From 1st June 2020, landlords in England will be required by law to have the electrical installation in their rental properties checked by a qualified electrician to ensure that they are safe. The exact terminology of what is required is called an Electrical Installation Condition Report or EICR for short.
The EICR which is provided by a competent electrician will be valid for 5 years and therefore a new inspection must be done every 5 years after that. The landlord must provide a copy of a valid Electrical Installation Condition Report to both new and existing tenants.
Electrical installations in rental properties must be inspected prior to the start of a new tenancy by 1st July 2020. If you have a property which is rented out to an existing tenant, this property will need to be checked by 1st April 2021.
When done properly, this should have a dramatic impact on the level of safety for tenants throughout the country. There is a problem here though. Many companies offer so called “drive by” Electrical Installation Condition Reports which consist of a very brief check of the installation and little or no actual testing. The whole purpose of the new regulations is that properties are actually thoroughly checked and any electrical safety issues rectified, however some landlords may try to cut corners on this in order to save money, and some electrical firms are happy to offer a worthless piece of paper for a very low price, in order to keep the landlord compliant.
At BDI Electrics we believe the safety of our clients and their tenants is of utmost importance. We also believe strongly in the integrity of our work. We don’t cut any corners and when we carry out an Electrical Installation Condition Report in London rental properties we do a very thorough job. This can result in great peace of mind for landlords and tenants alike knowing that their electrical installation actually is safe and compliant. We refuse to participate in the “race to the bottom” and so we stick to our guns when it comes to the level of service we offer, even if it means we can’t compete on price most of the time. We believe this is the way forward as ultimately those who cut corners will be caught out eventually and suffer the consequences.
We have a large portfolio of London Landlords and Letting Agents who trust in our services and come back to us year after year for their electrical inspection and testing work. All our records are kept digitally and we can provide printed copies as well to be kept locally by the tenants. This means if ever a landlord loses a copy of their EICR Report they can easily contact us and we can send them a duplicate copy.
If you are a property owner in London or the surrounding area and need an Electrical Installation Condition Report, feel free to contact us for a fixed price quotation.