Can anyone answer what happens with Eicr reports done after the deadline 1st April

[nickynackynoos]

Good morning,

I am struggling to answer the question I am being asked daily. Once the 1st April deadline for the EICR reports to be completed what happens, Basically we have no appointments left now to complete them and many other electricians locally are also fully booked out so where does that leave say Letting agents and Landlords alike that cant get their Eicr completed or for vulnerable tenants whom cant have trades in their homes at the moment to complete the Inspections.

We have contact the Niceic who said take the question to the local planners at the Councils but 4 councils in I cannot get an answer. Who is actually going to be enforcing the Change if no one actually knows or are unable to speak to.

Would my clients be covered if they have say an appointment in writing for after the 1st April

Any advice welcome

Many thanks Nicky

 

[snowhead]

The Letting Agent / Landlord would only need to show they had attempted to arrange the EICR, documentation would be needed as evidence.
Evidence could be a future appointment already arranged with a contractor and or a statement from the tennant that they won't allow access due to vunerability.
They've probably already had the same issue with yearly Gas inspections.

Although everyone who is classed as vunerable have already been offered appointments for a jab, that doesn't mean that they've had one or that they may have been advised not to due to combinations of issues.

 

[nickynackynoos]

The Letting Agent / Landlord would only need to show they had attempted to arrange the EICR, documentation would be needed as evidence.
Evidence could be a future appointment already arranged with a contractor and or a statement from the tennant that they won't allow access due to vunerability.
They've probably already had the same issue with yearly Gas inspections.

Although everyone who is classed as vunerable have already been offered appointments for a jab, that doesn't mean that they've had one or that they may have been advised not to due to combinations of issues.

This is what i have been suggesting maybe an option putting the appointment in writing with time and date and suggesting that they will automatically go on the cancellation list for earlier appointments. At present we are turning away 5-10 appointments a day and can only see this getting worse. Just waiting on private sector renting to call me back from 2 councils to let me know what they are suggesting.

many thanks for the reply

Nicky

 

[pc1966]

When trying to prioritise homes to get the EICR done sooner it might be worth checking with the tenants if they know of any electrical issues (cracked sockets, stuff not working, etc) so they could prioritise any that might have a safety issue that has not already been dealt with.

Obviously the tenants won't know the majority of EICR issues, but it deals with some common problems.

 

[nickynackynoos]

When trying to prioritise homes to get the EICR done sooner it might be worth checking with the tenants if they know of any electrical issues (cracked sockets, stuff not working, etc) so they could prioritise any that might have a safety issue that has not already been dealt with.

Obviously the tenants won't know the majority of EICR issues, but it deals with some common problems.

Hi, Thanks we have been doing this we have been getting the landlords and tenants to send photos of all Consumer units, bathroom lights etc and anything they think may need to be repaired etc on ones that we have never visited before or those we have never completed reports on etc before.

Many thanks Nicky

 

[UNG]

With some legislation the dates for compliance have been delayed due to covid, not heard anything about the PRS being delayed as yet though

 

[buzzlightyear]

We have contact the Niceic who said take the question to the local planners at the Councils but 4 councils in I cannot get an answer. Who is actually going to be enforcing the Change if no one actually knows or are unable to speak to.

Would my clients be covered if they have say an appointment in writing for after the 1st April

no is the answer ,i have done a lot of EICR recent and told the client has 30days to get the work done by , this thing where people say has long you can put in writing that the work will be carried out in a said date ,well try and tell to the dead person in the morgue ,the landlords know the score ,so why should the law not apply to them ,and what excuse to the poor tenant that pays rent and the property is not up to scratch ,if the tenant does not let the contractor in to do the jobs then the landlord must put it down in writing that they have tried the best . MR RANT .

 

[SJD]

I have a few EICRs pending due to tenants not wanting people in their house at this time. In one case, the landlord has asked the council, who have said (possibly informally) that he can have an extra 6 months to comply.

 

[nickynackynoos]

no is the answer ,i have done a lot of EICR recent and told the client has 30days to get the work done by , this thing where people say has long you can put in writing that the work will be carried out in a said date ,well try and tell to the dead person in the morgue ,the landlords know the score ,so why should the law not apply to them ,and what excuse to the poor tenant that pays rent and the property is not up to scratch ,if the tenant does not let the contractor in to do the jobs then the landlord must put it down in writing that they have tried the best . MR R

I have a few EICRs pending due to tenants not wanting people in their house at this time. In one case, the landlord has asked the council, who have said (possibly informally) that he can have an extra 6 months to comply.

