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EIRC
Pluto_24
Posts: 15 Forumite
Hi,
We'll be putting our flat on the rental market and we had our EIRC done today. Although it's a pass and he commented on how good it is, he said that the certificate will only be valid for 3 years instead of 5 because the fuse box is made of plastic and not metal. I was wondering what does that have to do with its condition and whether you've heard of this before. Nothing relevance appeared in Google.
Secondly, he said the validity doesn't really mean much if tenants change frequently as you need to do it every time there's a new tenancy agreement. But I'm reading quite the opposite online. Is a new one necessarily with every new tenancy agreement? Any official gov sources you can share on this would be much appreciated. Thanks!
We'll be putting our flat on the rental market and we had our EIRC done today. Although it's a pass and he commented on how good it is, he said that the certificate will only be valid for 3 years instead of 5 because the fuse box is made of plastic and not metal. I was wondering what does that have to do with its condition and whether you've heard of this before. Nothing relevance appeared in Google.
Secondly, he said the validity doesn't really mean much if tenants change frequently as you need to do it every time there's a new tenancy agreement. But I'm reading quite the opposite online. Is a new one necessarily with every new tenancy agreement? Any official gov sources you can share on this would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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Comments
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Pluto_24 said:Hi,
We'll be putting our flat on the rental market and we had our EIRC done today. Although it's a pass and he commented on how good it is, he said that the certificate will only be valid for 3 years instead of 5 because the fuse box is made of plastic and not metal. I was wondering what does that have to do with its condition and whether you've heard of this before. Nothing relevance appeared in Google.
Secondly, he said the validity doesn't really mean much if tenants change frequently as you need to do it every time there's a new tenancy agreement. But I'm reading quite the opposite online. Is a new one necessarily with every new tenancy agreement? Any official gov sources you can share on this would be much appreciated. Thanks!Was it the electrician who told you this?The legislation says...(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b) “at regular intervals” means—
(a)at intervals of no more than 5 years; or
(b)where the most recent report under sub-paragraph (3)(a) requires such inspection and testing to be at intervals of less than 5 years, at the intervals specified in that report.An EICR can be granted so that it is valid for a period of less than 5 years which appears to be what the electrician has done here. The electrician is testing the electrical installation in your property against BS 7671 to ensure they are safe and the current regulations say that the consumer unit should be housed in a non-combustible material i.e. not plastic. The regulations are not law though so you don't have to replace the plastic consumer unit with a metal one.A new EICR is not required at the start of each new tenancy. It's the same as any other certificate you are required to provide tenants with. An EPC is valid for 10 years. During that 10 year period you might have 3 sets of tenants but you don't need to get a new EPC for each new set of tenants. A GSC is valid for 12 months. If you have the GSC done in October and new tenants move in on February the GSC done in October is still valid for the new tenants.Personally, I think the electrician is at it and angling for more work so as a landlord I'd take him off my trusted trader list. That said, as a landlord, I would consider changing the consumer unit housing especially if it is located near a main escape route of the property. It helps me sleep better at night.
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Thanks for the response! Yes it was the electrician I did feel like he was making it up that's why I started googling. I just hope he doesn't issue our certificate with a 3 year validity instead of 5 without any reason!_Penny_Dreadful said:Pluto_24 said:Hi,
We'll be putting our flat on the rental market and we had our EIRC done today. Although it's a pass and he commented on how good it is, he said that the certificate will only be valid for 3 years instead of 5 because the fuse box is made of plastic and not metal. I was wondering what does that have to do with its condition and whether you've heard of this before. Nothing relevance appeared in Google.
