The Gas Safety (Installations and Use) Regulations 1998 place explicit and unambiguous requirements on landlords to ensure the safe operation of gas appliances under their control. These regulations are ably supported and policed by the Gas Safe Register.
Whilst there is clearly a similar statutory requirement for landlords to maintain electrical systems under their control in a safe condition, the legislation is less explicit and there is no electrical equivalent of the Gas Safe Register, (although there are several trade associations).
Why do landlords need to complete an electrical inspection?
There are two main Acts of Parliament that impose a statutory duty on landlords with respect to the safety of electrical equipment:
1. The Consumer Protection Act1987
2. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
The Consumer Protection Act affects all persons who let property in the course of their business because it defines them as ‘suppliers’, i.e. they are supplying goods to the tenant. There are several items of secondary legislation under the umbrella of the Consumer Protection Act which are directly relevant to the supply of electrical goods, including:
1. The Low Voltage Electrical Equipment Regulations 1989
2. The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994
3. The General Product Safety Regulations 1994
4. The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994
In essence, these regulations impose a duty on landlords to ensure that all electrical equipment supplied by them is safe for use by the tenant. The Consumer Protection Act provides a defence of 'due diligence', i.e. a landlord can defend a contravention of the Act if he can demonstrate that he took reasonable steps to avoid committing the offence. The Health and Safety at Work etc.Act places a duty of care upon both employer and employee to ensure the safety of all persons using the work premises. This general requirement has been galvanised by several recent regulations, some of which explicitly extended their requirements to cover ‘self employed persons’ and ‘all persons affected by their operations’.
In the Electricity at Work Regulations, a self-employed person is defined as follows:
‘A self-employed person is an individual who works for gain or reward otherwise than under a contract of employment whether or not he employs others.’
This definition would appear to apply to landlords and agents; similarly, tenants would appear to be a group of persons affected by he landlord's operations. This tends to suggest that electrical regulations, which are ostensibly directed at employers and the work place, are equally applicable to landlords, their premises and their tenants.
In summary, a landlord has duties both as a 'supplier of goods' and as the 'person responsible' for an electrical installation. As a 'supplier of goods' he must ensure that goods are checked before the tenant takes them over and as a 'person responsible' he must ensure an adequate system of maintenance. A regular inspection programme is an essential part of any maintenance system. For this reason, and to provide a demonstration of due diligence, it is recommend that an annual safety inspection of all residential lets.
