Need of EICR Certificate
The EICR or Electrical Inspection Condition Report is a mandatory certificate that every homeowner should have with him. This has the details of all the electrical installations that are there on the property. For the EICR test, one needs to call a professional electrician who will ensure that the building is completely safe to live in. For this test, you can inform Electric Works London as well.
The grades that electricians give on each circuit are:
C1 (danger present),
C2 (potentially dangerous)
CF1 (investigation is needed without any delay)
For a particular to hand over to the tenants it is necessary to get the report on grades like C1, C2, or Fi. If these do not come then the homeowner needs to start off with the remedial works that too within 28 days from the day, he receives the original report. It is also necessary to provide copies of this certificate to all the tenants.
Now you must be thinking about how to know if one is a qualified electrician or not for carrying out the test?
As per the new regulations, it is the duty of the landlords to check all the electrical installations of their properties. Guidelines have been set by the guidelines to choose as the inspector and tester. When starting off an inspection as a landlord you should check if the person is a member of a competent person scheme or not. The inspector also needs to sign the checklist that says about his experience, competence, whether they have insurance or not. He should also have a qualification that covers the present version of periodic inspection, Wiring Regulations, testing, and certification of all kinds of electrical installations.
What are the standards that all the electrical installations meet?
The regulations say that all landlords should do all the remedial work before handing over the property. In the report, if it does not mention any kind of remedial work then the landlord is not required to do anything. On the other hand, if anything is there then he has to do it, there are no two ways about it. If the landlord escapes from the payment then the local authority can pay but it is a reimbursable amount. The Regulations do not cover any kind of electrical appliance like TV, Air Conditioners, washing machines and so on. The regulations are limited to only fixed electrical installations. Sometimes tenants do use the owner’s articles, if this happens then kindly check the appliances as well. Carry out a PAT or portable appliance testing with the help of an electrician and hand over the record.
Consequences of not having an EICR certificate
Although it is not a legal requirement that the landlords have to have with them, it is a kind of responsibility towards society. The tenants should not over the matter while they are planning to buy the house. By chance, if the tenants do not check the up-to-date EICR certificate and pay the purchasing amount to the landlord then he can give birth to various problems later on.
For example, suppose a tenant purchases a particular property trusting that the electric connection is on point and then he informs Electric Works London to come and fix something or installing any appliance. Obviously, this company will send a qualified electrician and then the electrician finds out that most of the circuits have aged and it can easily catch electric fire. God forbids if he did that there was no earth in the metal light fittings then the story will take a different turn. First of all, the tenants need to add a new fuse board, do the total rewiring and the amount will be huge. Well, sadly the landlord will not come to pay this amount. So, this is the reason every tenant should take the EICR certificate before they start living in the property.
Luckily these days most of the landlords are aware when it comes to the EICR test. Present regulations need all the landlords to have all the electrical installations inspected by a competent electrician, this work should happen once every 5 years. keep in mind you are responsible for society so better do what will be good for others.
