Electrical safety certificates required from December 2022
Welsh Government will implement the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 on 1st December 2022. It introduces several new requirements that landlords in Wales need to be aware of and comply with.
One of these requirements is for an electrical safety certificate to be produced for every property, known as ‘periodic inspection and testing’ (PIT).
Inspection and testing of electrical installation
PIT is the inspecting and testing of a property’s electrical installation by a qualified person, such as a registered electrician, to ensure it’s safe for continued use. The test will reveal if any of the electrical circuits or equipment is overloaded, whilst also finding any potential electric shock risks and fire hazards. On top of this, the electrician will identify any defective electrical work and highlight any lack of earthing or bonding.
What will be displayed on the electrical safety certificate?
Once completed, the electrician will issue a domestic electrical installation condition report, also known as an electrical safety certificate. We’re offering new landlord clients free safety certificates and inventories for the whole of 2022.
The report/certificate will detail any deterioration, defects, dangerous conditions and any non-compliance with the present-day safety standards that might give rise to danger. It will also offer recommendations to make good these observations.
Regularity of testing
The new legislation requires landlords to have their electrical installation tested every five years, unless the previous report/certificate has indicated that a shorter timeframe is required.
On top of this, it’s considered best practice to visually inspect fixtures such as plug sockets and lights, as well as appliances and cables, during visits to the property, particularly between tenancies. These visual checks can be done by any competent person, meaning they don’t have to be qualified or registered.
Providing the report/certificate to tenants
Tenants – or contract-holders, as they’re known in the new Act – must be provided with a copy of the certificate within seven days of their tenancy starting. They must also be provided with written confirmation of any work that may have been carried out following recommendations made on the certificate.
Similarly, when a new report/certificate is produced, tenants must be issued a copy within seven days. Again, if work is carried out as a result of recommendations made, they must be told in writing.
The consequences for not complying
Although domestic fires are reducing, the proportion of fires in homes caused by electricity is steadily increasing. We needn’t go into the danger and threat to life that fire can cause, so the worst possible outcome for not complying is clear.
Additionally, the legislation dictates that properties will be deemed unfit for human habitation where there isn’t a valid electrical safety certificate, and rent will not be payable by the tenant for the unfit period.
Landlords have until December 2023 to get their house(s) in order
Where there’s already a tenancy in place when the Act comes in on 1st December 2022, landlords will have a year to comply with the new electrical safety certificate and smoke alarm requirements, unless a new contract starts within that year (in which case the requirement kicks in on the new tenancy start date) or a contract goes from fixed-term to periodic within that year (the requirement will kick in on the periodic date).
Landlords of HMOs are unlikely to be affected by this element of the new legislation as they should already be instructing electrical safety inspections at appropriate intervals due to the higher risk nature of HMOs. Landlords of non-HMOs may be unfamiliar with electrical testing, so this could be a new item for them to arrange and bear the cost of.
As Cardiff's largest manager of homes in the private rented sector, our landlord clients can be assured that our buying power with local contractors means we're able to secure the best possible price for electrical safety certificates. For our clients whom this legislation affects, we will be in touch with more information in due course.
Further reading
Want to know more? Head on over to the Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022 or Welsh Government’s accompanying guidance.
Let CPS Homes help
We're experts on The Renting Homes (Wales) 2016 Act and are helping prepare landlords for the changes. By instructing us to manage your property, we will…
- Work with you to put efficient processes in place well in advance of key dates for new legislation and regulations, ensuring you and your properties are compliant, safe and legal.
- Save you the cost of a Rent Smart Wales landlord licence and the hassle of ongoing training.
- Maximise your rental income by ensuring the property is always achieving its full potential.
- Provide you with your own representative within our Lettings and Accounts departments.
- Produce a FREE professional walkthrough video tour and photography as part of our standard marketing package.
- Place you on our VIP Investor list where you'll get priority access to pre-market investment properties before they're listed online.
- Provide you with peace of mind via our Client Money Protection (CMP) policy, professional indemnity insurance, and redress scheme membership.
To discuss CPS Homes taking over management of your property, contact our Senior Property Investment & Market Advisor, Rhys Owen, today via rhys.owen@cpshomes.co.uk or 02920 668585.
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