Electricity Saftey test - what does it involve?

*thedaughter*

My mum and dad's house is rented and owned by the local housing association. They want to do an electrical safety test. Does anyone know what this entails? it's a normal semi detached (3 bedrooms, bathroom upstairs, kitchen, dining room, living room, hall downstairs) I think the electricity on a loop circuit? Will they want to test appliances as well as the sockets etc and do they test the light switches as well as sockets. Also what happens if a socket is out of reach ( they have a fitted wardrobe which can't be moved). Will they need a large space for the testing equipment or is it small? I'd really appreciate any info I can pass on as mum is a bit stressed. Thanks

fluffpot

The test should take the best part of a day (if the electrician is doing it properly) and will involve the power being off for quite alot of the day. The electrician will need to get to all sockets, switches and lights, although if some are really not accessible this can be worked round. A lot of the time will be spent at the fuse board.
The equipment used will be a tester, hand tools (eg screwdrivers) and a ladder, so not too much and it won't be noisy (unless they sing!) If the appliances are supplied by the HA then they should test these, but if they are you're parents, then no.
It's done to ensure that the electrics are safe and as tenants your parents should be entitled to see a copy of the test results and certificates arising from the work.
Please try and reassure your Mum that it won't be too stressful - often clients of mine go out for some of the day as lack of power means lack of TV/computer so there's not much to do at home!

I'm very surprised that the HA has't provided you with this info!

Hope this helps

Fluff