With the new Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector coming into force in England on July 1, 2020, NAPIT has published specific Guidance for Landlords.
The regulations coming into force are for new, specified tenancies, and private landlords will be required to ensure their properties are subject to electrical inspection and testing, carried out by a qualified, competent person at intervals not exceeding five years (and resulting in a satisfactory report). This will apply to all existing specified tenancies from April 1, 2021.
Despite these challenging and uncertain times, the regulations will still be introduced as planned, with the Government issuing guidance making it clear that landlords are still responsible for providing safe homes during the pandemic. However, if they can show that they have taken all reasonable steps to comply with their duties under the regulations, they are not in breach of the duty if they cannot comply.
Mike Andrews, CEO of NAPIT, comments, “As the National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers, we see it as our duty to provide accurate, consistent and easy to understand guidance for landlords on these new regulations. Electrical safety is at the forefront of everything we do, and we have worked hard on this guidance to make it easy for landlords to understand their requirements. We have also launched a dedicated online search facility on our website helping landlords search for competent and qualified tradespeople that they can trust to carry out their electrical inspections.
“As well as this, we have created a new Landlord Electrical Installation Safety Record for our members to use, which provides a summary of the often lengthy Electrical Installation Condition Report. We will continue to support both our members and landlords during this period of adjustment.”
For a detailed breakdown of the new regulations and for more information on the issue of compliance during lockdown, read NAPIT’s specially developed Landlord Guidance, which explains the regulations in an easy and concise way.
They also answer questions that landlords may have, including:
– Do I have to have another full electrical installation safety report carried out if my first one is unsatisfactory?
– How can I ensure the electrical inspector I use to undertake the electrical inspection and testing of my electrical installation meets the requirement to be qualified and competent?
– Does my electrical installation need to comply with the 18th Edition of the Wiring Regulations?
If there are queries not covered by the guidance, NAPIT encourages you to email nta@napit.org.uk and the organisation will do its best to help.
To access the NAPIT Guidance for Landlords, click here.
