Niceic Landlords & Letting agents Manchester

 

 

Why do managing or letting agents, acting for landlords, and landlords need to complete electrical inspections?

 

There are two main Acts of Parliament that impose a statutory duty on Managing Agents and landlords with respect to the safety of electrical equipment: (Electrical Fixed Wiring and Portable Appliances)

 

The Consumer Protection Act 1987
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

• The Consumer Protection Act 1987 affects all persons who let property in the course of, day to day business because it defines them as "suppliers", i.e. they are supplying goods to the tenant. There are several items of secondary legislation under the umbrella of the Consumer protection Act which are directly relevant to the supply of electrical fixed wiring and portable appliances. as follows

The Low Voltage Electrical Equipment Regulations 1989
The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994
The General Product Safety Regulations 199
The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994

 

In essence, these regulations impose a duty on Letting Agents and landlords to ensure that all Electrical Fixes Wiring and Portable appliance equipment supplied by them is safe for use by the tenant. The Consumer Protection Act provides a defence of 'due diligence', i.e. a Managing Agents and landlord can defend a contravention of the Act if he can demonstrate that he took reasonable steps to avoid committing the offence. Example: Electrical Fixed Wiring Periodic Inspection Report (every 5 year or on change of tenancy) and a Portable Appliance Register (every 12 - 24 month).

 

Also

• The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places a duty of care upon both employer and employee to ensure the safety of all persons using the work premises. This general requirement has been galvanised by several recent regulations, some of which explicitly extended their requirements to cover "self employed persons" and "all persons affected by their operations". In the Electricity at Work Regulations, a self-employed person is defined as follows :

The legal definition of self-employed person:

"A self-employed person is an individual who works for gain or reward otherwise, than under a contract of employment, whether or not he employs others."

 

The legal view:

 

This definition would appear to apply to landlords and Letting agents;

Similarly, tenants would appear to be a group of persons affected by the managing or letting agents, and landlord's operations.

This tends to suggest that electrical regulations, which are ostensibly directed at employers and the work place, are equally applicable to managing or letting agents, landlords, their premises and their tenants.

 

Some of the specific regulations that are applicable to Electrical Fixed Wiring Installations include:

Regulation 3(1b) of The Management of Health and Safety at Work

Regulations 1992 states:

"Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of: the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him or his undertaking"

 

Regulation 3 of the Electricity at Work Regulations states:

"It shall be the duty of every employer and self-employed person to comply with the provisions of these Regulations in so far as they relate to matters within his control."

 

Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations states:

"As may be necessary to prevent danger, all [electrical] systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger."

So in brief a Letting agents, or landlord could defend a contravention of the Acts listed above, as they would be able to demonstrate that they took reasonable steps to avoid committing the offence by carrying out an: Electrical Fixed Wiring Periodic Inspection Report (every 5 year or on change of tenancy) and a Portable Appliance Register (every 12 - 24 month).