Secondly, he said the validity doesn't really mean much if tenants change frequently as you need to do it every time there's a new tenancy agreement. But I'm reading quite the opposite online. Is a new one necessarily with every new tenancy agreement? Any official gov sources you can share on this would be much appreciated. Thanks!Was it the electrician who told you this?The legislation says...(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b) “at regular intervals” means—
(a)at intervals of no more than 5 years; or
(b)where the most recent report under sub-paragraph (3)(a) requires such inspection and testing to be at intervals of less than 5 years, at the intervals specified in that report.An EICR can be granted so that it is valid for a period of less than 5 years which appears to be what the electrician has done here. The electrician is testing the electrical installation in your property against BS 7671 to ensure they are safe and the current regulations say that the consumer unit should be housed in a non-combustible material i.e. not plastic. The regulations are not law though so you don't have to replace the plastic consumer unit with a metal one.A new EICR is not required at the start of each new tenancy. It's the same as any other certificate you are required to provide tenants with. An EPC is valid for 10 years. During that 10 year period you might have 3 sets of tenants but you don't need to get a new EPC for each new set of tenants. A GSC is valid for 12 months. If you have the GSC done in October and new tenants move in on February the GSC done in October is still valid for the new tenants.Personally, I think the electrician is at it and angling for more work so as a landlord I'd take him off my trusted trader list. That said, as a landlord, I would consider changing the consumer unit housing especially if it is located near a main escape route of the property. It helps me sleep better at night.0 -
The 'validity' that you're talking about is his recommendation for the date of next inspection. If he thinks that having a plastic consumer unit means it should be inspected again after three years, then that's his choice.Pluto_24 said:
Thanks for the response! Yes it was the electrician I did feel like he was making it up that's why I started googling. I just hope he doesn't issue our certificate with a 3 year validity instead of 5 without any reason!_Penny_Dreadful said:Pluto_24 said:Hi,
We'll be putting our flat on the rental market and we had our EIRC done today. Although it's a pass and he commented on how good it is, he said that the certificate will only be valid for 3 years instead of 5 because the fuse box is made of plastic and not metal. I was wondering what does that have to do with its condition and whether you've heard of this before. Nothing relevance appeared in Google.
Secondly, he said the validity doesn't really mean much if tenants change frequently as you need to do it every time there's a new tenancy agreement. But I'm reading quite the opposite online. Is a new one necessarily with every new tenancy agreement? Any official gov sources you can share on this would be much appreciated. Thanks!Was it the electrician who told you this?The legislation says...(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b) “at regular intervals” means—
(a)at intervals of no more than 5 years; or
(b)where the most recent report under sub-paragraph (3)(a) requires such inspection and testing to be at intervals of less than 5 years, at the intervals specified in that report.An EICR can be granted so that it is valid for a period of less than 5 years which appears to be what the electrician has done here. The electrician is testing the electrical installation in your property against BS 7671 to ensure they are safe and the current regulations say that the consumer unit should be housed in a non-combustible material i.e. not plastic. The regulations are not law though so you don't have to replace the plastic consumer unit with a metal one.A new EICR is not required at the start of each new tenancy. It's the same as any other certificate you are required to provide tenants with. An EPC is valid for 10 years. During that 10 year period you might have 3 sets of tenants but you don't need to get a new EPC for each new set of tenants. A GSC is valid for 12 months. If you have the GSC done in October and new tenants move in on February the GSC done in October is still valid for the new tenants.Personally, I think the electrician is at it and angling for more work so as a landlord I'd take him off my trusted trader list. That said, as a landlord, I would consider changing the consumer unit housing especially if it is located near a main escape route of the property. It helps me sleep better at night.
The regulations don't say anything specific about how often inspections should be for each specific clause/fault, they only have a general guide - which for domestic rented properties actually says routine check each year, full inspection on change of occupancy or 5 years, whichever is shorter.1 -
But like a car MOT, an EICR is a report on the condition NOW. So there is no reason he cannot date it for 5 years.
In 5 years time the regs will have changed we will probably be on the 19th edition of wiring regs and something else may be a fail, but nobody can predict that.
Also changes in the regs are not retrospective. I bet you have a lot of C3's which just highlights things that have changed but are not a fail.2 -
So regulation does say on change of occupancy then? Is there a website other than the gov.uk one below that perhaps explains this better?BarelySentientAI said:
The 'validity' that you're talking about is his recommendation for the date of next inspection. If he thinks that having a plastic consumer unit means it should be inspected again after three years, then that's his choice.Pluto_24 said:
Thanks for the response! Yes it was the electrician I did feel like he was making it up that's why I started googling. I just hope he doesn't issue our certificate with a 3 year validity instead of 5 without any reason!_Penny_Dreadful said:Pluto_24 said:Hi,
We'll be putting our flat on the rental market and we had our EIRC done today. Although it's a pass and he commented on how good it is, he said that the certificate will only be valid for 3 years instead of 5 because the fuse box is made of plastic and not metal. I was wondering what does that have to do with its condition and whether you've heard of this before. Nothing relevance appeared in Google.
