EICR Certificate and Its Aspects Every Landlord Should Know

New regulations regarding electric safety standards have been introduced back on 1st July 2020. Private rented properties, as a result, had to abide by the new rules EICR Certificate.

In other words, all the landlords will need a certified electrician to conduct an EICR inspection on their properties every five years. If they fail to carry out this process, legal repercussions are bound to follow. Plus, they need to show an EICR London certificate to the new tenants before letting them move in.

It is, therefore, necessary for every landlord of rental properties to show a copy of a certificate before 1st April 2021 no matter what.

Seem a little confusing, right? To help every landlord in the process of ensuring they are compliant with all of their legal obligations, we have jotted down some major aspects in a brief format below.

Once you go through the entire post, we bet you would understand every legal aspect of the matter. So, keep reading!

An EICR: what is it anyway?

EICR stands for Electrical Installation Condition Report, which is nothing but a certificate that demonstrates the safety and the overall status of all the electrical installations in a given property. A certified electrician is entitled to create this report after performing a series of tests and visual inspections of the electrical fittings to confirm everything is safe to use. This report is mandatory to be shown to the new tenants that move into a new property.

If the electrician finds out any potential defects in the electrical installations of the property, they will mention them on the report and ask the landlord to conduct remedial work to fix the issue as soon as possible. Also, in the certificate, the next due inspection date will be mentioned.

Spotless Finish: Essential Post Construction Cleaning

To clear the air here, many landlords stay confused about the fact whether they need to do a PAT test apart from having the London EICR inspection done on the property. The answer is a resounding YES. A PAT test is not part of the EICR test. While this is not mandatory, if you rent your property with electrical appliances, it is safe to do a PAT test. While there is no legal requirement that you have to show tenants any PAT test certificate, doing so can help you ensure your tenants are safe.

How are new electrical rules different from the old ones?

It is every landlord’s legal responsibility to ensure the property they are renting is safe for tenants. It is especially important before and during a tenancy. If you do not have your property inspected by a certified electrician and obtain an EICR Certificate London. You could be penalized if a tenant gets in harm’s way due to faulty electrical fittings in your property.

This is why landlords are repeatedly requested to complete regular assessments of their electrical instalments and provide the tenants with the EICR certificate prior to the tenancy.

However, as the new rules came into force in 2020. Landlords are obliged to carry out inspections of their properties’ electrical installations every five years. By hook or crook, they will need to ensure renters are safe by giving them a copy of the EICR certificate.

To avoid any legal hassles, make sure you are a little proactive and do the following:

• Schedule regular inspections with a certified electrician to obtain the EICR certificate mentioning the outputs of the test. The report should also entail the next due date of the inspection.
• Provide tenants with a copy of the certificate prior to letting them move into the new property.
• In case the certificate gets replaced, landlords need to provide a copy of the same to the tenants within twenty-eight days after the inspection is done.
• After obtaining the EICR certificate, landlords must show the same to the local authority within seven days of getting penalized.
• If the renters ask their landlords to book EICR and obtain a certificate. Landlords must show the same within 28 days.
• Provide a current report to prospective tenants within 28 days after their request.

In case landlords have a valid report obtained prior to the date of 1st July 2020

The government has declared that landlords already having the certificate are only valid if they are below 5 years. The new legislation solidifies the same.

Landlords who have a satisfactory report must review the observations of the electrician. This is to evaluate any changes that might have occurred since the last inspection. If any significant change needs to be done, they must get it done on time. Especially before and during a tenancy. This may include major building renovation work, and extensive wear & tear of the electrical installations or fittings, among others.

With time, it is common for electrical installations to deteriorate, with several factors coming to play. The factors can include regular wear & tear, the age of the installation items, environmental factors, and more. In any of these cases, landlords should not overlook the matter and get the repair work done before it is too late.

If no major changes are needed, and nothing significant is not mentioned in the report. There is no need to worry. Then the report will stay valid until the next due date of the inspection.

In case a rental property fails an inspection

According to the legislation, any breach of electrical safety standards must be assessed by a certified electrician. They must provide the landlords with the appropriate advice on the remedial work for the same.

After conducting the necessary remedial work, landlords must do the following:

• Get a copy of a written confirmation that the remedial work has been done. A qualified electrician can provide them with the same. This is also valid if any further remedial work is needed or should be assessed.
• Provide the same copy to the tenants within 28 days of the work being completed. The copy will mention that the remedial work has been done.
• Also, provide it to the local housing authority within 28 days after the work has been done.
• If more remedial work is needed and it is mentioned in the report. Then the above-mentioned process must be done again until the safety standards are met.

Can any enforcement action be taken against landlords in case of breaches?

If a suspected breach has been identified and reported by the local authority. They will give notice to the landlords mentioning that remedial work needs to be done. after that, within 28 days landlords should complete the process.

If not, then the local authority will forcefully charge the landlords to recover the costs of remedial work.