One of these requirements is for an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) to be produced for every property, known as ‘periodic inspection and testing’ (PIT).
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.
The report 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.
The new legislation requires landlords to have their electrical installation tested every five years, unless the previous report 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.
Tenants – or contract-holders, as they’re known in the new Act – must be provided with a copy of the report within 14 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 is produced, tenants must be issued a copy within 14 days. Again, if work is carried out as a result of recommendations made, they must be told in writing.
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.
Where there was already a tenancy in place when the Act came in on 1st December 2022, landlords will have a year to comply with the EICR and smoke alarm requirements, unless a new contract starts within that year with different or a change in contract-holders (tenants) or landlord, in which case the requirement kicks in on the new tenancy start 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.
Want to know more? Head on over to the Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022 or Welsh Government’s accompanying guidance.