Secondly, he said the validity doesn't really mean much if tenants change frequently as you need to do it every time there's a new tenancy agreement. But I'm reading quite the opposite online. Is a new one necessarily with every new tenancy agreement? Any official gov sources you can share on this would be much appreciated. Thanks!Was it the electrician who told you this?The legislation says...(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b) “at regular intervals” means—
(a)at intervals of no more than 5 years; or
(b)where the most recent report under sub-paragraph (3)(a) requires such inspection and testing to be at intervals of less than 5 years, at the intervals specified in that report.An EICR can be granted so that it is valid for a period of less than 5 years which appears to be what the electrician has done here. The electrician is testing the electrical installation in your property against BS 7671 to ensure they are safe and the current regulations say that the consumer unit should be housed in a non-combustible material i.e. not plastic. The regulations are not law though so you don't have to replace the plastic consumer unit with a metal one.A new EICR is not required at the start of each new tenancy. It's the same as any other certificate you are required to provide tenants with. An EPC is valid for 10 years. During that 10 year period you might have 3 sets of tenants but you don't need to get a new EPC for each new set of tenants. A GSC is valid for 12 months. If you have the GSC done in October and new tenants move in on February the GSC done in October is still valid for the new tenants.Personally, I think the electrician is at it and angling for more work so as a landlord I'd take him off my trusted trader list. That said, as a landlord, I would consider changing the consumer unit housing especially if it is located near a main escape route of the property. It helps me sleep better at night.
The regulations don't say anything specific about how often inspections should be for each specific clause/fault, they only have a general guide - which for domestic rented properties actually says routine check each year, full inspection on change of occupancy or 5 years, whichever is shorter.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electrical-safety-standards-in-the-private-rented-sector-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities/guide-for-landlords-electrical-safety-standards-in-the-private-rented-sector0 -
BS7671 (The Wiring Regulations).Pluto_24 said:
So regulation does say on change of occupancy then? Is there a website other than the gov.uk one below that perhaps explains this better?BarelySentientAI said:
The 'validity' that you're talking about is his recommendation for the date of next inspection. If he thinks that having a plastic consumer unit means it should be inspected again after three years, then that's his choice.Pluto_24 said:
Thanks for the response! Yes it was the electrician I did feel like he was making it up that's why I started googling. I just hope he doesn't issue our certificate with a 3 year validity instead of 5 without any reason!_Penny_Dreadful said:Pluto_24 said:Hi,
We'll be putting our flat on the rental market and we had our EIRC done today. Although it's a pass and he commented on how good it is, he said that the certificate will only be valid for 3 years instead of 5 because the fuse box is made of plastic and not metal. I was wondering what does that have to do with its condition and whether you've heard of this before. Nothing relevance appeared in Google.
Secondly, he said the validity doesn't really mean much if tenants change frequently as you need to do it every time there's a new tenancy agreement. But I'm reading quite the opposite online. Is a new one necessarily with every new tenancy agreement? Any official gov sources you can share on this would be much appreciated. Thanks!Was it the electrician who told you this?The legislation says...(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b) “at regular intervals” means—
(a)at intervals of no more than 5 years; or
(b)where the most recent report under sub-paragraph (3)(a) requires such inspection and testing to be at intervals of less than 5 years, at the intervals specified in that report.An EICR can be granted so that it is valid for a period of less than 5 years which appears to be what the electrician has done here. The electrician is testing the electrical installation in your property against BS 7671 to ensure they are safe and the current regulations say that the consumer unit should be housed in a non-combustible material i.e. not plastic. The regulations are not law though so you don't have to replace the plastic consumer unit with a metal one.A new EICR is not required at the start of each new tenancy. It's the same as any other certificate you are required to provide tenants with. An EPC is valid for 10 years. During that 10 year period you might have 3 sets of tenants but you don't need to get a new EPC for each new set of tenants. A GSC is valid for 12 months. If you have the GSC done in October and new tenants move in on February the GSC done in October is still valid for the new tenants.Personally, I think the electrician is at it and angling for more work so as a landlord I'd take him off my trusted trader list. That said, as a landlord, I would consider changing the consumer unit housing especially if it is located near a main escape route of the property. It helps me sleep better at night.
The regulations don't say anything specific about how often inspections should be for each specific clause/fault, they only have a general guide - which for domestic rented properties actually says routine check each year, full inspection on change of occupancy or 5 years, whichever is shorter.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electrical-safety-standards-in-the-private-rented-sector-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities/guide-for-landlords-electrical-safety-standards-in-the-private-rented-sector
There's nothing that says that the recommended frequency needs to be followed though. Just like an existing system doesn't need to be compliant with the most recent version of the regulations.0 -
Apparently, the regs on consumer units keep going back and forth. Metal ones were removed from the regs because of the risk of electrocution, and plastic was recommended.Then plastic was removed and metal reinstated in the regs because of the fire risk.Who knows what future regs will say....?A private landlord must supply a copy of the most recent report to any new tenant of the specified tenancy to which the report relates before that tenant occupies those premises; and any prospective tenant within 28 days of receiving a request in writing for it from that prospective tenanthttps://www.nrla.org.uk/resources/looking-after-your-property/electrical-safety-inspections
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