Electrical Safety Policy

5.1 The Housing Act 2004 (opens new window) requires that properties be free from Category 1 hazards regarding the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS); this includes electrical hazards.

5.2 The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (opens new window) and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act (opens new window) 2018 place duties on landlords to ensure that electrical installations in rented properties are:

• safe when a tenancy begins (Section 9(1)(a)
• maintained in a safe condition throughout the tenancy so the property is fit for habitation Section 11 (1)(b)

5.3 To comply with these duties, electrical installations are required to be periodically inspected and tested. There is no legal requirement setting out how frequently we must carry out inspections and tests in domestic properties, however the government is consulting on introducing mandatory checks on electrical installations for social housing at least every five years.

5.4 Best practice guidance from the Electrical Safety Council and from BS7671:2018 recommends that electrical installations are tested at intervals of no longer than five years from the previous inspection. This guidance also states that any deviation from a five-year interval should be at the recommendation of a competent NICEIC qualified (or equivalent) person and should be backed up by sound evidence to support the recommendation.

5.5 All electrical installations should be inspected and tested prior to the commencement of any new tenancies. This means that tests should be carried out whilst properties are void and when mutual exchanges and transfers take place.

5.6 The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 (opens new window) places duties on employers that all electrical installations and appliances within the workplace are safe and that only competent persons work on the electrical installations, systems, and equipment.

5.7 The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 (opens new window) requires landlords to ensure that any electrical appliances provided as part of a tenancy are safe when first supplied.

5.8 If we become aware of an electrical installation which has not been carried out by the Council, or for which consent was not sought by the tenant, then either.

• backdated written permission will be given to the tenant and a safety check carried out immediately and maintain thereafter, or
• the tenant will be instructed to remove the appliance at their expense, or if unable to do so Gateshead Council will remove the appliance and make good and recharge the tenant