Testing and Inspection:
As an experienced NAPIT Approved Contractor, we offer a Complete Service with All Work Fully Guaranteed. All installations of a certain age, require regular inspection and testing.
Landlords:
The Landlords and Tenants Act 1985 requires that the electrical installation in a rented property is:
- safe when a tenancy begins
- maintained in a safe condition throughout the tenancy.
The Landlords and Tenants Act 1985 makes it an implied term of every tenancy that the landlord will ‘keep in repair the structure and exterior’ of the property and ‘keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity, and for sanitation, space heating and heating water. The landlord cannot make the tenant responsible for these repairs.
Domestic:
Property buyers recognise the importance of carrying out an inspection and test prior to buying a property since re-wiring can prove a costly outlay. Call SRG Electrical and we can re-assure the home buyer that the electrical installation is safe and probably save money in the long term.
Commercial and Industrial:
Employers have a responsibility to provide a safe working environment for their staff and at SRG Electrical we give priority to looking after your needs. Records of inspections and tests are kept and our reminder system ensures companies remain up to date with their certificates. Our electricians recognise the individual needs of companies and carry out testing and inspection with as little disruption as possible.
Periodic Inspection Report:
Every electrical installation deteriorates with use and age. It is important that you ensure that your tenant(s) are not put at risk, by ensuring that the electrical installation continues to be in a safe and serviceable condition.
A Periodic Inspection is an inspection on the condition of an existing electrical installation, to identify (in order of priority) any deficiencies against the National Standard, BS 7671, for the safety of electrical installations.
A periodic inspection should:
- Reveal if any of your electrical circuits or equipment are overloaded
- Find any potential electrical shock risks and fire hazards in your electrical installation
- Identify any defective DIY electrical work
- Highlight any lack of earthing or bonding
- Identify departures from the National standard (BS 7671).
The frequency of periodic inspection and testing will depend upon the type of installation, its use and operation, the frequency and quality of maintenance and the condition of the electrical installation at the time of the inspection and test.
Although IEE Guidance Note 3 Inspection and Testing recommends 10 years as the maximum period between tests, this relates to the period from the initial inspection (when the installation was first installed) to the first periodic inspection and test. Subsequent inspections may result in a recommendation for the interval between future inspections to be increased or decreased depending upon the condition of the installation, although an increase in the interval is very unlikely. The inspector recommending the interval between subsequent inspection and tests must apply engineering judgment and consider the overall condition of the installation at the time of the inspection and test.
IEE Guidance Note 3 also recommends that for domestic dwellings a periodic inspection is carried out on change of occupancy.
For rented accommodation the ESC recommends that periodic inspection and testing is carried out at least every 5 years or on the change of tenancy. Housing organisations that keep an up-to-date record of the condition of their housing stock and work to a written maintenance programme and periodic testing regime may be in position to justify a longer period between periodic inspection and tests. Where a change of tenancy occurs after a short period (for example less than 6 months) of letting, a full periodic inspection and test may not be always be required.
However, it is imperative that the landlord or a person acting on their behalf carries out an electrical safety inspection, prior to the property being relet. This inspection should include checks to ensure there are no broken or missing accessories, no accessible live parts, no signs of burning at accessories or electrical equipment and a manual test of any residual current devices.
The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 requires that every fixed electrical installation in a HMO is inspected and tested at intervals not exceeding 5 years by a person qualified to undertake such inspection and testing. A certificate from the person conducting that inspection and test, specifying the results of the inspection and test must be obtained and supplied to the local housing authority within 7 days of receiving a request in writing for it from that authority. A procedure involving periodic inspection and test reports in conjunction with interim visual condition reports may also be considered where appropriate. However, in general a visual condition report is only suitable where the installation has been inspected and tested in the last two years, and the results were reported (on an Electrical Installation Certificate or a Periodic Inspection Report, as appropriate) as being satisfactory (or where the Periodic Inspection Report contains Code 1 or Code 2 departures the defects have been rectified).