Landlords and Tenants Act 1985

Landlords and Tenants Act 1985 requires that the electrical installation in a rented property is:

• safe when a tenancy begins, and
• maintained in a safe condition throughout the tenancy

It is the Landlords responsibility to ensure the above requirement is met and continues to be met.

There are several points you the Landlord need to consider when renting out a property when comes to the electrics;

• Inspection, Testing and Certification. To ensure the wiring is safe and meets the requirements set in BS 7671 and Part P of the Building Regulations, various tests will ne need to be carried out at the appropriate times and you must obtain the certificates for those tests and make them available to the tenants.
• Domestic Installation Certificate. This will be required if either the property is completely rewired or if an addition or alteration has been made, i.e new circuit. The Domestic Installation Certificate will just cover the work that has been installed
• Building Regulations Compliance Certificate. When work is deemed notifiable and a Domestic Installation Certificate has been issued, you must also obtain a Building Regulations Certificate (BRC). This is either done by yourself applying directly to your Local Authority, which costs plus £150, or by getting a electrical contractor who is Part P registered. In the case of elec, when the work is completed you will receive a BRC from NICEIC within two weeks by post, at no extra charge.
• Periodic Inspection Report/Electrical Condition Report. Technically most properties that are rented out will need to have a Periodic Inspection Report no longer than every 10 years or when there has been a change of tenancy (especially in the case of long term tenants). But the . Electrical Safety Council, advises that a Periodic Inspection Report be carried at a frequency of every 5 years, this is the advice that I agree with and follow.
• Visual Condition Report / Electrical Safety Check. As well as having all the appropriate certification when necessary, it is also your obligation to routinely check the electrical safety at the property you rent out. There are many companies that will offer this service for at a cost. Do not be fooled into thinking a Visual Inspection Report, regardless of who it has been carried out by will determine whether the electrical installation is safe or not. A Visual Inspection Report is only supposed to detect obvious faults, i.e. cracked socket outlets, and to give a general indication of the state of the electrics. It is perfectly possible that a dangerous problem exists within the electrical installation which a Visual Inspection Report will not detect, if this problem results in an injury or fire, it is unlikely that the VIsual Inspection Report will be enough to show that you have fulfilled your obligations. This is why I strongly recommend that a Periodic Inspection Report is carried out at intervals no longer than five years.
• Fire Safety (BS 5839). Does the property you rent have the appropriate selection of smoke alarms? The type of fire alarm system installed should be in accordance with the recommendations of BS5839-6 Fire Detection and Fire Alarm systems for buildings. The Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) have published a compressive guide aimed in part at Landlords, which can be viewed here.
  
  A note on mains powered smoke alarms. For many years it has been a requirement of the Building Regulations that new builds have to have installed mains powered smoke alarms. Although the requirements are less clear when it comes to existing properties. Mains powered smoke alarms must also be installed when there is a 'material alteration', although it can be a grey area as to what is classed as a material alteration. As a general rule, I install mains powered smoke alarms when ever a property is being rewired.
  
  I will always recommend you the landlord to have mains powered smoke alarms installed into existing properties that you rent out, therefore ensuring that you comply with your 'duty of care' obligations. If you have further questions Aico also publish good advice and information on their website.
• Emergency Lighting. In shared occupancy buildings, i.e. student flats, it is required that emergency lights are installed where appropriate to ensure safe evacuation can take place in case of an emergency.
• Electrical Appliances. It is the responsibility of the Landlord to have any electrical appliances that are let out with the property regularly tested. This test is called the Portable Appliance Test or PAT test. Please refer to page 45 of the Landlords Guide to Electrical Safety by ESC. It is a relatively quick and inexpensive test.