Charlotte Lee, Head of External Affairs at NAPIT, provides an overview of the Private Leased (England) Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020, and how to maintain their compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the April 1 deadline approaching for all homes with a specific current rent required to have an Electrical Installation Status Report (EICR) completed by a qualified and competent person, or have it implemented, the limitations many face due to COVID are -19 Caused some concern for landlords and letting agents with regard to compliance. These concerns have been exacerbated by the recent national lockdown, which was announced at the beginning of January, and was still in effect at the time of writing. The regulations make it clear that all electrical installations in residential buildings must be inspected and tested at intervals not exceeding five years, and if the resulting EICR is found to be “ unsatisfactory, ” additional repair and investigation work must be completed within 28 days of the report being carried out. An unsatisfactory EICR is one that has the C1, C2 and / or Further Investigation (FI) monitoring codes, which indicate an electrical hazard, or more work is needed to confirm that a hazard is present. Satisfactory EICR has C3 monitoring codes or no other monitoring codes. The C3 note is given when the integrity of the installation could be improved if an electrical installation is retrofitted, but as it is, the electrical installation is not unsafe. Owners are not required to take any action to correct C3 notes, but they may choose to do so. Unexpected Circumstances Electrical Safety Standards were published in the Private Leased Sector (England) Regulations for 2020 in January 2020, when the impact of COVID-19 was unexpected. National restrictions have made compliance with these regulations more difficult than intended, due to restricted home access, protection, isolation and anxiety. However, the safety of people in their homes is crucial, as the government makes clear that all reasonable steps must be taken to ensure the electrical safety of rental homes in particular. This is specified in Part 3, Section 5 of the Regulations. The government also clarified that during the current national lockdown, those who cannot work from home (including those who work in construction) can go to work, which means that electrical contractors are still able to conduct electrical inspection, testing, installation and processing. Housing work. However, the government has published specific guidance to local authorities on enforcement of standards in rental properties, which states with regard to electrical safety regulations: “The landlord will not violate the duty to comply with the rectification notice if the landlord can demonstrate that he has taken all reasonable steps to comply.” He adds, “The landlord can demonstrate reasonable steps by keeping copies of all communications they made with tenants and with engineers as they attempted to arrange work, including any responses they received. Landlords may also want to provide further evidence they have to demonstrate that the installation is in good condition as they try. Arrangement of business. ” With the above in mind, landlords and rental agents will need to remain vigilant and focused on doing everything in their power to ensure that an electrical inspection and testing of any property with a specific lease has been executed or enforced to comply with regulations before April 1st. , But you should be comforted by government directive that provides a reasonable clause to prevent landlords from facing enforcement action when they do all they can to comply.
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