Landlords in Bristol are required to have regular electrical safety inspections to ensure their rental properties are safe for their tenants. Let’s take a look at the regulations for private landlords, and why you need an electrical safety certificate for your property in Bristol.

Landlords Electrical Safety Certificate

What is a landlords electrical safety certificate?

A landlords electrical safety certificate is also known as an Electrical Installation Condition Report, or EICR for short. Since June 2020 landlords of private rental properties in Bristol and the rest of England have been legally required to have the electrical installation at their property inspected by a qualified electrician to ensure they are safe to use. The landlord’s electrical safety certificate or EICR is issued after the inspection has been completed and any noted defects have been rectified.

Who can provide a landlords electrical safety certificate?

A landlords electrical safety inspection must be carried out by a qualified and competent person who is a registered member of a Competent Person Scheme, such as NICEIC or NAPIT. A registered electrician will have demonstrated their competence to the assessor at their chosen scheme, as well as their knowledge and compliance with regulations. By choosing a qualified and registered electrician, such as ourselves at EMC Electrical Group Bristol, you can be certain that your inspection will be thorough and that you will meet your legal obligations.

What happens during the inspection?

During your EICR inspection, your electrician will be carrying out both diagnostic testing and visual inspections of the fixed electrical system at your Bristol rental property.

They will be looking at areas including:

Fuse boards
Wiring
Light switches
Sockets
Light fittings
Fixed electrical appliances such as hardwired cookers and electric showers

They’ll be looking for signs or damage or wear, any faults, or areas that do not regulations. They will also be ensuring your property has adequate bonding and earthing. They will note any areas they find that require attention and these will be communicated to you in the EICR report itself. Your electrician will also explain the next steps needed should you require any remedial work.

What if my electrical safety report is unsatisfactory?

If the electrician who has inspected your Bristol rental property finds that repairs, improvements or further inspections are required they will assign each finding a specific code. The code assigned will tell you how swiftly any remedial work must be carried out. This may be required immediately in the case of the most dangerous faults which are assigned code C. Any work coded C2 will need to be completed within 28 days. Until those faults are rectified, your EICR will be considered unsatisfactory. Once they are repaired, you will receive a satisfactory result.