AOS Electrical

There have been significant safety improvements in the equipment that distribute the electricity around your home. Historically the protection has been against short circuit or overload faults in the form of fuse wire which in turn were  first replaced with cartridge fuses (mostly for convenience) then  by mechanical switches in the form of circuit breakers (MCB).

Modern consumer units (fuse boards as they used to be known) have a significant improvement  in safety with the fitting of Residual Current Devices (RCD) which provide much greater  protection against electric shock .

More detail from the Electrical Safety Council can be found here

www.esc.org.uk/safety-in-the-home/

In short you must be able to prove that you have taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the property you are letting is safe. The Electrical Safety Council have a very useful  guide to landlords or tenants who may be concerned about the property they are renting. 

Follow this link to download the guide

 www.esc.org.uk/business-and-community/guidance-for/landlords.html

Part P is the section of the building regulations that covers the electrical installation. It is a legal requirement for all electrical work to meet the Building Regulations. As the homeowner or landlord you must be able to prove that any work carried out meets the regulations by having the work certificated.

Part P applies to newly-built homes and to any changes made to existing installations, including any parts that have been rewired.

To ensure that work is certificated you need to have the work  done either via a qualified and registered electrician or you must go directly to the local authority who’ll use one of their  qualified and registered electricians to inspect the work at regular stages that suit them, you’ll also get to pay them for the inspection.

More information about Part P and what work must be notified can be found here www.niceic.com/Uploads/File1247.pdf