Managed to speak to one of the Councils Private rental dept and they said as long as the landlord can show that they have tried to get the appointments a little extra time like a week is fine and that if tenants are shielding etc and have to then make the appt again after the 1st april again this is accepted. We will be ok at the moment to get the last 12 booked in on that week, we have already pre vetted the places, i,e pictures of the boards bathroom lights etc and know what if anything needs doing before hand and have already priced this in and completing on the same day in the mornings before the actual inspections. Thanks for the reply Nicky

 

[James]

The point is, it may well be that a landlord is failing in there legal duty and therefore breaking the law by not having the checks completed in time.
However,
For the council to get a prosecution they would have to prove it.
A judge is likely to throw the case out if reasonable efforts have been made in these difficult times.

They will only be taking the cowboys to court that are taking the wee wee out of the law and there Tennant’s

 

[Deleted account]

Government website has made provision for covid. I had Same dilemma so looked into it.

go to www.gov.co.uk. And search EICR and covid. It’s all there.


As long as the landlord or agent can prove that they have attempted to get the EICRs done then no fines should be issued For not meeting deadline.

 

[loz2754]

Government website has made provision for covid. I had Same dilemma so looked into it.

go to www.gov.co.uk. And search EICR and covid. It’s all there.


As long as the landlord or agent can prove that they have attempted to get the EICRs done then no fines should be issued For not meeting deadline.

Thanks for posting this, but that's an incorrect link, should be Welcome to GOV.UK - https://gov.uk.

An excerpt:
With regards to the Electrical Safety Regulations, a landlord would not be in breach of the duty to comply with a remedial notice if the landlord can show they have taken all reasonable steps to comply. With regards to a landlord’s duties under the Gas Safety Regulations, a landlord would not be liable for an offence if the landlord can show they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent the contravention.

A landlord could show reasonable steps by keeping copies of all communications they have had with their tenants and with engineers as they tried to arrange the work, including any replies they have had. Landlords may also want to provide other evidence they have that the installation, appliance or flue is in a good condition while they attempt to arrange works. This could include the servicing record and previous landlord gas safety check records.

 

[Grant1987]

Thanks for posting this, but that's an incorrect link, should be Welcome to GOV.UK - https://gov.uk.

An excerpt:
With regards to the Electrical Safety Regulations, a landlord would not be in breach of the duty to comply with a remedial notice if the landlord can show they have taken all reasonable steps to comply. With regards to a landlord’s duties under the Gas Safety Regulations, a landlord would not be liable for an offence if the landlord can show they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent the contravention.

A landlord could show reasonable steps by keeping copies of all communications they have had with their tenants and with engineers as they tried to arrange the work, including any replies they have had. Landlords may also want to provide other evidence they have that the installation, appliance or flue is in a good condition while they attempt to arrange works. This could include the servicing record and previous landlord gas safety check records.

The sad thing is that most private landlords have avoided and neglected the condition of the electrics in their properties up untill this point where it has become law. I’m not pointing the finger at all but is awful to see that they will now panic when in reality the state of the properties they own and rent out are no different to last year or year before that but they knew that they didn’t have to spend out on improvements where as now they have to. Upgrade simple!!

 

[DPG]

The sad thing is that most private landlords have avoided and neglected the condition of the electrics in their properties up untill this point where it has become law. I’m not pointing the finger at all but is awful to see that they will now panic when in reality the state of the properties they own and rent out are no different to last year or year before that but they knew that they didn’t have to spend out on improvements where as now they have to. Upgrade simple!!

'Most private landlords' - a bit of a generalisation that.

 

[pc1966]

Yes, a bit like many issues of electrical reliability or problems, this forum is already dealing with the difficult cases and the majority of members seeing the problems every day.

For most of the general public it "just works", usually for years. It is a bit different from the gas aspect where regular servicing is the norm, most folk don't ever think of electrics as having a finite life span or needing upgrading at all, untill obviously broken.