Electrical safety

It is a legal requirement as your landlord to test the sockets, lights, smoke detectors and consumer unit/ fuseboard in your home. These checks occur every five years. This is to make sure that everything we are responsible for is safe and working properly.

Our Registered Contractor, Hurley Electricals, completes electrical safety checks on our behalf. When your home is due to be serviced, Hurley Electricals will write to you with an appointment. If you are unable to make the appointment,

Please contact Hurley Electricals on 01234857772 to rearrange. If you are not home when they call, a card will be left asking you to arrange another appointment.

Please note:

It is your responsibility as a bpha tenant to give electricians access to your home to complete the checks. Failure to allow access is a breach of your tenancy and, if necessary, legal action can be taken to gain access to the property. You will be recharged for any legal costs that we incur and improvement works on your home will be stopped.

In preparation for your electrical safety check, please:

• Have enough credit if you have a pre-payment electric meter to allow the safety check to be completed.
• Remove any personal belongings from around your meter and consumer unit/ fuseboard to allow the electrician to access them easily.
• Allow the electrician access to your entire home as they need to test each light switch and socket.

During the visit children and pets should not enter the areas where the safety checks are being completed. An adult must be present if children are under the age of 18. Please do not touch any tools or equipment belonging to the engineer working in your home. Our registered contractors will ensure that your property and belongings are treated with respect.

An electrical safety check takes approximately two hours to complete, depending on the size of your property. If urgent repairs are required then the check may take longer.

It is important that you also take responsibility for the electrical safety of your home and report any issues that you have to bpha’s Repairs team on 0330 100 0272.

To avoid electric shocks and fires you should:

• Make sure that any bulbs are the correct wattage for the fitting i.e. lamp or light
• Ensure any portable heater is stable and at least 90 cm away from curtains, newspapers and other combustible materials
• Check the leads on your kettle, iron and other portable appliances to ensure they have not frayed
• Check that only the outer sheath of cables are showing on plugs
• Make sure that appliance leads do not come in contact with hot or wet surfaces
• Wherever possible, unplug appliances if not in use or turn lights and appliances off. This also saves money and wear and tear of your equipment.