Electrical Testing in Rental Properties: A guide for landlords in Axminster

Once the EICR has taken place and a result is given, you are obliged to provide a copy of the findings to the tenant and if requested by the local council, you must also provide a copy to them. During an EICR your electrician will conduct testing on any equipment that is permanently installed, the fuseboard or consumer unit and any sockets and fittings.

Here at Tyne Electrical Services, we have carried out many EICR’s in rental properties and have seen how many potentially dangerous faults can be uncovered by this testing. We have put together a short guide to help landlords in Axminster know what to expect during electrical testing in rental properties.

What happens during electrical testing in rental properties?

First of all, the electrician will carry out a visual inspection without any testing equipment, the electrician will be looking for signs of overheating on electrics such as scorch or melt marks, faulty or damaged sockets, switches or light covers and the over-all state of the fuseboard or consumer unit. Importantly, the electrician will also be verifying that the earthing and bonding connections are correct.

Once the visual inspection is complete, the electrician will now go onto the testing which is carried out with a variety of appliances - the sole purpose of this is to uncover any electrical faults or potentially dangerous hazards that may not be visible to the naked eye.

For example we recently carried out an EICR for a rental property on Catnip Close, Axminster. The property was a 3 storey, 3 bed town house. The home was only built 10 years ago and is new to the rental market, the owner themselves had been occupying the house until now. Upon just the visual inspection we located a few issues such as damaged accessories including a light switch in the hallway and a loose socket in one bedroom, which can be particularly dangerous - especially if the tenants have little ones running around. We also discovered an outdoor socket which was poorly installed and needed to be replaced.

What are the results of a rental property EICR?

Once all testing has been completed, we gather our findings and issue a report with the results. The results range from completely safe to continue using, or an immediate critical risk and remedial action is mandatory. Here is the full list of results and what they mean:

Satisfactory - the result everyone hopes for! This means the electrical installation is considered safe to continue using and no immediate threat of danger or risk is found. You may just get some advisory notes for things that aren’t generally dangerous but would be beneficial to the safety of the home to improve.

Unsatisfactory - the testing uncovered faults that are considered critical and expose the property to a dangerous risk of either an electrical fire, or injury through electric shock. Remedial action is required.

C1 - the electrician has deemed there to be an immediate risk of injury - immediate work must be carried out to make this safe again or the circuit must be isolated until work can be carried out.

C2 - the electrician has located a defect that has the potential to cause danger if any kind of fault take place, this means the relevant work is considered urgent should be carried out soon

C3 - the findings aren’t considered dangerous by definition but taking the steps to upgrade them would be an improvement for the home's safety.

FI - Due to either physical restrictions or further testing being needed, the electrician hasn’t been able to identify circuit or component. Further investigation (FI) will be a necessary to schedule

Book your Landlord EICR in Axminster

If you’d like to enquire about a landlord EICR in Axminster, Tyne Electrical Services would love to help. Either fill out our contact form or give us a call today!