Testing the electrics in your home
We have a responsibility to make sure the electrics in your home are safe. Every 5 years we must carry out an EICR (Electrical Inspection Condition Report) at your property.
Why it’s important
- Connections become loose over time
- Accessories suffer with wear and tear
- Regulations change and lead to risk of fire
- Regular testing provides protection for you, your family and neighbouring properties
Consequences of not having an EICR
Faulty wiring can cause problems ranging from flickering lights and random tripping to fires and electric shocks. Faulty and old wiring is one of the main causes of electrical fires in the home.
The inspection explained
Who carries out the inspection?
Tests are carried out by our team of fully qualified electricians. All CBH staff and contractors are part of NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting).
What happens during the inspection?
- We will need access to all rooms
- Power will be off in your home throughout the inspection
- Tests take up to 4 hours to complete depending on size of property
- We will check and remove sockets and switches and test your pendant lights and fuse board
- We test smoke alarms at the same time to ensure they are working
- Once we leave we are confident that the electrics are safe and sound for the next 5 years
What happens if for whatever reason the property does not pass the inspection?
We will carry out minor repairs at the time if required.
If a major fault is detected, depending on the problem we will either:
- Arrange for a CBH electrician to come back at a convenient date to make any repairs needed
- Refer your property to Western Power for follow on works to the grid
- Refer your property to a contractor to carry out a full or partial rewire
- Refer your property to a contractor to fit a new fuseboard
If we are unable to complete the test
If we are unable to complete the test for any of the following reasons:
- We’re unable to gain access to your property
- There are excessive belongings in the property (hoarding)
- You have carried out works to your property without Part P paperwork or consent
then we may do one or more of the following:
- Enforce our legal responsibilities as a landlord. These responsibilities are part of your tenancy conditions and the housing health and safety rating scheme. This could mean we start legal proceedings against you to gain access to your home. We will charge the costs of this to your account
- Refer you to our colleagues in housing management and/or a third party agency to help you so that we can safely carry out this test
- Ask you to carry out your own remedial works by a Part P qualified electrician and supply us with the certification. Or we will carry out the remedial works ourselves and recharge the costs to your account