Faulty electric's update...

[wayne]

Hi all....

Back in January I posted a question about criminal negligence by a Housing Association.

I remember that it caused a stir with some of you.

The crux of the matter being my daughters house caught fire and when the forensic guy's had finished looking and examining the debris they both concluded that the fire was started because a screw had been left loose in the storage heater consumer unit.

This unit was installed in 2002 with a recommendation that it be tested again in 2007....never inspected.

The house had, as we found out later, never had a thorough electrical safety inspection in 21 years. ( PIR or ECIR as it is now called)

Any way the bottom line is, after many months of jumping through hoops and requesting various documents the associations insurers capitulated and paid my daughter for her losses....just as the County Court papers got to them!!

This was after it was shown by our family that the association had lied about electrical inspections. Basically they tried to palm off Domestic Installation Certificates as Periodic Inspection reports.

The saga got to the ears of the BBC somehow and on Monday my daughter and I wil be interviewed by Dom Littlewood with a view to get the electrical side of tenanted property in line with the Gas regs in that rented accomodation will have to be certified by law every 5 years to be sure

that tenants like my daughter are not occupying a ticking time bomb.

I'm sure it will raise the hackles of some but hey better to be the owner of a safe house than to have somebody's death on your mind for the sake of £140.

Cheers for now.

Britz.

[Melboy]

Obviously a good result for your Daughter and why not.

My concern is why only Landlord's to be targeted (again) for electrical inspection safety?

What is the difference between a private house and a tenanted house? Same risks in my opinion.

[kerbut]

Let us know when its going to be on TV please.

[wayne]

Obviously a good result for your Daughter and why not.

My concern is why only Landlord's to be targeted (again) for electrical inspection safety?

What is the difference between a private house and a tenanted house? Same risks in my opinion.

I totally agree....I've had one done and paid for my old man to have one done at his.

[wayne]

Let us know when its going to be on TV please.

Early days as yet sometime in New Year.....

[kerbut]

Early days as yet sometime in New Year.....

Ok ,when you know when its going to be on ,maybe you would post it on here , will make interesting viewing.

[kerbut]

Sorry, double posting

[RiversideProperties]

Excellent news for you and your daughter. I'm definitely all in favour of serious electrical regulations in line with Gas Safety. And I'm with Melboy, this should be the case for all properties in my view.

I'm sure plenty of people would disagree, but when a test and a small fee could save a life, it's a no-brainer

[Richlist]

I'm definitely all in favour of serious electrical regulations in line with Gas Safety.

Obviously the Government don't agree with regulation requiring the public to have regular safety checks with gas so there's a good chance they will adopt the same position with regard to electrical safety.

Safety is relative and its really a number game / risk assessment. Lets face it, I have more chance of a driver talking on his mobile phone whilst driving causing me serious injury than someones fauly electrical installation.

[wayne]

Obviously the Government don't agree with regulation requiring the public to have regular safety checks with gas so there's a good chance they will adopt the same position with regard to electrical safety.

Safety is relative and its really a number game / risk assessment. Lets face it, I have more chance of a driver talking on his mobile phone whilst driving causing me serious injury than someones faulty electrical installation.

I suppose the argument being...if I own a house or houses and I want people to pay to live in them then they ( the houses ) must be safe for them to do that. If I or my family die or are injured as a result of a fire caused by an electrical fault that could have been diagnosed and fixed for the want of

spending out a little money then it would be on my conscience and no one else's. If someone is fortunate enough to be in a position to have a surplus house / flat and they want to make a living from it then to my mind it must be kept in a safe condition.

My daughters housing association boasted of having 22000 houses on it's books...I wonder how many of those are ticking time bombs?

[Melboy]

And I'm with Melboy, this should be the case for all properties in my view.

Yes, but my point was why target landlord's all the time with constant legistlation?

When all the obvious routes for landlord legistlation have run dry what next?

[wayne]

Yes, but my point was why target landlord's all the time with constant legislation?

When all the obvious routes for landlord legislation have run dry what next?

My thoughts on that are.......if a Landlord has done his best and can prove that he/she had done all in their power to make sure electrical systems in their houses had been checked and tested at SOME point prior to a tenant moving in then discretion should be used if

problems occur........BUT if a landlord has a fire at his rented premises and it is proven that a simple inspection as per a PIR/ECIR of the electrical equipment WOULD have located the fault and then tries to cover the facts up that the property had not had any electrical

inspections in 21 years then it deserves all what's coming to it.

My only down to earth advice for any landlords that have electric storage heaters installed in their properties is get them and the consumer unit inspected regularly.

[Melboy]

My thoughts on that are.......if a Landlord has done his best and can prove that he/she had done all in their power to make sure electrical systems in their houses had been checked and tested at SOME point prior to a tenant moving in then discretion should be used if

problems occur........BUT if a landlord has a fire at his rented premises and it is proven that a simple inspection as per a PIR/ECIR of the electrical equipment WOULD have located the fault and then tries to cover the facts up that the property had not had any electrical

inspections in 21 years then it deserves all what's coming to it.

My only down to earth advice for any landlords that have electric storage heaters installed in their properties is get them and the consumer unit inspected regularly.

Your thoughts and the legal processess you have been through have been well documented waspie in the past on this forum.......but what I am saying what else can landlord's expect in the future with even more landlord legistlation? Fire emergency escape ladders available in upstairs rooms for trapped tenants for instance?

I have a property that has never had an electrical inspection in 20 years but that doesn't mean it is unsafe. I would be happy to live there as a private person.

[wayne]

Your thoughts and the legal processess you have been through have been well documented waspie in the past on this forum.......but what I am saying what else can landlord's expect in the future with even more landlord legistlation? Fire emergency escape ladders available in upstairs rooms for trapped tenants for instance?

I have a property that has never had an electrical inspection in 20 years but that doesn't mean it is unsafe. I would be happy to live there as a private person.

You may well be happy to live there...I wouldn't...especially having to pay for the privilege...without certificates stating it was safe to do so prior to me living there!

If you think electrical safety of your tenants is secondary to bringing in the folding stuff I've made my point....on a par with my daughters association.

[Richlist]

The world isn't a perfect place.

Virtually everything in life carries risk and virtually everyone breaks the rules and the law at some time. Society will never resolve all issues and in my opinion there are far more riskier anomolies than impossing electrical checks JUST ON LANDLORDS.

Lets all stop cars speeding, driving whilst drinking or on drugs, using mobile phones whilst driving. Lets make medicines available to everyone irrespective of age or locaion. Lets improve cleanliness in hospitals, povety & unemployment and lets reduce crime. We could also try to reduce terrorism, world hunger and wars........

Electrical safety IS important......but it ain't at the top of the list.

[wayne]

The world isn't a perfect place.

Virtually everything in life carries risk and virtually everyone breaks the rules and the law at some time. Society will never resolve all issues and in my opinion there are far more riskier anomolies than impossing electrical checks JUST ON LANDLORDS.

Lets all stop cars speeding, driving whilst drinking or on drugs, using mobile phones whilst driving. Lets make medicines available to everyone irrespective of age or locaion. Lets improve cleanliness in hospitals, povety & unemployment and lets reduce crime. We could also try to reduce terrorism, world hunger and wars........

Electrical safety IS important......but it ain't at the top of the list.

Sorry...you want to make money by renting out houses / flats / rooms / houseboats...then make sure they are safe.

If you want to make inroads into preventing terrorism do the courses join MI5 or the Police but you will still have safety rules to follow...believe me I know.