Last month’s blog on EICRs contained a worrying statistic: That nearly 18,000 fires in England’s homes in the year 2017–2018 had an electrical origin – that’s 55% of all fires.
Whilst tenants should have little or no reason to interfere with the electrical installation in the demise, landlords struggle to control the safety and safe use of portable appliances within the property. TVs, computers, microwaves, toasters and hair straighteners – portable appliances like these have caused fires. And if the products are counterfeit/fake, the chances of them developing a fault is vastly increased.
That’s why a Portable Appliance Test (PAT) is highly recommended, which involves a visual inspection and an electronic test, carried out by a registered electrician.
PAT is the ideal way for landlords to ensure that they meet their legal responsibilities to maintain safe standards of electrical safety with the rented property.
Where you’re a block manager, facilities manager or an AST lettings manager, you have an obligation to ensure the safety of the electrical installations and electrical appliances at the properties you manage on behalf of your clients.
In a domestic setting, the latest statistics published by Electrical Safety First show that there were nearly 18,000 fires in domestic premises that originated from an electrical fault. Faulty electrics caused over HALF of all domestic fires in the UK last year.
