New EICR to cover any changes made by outgoing tenant?

Reply to the comment left by michaelwgroves at 11/05/2021 - 08:01
To be absolutely clear, are we agreed that the definition should be read as:
“electrical safety standards” means the standards for electrical installations (which means fixed electrical cables or fixed electrical equipment located on the consumer's side of the electricity supply meter) in the eighteenth edition of the Wiring Regulations, published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the British Standards Institution as BS 7671: 2018(5)?

Reply to the comment left by michaelwgroves at 11/05/2021 - 08:17
HMOs are only an anomaly if a new report is required "on change of occupancy".

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 11/05/2021 - 09:17
I agree with this. In a large HMO, you could need a new EICR every month. This would be illogical.

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 11/05/2021 - 09:09
We are in complete agreement on the definition.

Reply to the comment left by michaelwgroves at 11/05/2021 - 13:21
If we are in agreement with the definition, then surly, we are in agreement the reports must comply with 18th edition?

Reply to the comment left by michaelwgroves at 12/05/2021 - 08:52
Sorry for the delay in responding due to having to sort out a computer problem.

I agree that the inspection and testing should follow the procedures in the 18th edition. Whether the report needs to be in the format prescribed in the 18th is probably not an argument worth pursuing any further but to answer your previous question, I am not aware of any standard report apart from the EIC and EICR.

A landlord has the following basic duties under the Regulations:
(a) to ensure that the electrical safety standards (the standards for fixed electrical cables or fixed electrical equipment located on the consumer's side of the electricity supply meter in the eighteenth edition) are met during any period when the residential premises are occupied under a specified tenancy;
(b) to ensure every electrical installation (meaning the fixed electrical cables and fixed electrical equipment located on the consumer’s side of the electricity supply meter) in the residential premises is inspected and tested at regular intervals (“at regular intervals” means at intervals of no more than 5 years; or where the most recent report requires such inspection and testing to be at intervals of less than 5 years, at the intervals specified in that report) by a qualified person (“qualified person” means a person competent to undertake the inspection and testing required under regulation 3(1) and any further investigative or remedial work in accordance with the electrical safety standards)
(c) to obtain a report from the person conducting that inspection and test, which gives the results of the inspection and test and the date of the next inspection and test

Having now agreed that “electrical safety standards” has a very specific definition rather than incorporating the whole of the 18th edition into the Regulations I believe we are back to trying to reach agreement on whether it is acceptable when stating the date of next inspection and test to include “on change of occupancy”.

I do not dispute that the table in BS7671 says in respect of rented flats and houses “change of occupancy/5 years” under the heading “maximum period between inspections and testing as necessary”. What I have not been able to establish is whether this is supposed to be a hard and fast rule or to be taken as guidance for qualified persons in exercising their judgement.

Be that as it may, the Regulations state that the inspection and testing must take place at regular intervals. The legislators have not included any reference to BS7671 in the definition of “at regular intervals”.

Change of occupancy is not a regular interval, it is an event that could happen at any time. Does this persuade you that the phrase should not be included?

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 12/05/2021 - 20:37
If the only reports available are those of the 18th edition, then I believe these are the only regulations you could use. The legislation is not prescriptive on the contents of the report, only its existence. This is where the legislation hands over to the 18th edition without exception. If this were not the case, the legislation would advise of the alternative regulation to use.
As these do not exist, we are left with the 18th edition.
I think it is fine for a landlord to ask his electrician to put 5 years and nothing else. The landlords duty is to comply with the EICR. If that’s what it says , then you are fine. However, you’ve got to ask yourself, why stop there, why not ask him to turn the C1’s into C3’s.
Any electrician who agrees to this is a fool.

I’ll bounce “change of occupancy” around the electricians forum and get a consensus on what others think.

Watch this space.

Reply to the comment left by michaelwgroves at 12/05/2021 - 21:05
Thanks, that could be really helpful. Is there any mileage in asking the trade bodies for a view?

I have just read a book I have from NAPIT, called EICR codebreakers. This is the book I use for guidance on the frequency risk assessments. There is some good reading ahead of this table I have not previously taken enough notice of.
NAPIT advises the electrician should recommend the testing frequency, but it is the responsible person (landlord) who is responsible for ongoing maintenance, and therefore the testing frequency.
So I still maintain the EICR should following 18th edition in it's entirety, but NAPIT's interpretation of the testing frequency is, it is the landlords decision.
So feel free to tell your electrician you want whatever period you like, as long as it's a maximum of 5 years as prescribed in the legislation.
I learnt something tonight, thanks to Seething Landlord for staying with the debate until the end.

Reply to the comment left by michaelwgroves at 12/05/2021 - 22:17
Sorry Michael, I think NAPIT are wrong on this unless the book pre-dates the Regulations but you might have uncovered a clue to the matter we have been debating. Is it perhaps the case that the date or triggering event for the next test used to be simply a recommendation whereas keeping to it has now become a statutory obligation by virtue of Regulation 3 (1) (b) and 3 (2)? It would have done little harm to recommend a new inspection on change of occupancy when left to the landlord's discretion but now that it is obligatory it is a rather different matter.

If you still have an appetite for pursuing this I would be very interested to hear the views of others on the electricians' forums.