you must also provide this to them.
Carrying out an EICR in a rental property is an imperative part of keeping your tenants safe in your property. People are often surprised by the amount of hidden faults an EICR can uncover, electrical faults tend to be hidden away and then present themselves when it is too late and fire or electrical shock has been caused as a result.
What is the process of an EICR in a rental property?
An EICR consists of 2 phases, the first is a visual inspection and then the electrician will go on to complete the testing using tools such as a multifunction tester and a voltage indicator. The visual inspection will be searching for signs of overheating such as burning, melted or scorch marks on switches, sockets and light covers. The electrician will also carry out visual inspection of the properties fuseboard/ consumer unit - looking at the overall age of the board/unit and the condition.
Onto the testing now, during this process the electrician will use equipment to carry out testing on any permanent electrical fixtures such as the consumer unit or fuseboard, sockets and switches, wiring and the earthing and bonding.
What action needs to be taken for each EICR result?
Some EICR results mean immediate remedial work must be carried out and others mean the property is safe and no remedial work is needed.
EMC Electrical Group recently carried out an EICR on St Matthews Road, Bristol - this was a semi detached 3 bed Victorian home which is usually rented out to grad students. As per the legal requirements for the landlord, an EICR was due and there were no tenants currently in situ which was ideal for completing the report without any obstructions. During the initial visual inspection, we located a loose socket in the bedroom and damage to light fitting (both are categorized as C2 faults) and the extractor fan was not working. Unfortunately we did also advise the landlord that the fuseboard would need replacing soon as there was no spare capacity and it was around 20 years old (this is classed as a c3 fault due to lack of RCD protection).
Some report findings are more urgent and time sensitive than others, some contain risks which pose immediate risk of danger or others which may be less serious.
C1- Electrician has advised that injury could occur as an immediate result of a fault detected - immediate work must be carried out to rectify the fault and restore safety
C2 - an irregularity has been found that could be potentially dangerous if a fault occurs, remedial work should be arranged as soon as possible
C3 - The findings aren’t concerning when it comes to the immediate safety of the home but it would be an improvement for the homes overall safety if steps were taken to rectify any findings that aren’t quite right
FI - Due to restrictions upon access or more in depth investigations being needed, the electrician can’t identify an issue. Further investigation (FI) is necessary to schedule
Book a Landlord EICR in Bristol today
To enquire about an EICR for your rental property, fill in our contact form with the details of your property and we will be in touch to arrange.
