Landlord Electrical Safety Reports
From July 1st 2020 landlords of privately rented properties in England are required have the electrical installation of their rented property Periodically Inspected and Tested at least every five years.
Business status – Covid 19 – From June 15th business as normal (ish)
Along with other businesses, from June 15th, Electrical and Test will begin to operate as normally as we can. During the first phase of lockdown when we were all told to “stay at home” we only undertook emergency work. When lockdown was eased, and we were all told to “stay alert” we additionally began working on essential repairs and maintenance but not things that were upgrades or improvements that could be put on hold. From Read more…
Replacement porch light uncovers many dangerous faults
I recently attended a customer to fit a replacement porch light. The alarm bells started ringing when I opened the switch and found the earth wires cut off, this is always a bad sign. Further investigation and testing showed that there was no continuous earth on the house lighting circuit further than the first light fitting and even that section of earthing had an insulation problem. This is why it is so important that electrical Read more…
Business Status COVID-19 – Now also undertaking non-emergency repairs and maintenance
Government advice on tradespersons working in people houses is now that repairs and maintenance can be undertaken providing that the household does not have anybody who is extremely vulnerable or has coronavirus symptoms, and that the person conducting the work is well. In the light of this Electrical and Test are now undertaking a wider scope of works than we have been previously. In addition to emergency works that directly impact safety we are now Read more…
Business Status Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Message from Darren Briddock regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19). Given the governments announcement on 23rd March 2020 that people should stay at home and only go outside for food, health reasons or essential work, I have reluctantly decided to move to an emergency only service. In order to comply with the government’s request that only essential work is undertaken outside of the workers own home, Electrical and Test are cancelling all scheduled appointments until the restrictions are Read more…
Why its important that Electrical Installation Condition Reports are done right.
I have just spent the last few days fixing all the faults in a house that my clients have just purchased. During the sale negotiation the estate agent gave my clients an Electrical Installation Condition Report from last September that said everything in the house was fine. Only one item was mentioned on the report, the fact that the consumer unit (fuse box) was made of plastic and that was classed as requiring improvement, known Read more…
When was the last time you tested your RCD?
With new year coming up it’s a very good time to go to your fuse board and press all the test buttons on your RCD’s. An RCD is a sensitive safety device that switches off electricity automatically if there is a fault potentially saving your life. An RCD is designed to protect against the risks of electrocution and fire caused by earth faults. For example, if you cut through the cable when mowing the lawn Read more…