Electrical Safety
Electricity usually makes life easier by powering kitchen appliances, gadgets, and electronics we use for entertainment. However, that same electricity contains the potential to destroy homes and take lives. Electric fires are more destructive than any other type of fire, and they are twice as deadly.
ways to help you keep your electric system safe:
Consider getting an electric inspection of your home, especially if it is an older home, or you have never had an inspection.
Do not use water to extinguish an electrical fire. Water conducts electricity, and you could get an electric shock. Use an extinguisher that is approved for use on electric fires.
Flickering lights, warm, cracked, or sparking outlets all indicate electric problems.
If circuits trip, fuses blow, someone gets a shock, your home has an electric problem. Get an electric inspection.
Do not overload outlets, use an extension cord as a permanent wiring solution, or use light bulbs that are not rated for the socket.
Contact an electrician about installing an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI). An AFCI monitors the flow of electricity in your home. If the flow of electricity is irregular and could cause a fire, the AFCI shuts off electricity. An AFCI costs around $35, plus the cost of professional installation. The cost also depends on the size of your home and how many circuit breakers you have.
Inspect electric plugs and cords annually. If they are frayed or cracked, repair or replace them. Do not place cords under rugs, or staple or nail them to the wall.
Reduce the Risk of Electrical Fires With AFCIs
The Safe Electricity program shares information on the warning signs of an electrical problem in your home and how adding arc-fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs) can help prevent electrical fires.
Overloaded circuits, electrical faults, and faulty wiring can all cause electrical fires. It is a good idea to get an electrical inspection of your home, especially if it is an older home or you never had an inspection. Signs of electrical problems in a home include blown fuses, tripped circuits, flickering lights and warm, cracked, or sparking outlets
Electrical arc faults occur when an electric current flows through an unplanned path. AFCIs can reduce the chance of electrical fires by sensing arcing conditions, distinguishing between normal and unintended arcing. When an abnormal or dangerous arc is detected, the AFCI de-energizes the circuit.
Home Safety Inspections
Keeping your lights on, showers hot, toilets flushing and air conditioning running is what drives us every day. Our approach is simple, we do things the right way, not the easy way.
Our Response To COVID-19
Our team is committed to your family’s safety and health, here is what we are doing to help in that regard. To start with, we monitor our own health, if one of our employees feels ill, they will see a doctor or clinic. When our team comes to your home they glove up, put on shoe covers, if you request, they will wear a mask.
have set in place a Covid-19 protocol. Before we come to your home, we send you an email listing some things you as the homeowner can do to limit (or in some cases eliminate) the need for us to come into the home. While it is not possible to cover all applications, there are many situations where with your help we can do a tuneup or maintenance, even some repairs, from outside the home
Today, communication is vital to our business, please let us know if anyone in the home has been exposed and is under quarantine, or if they are under a doctor’s care for the virus
On another note, we would be remiss if we did not mention the fact that we do other solutions to indoor air quality issues. We have filters that can take out over 99% of airborne particles, UV lights that can help destroy viruses, air sterilisers to eradicate germs that are found in homes, similar to hand sanitisers we are now using daily. Can these products and systems eliminate the Covid-19 Virus completely? Only if you live in a petri dish in a lab.
Electrical Safety Checks
This page lists ways you can reduce the risk of electrical shocks and fires in your home. It outlines your responsibilities if you’re a home owner or a tenant, and explains the electrical safety checks your landlord has to do to ensure your accommodation is safe. It also explains what to do if the power goes off.
What are the dangers?
If electrical systems or appliances in your home are unsafe, you could be at risk of:
electric shocks – severe electric shocks can cause heart failure
electrical burns – these can require major surgery and can be permanently damaging
fire – every year, 12,500 fires are caused in UK homes by electrical faults.
If you own your home, you should:
arrange for an electrical inspection to be carried out every ten years (see ‘what does an electrical inspection involve’ below)
watch out for danger signs and make sure all electrical equipment in your home is maintained and used properly (see ‘what are the danger signs’ and ‘how can I minimise the risks’ below)
ensure all repair and installation work is carried out by a registered NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting) contractor. You will then be issued with a certificate to prove that the work has been done properly and is safe.
Electrical Safety Checks – My responsibilities if I rent my home
If you rent your home, you should:
watch out for danger signs and make sure all electrical equipment in your home is maintained and used properly (see ‘what are the danger signs’ and ‘how can I minimise the risks’ below)
don’t use equipment or appliances that you think may be unsafe. If your landlord has supplied the faulty equipment, report the problems to your landlord for repair.
allow your landlord or an electrical contractor access to your home to carry out inspections and repairs. Your landlord should give you 24 hours’ notice before coming round.
Electrical Safety Checks – My landlord’s responsibilities
landlords must carry out an electrical safety check of all installations, fixtures and fittings in a property. Landlords have to give a copy of the most recent inspection report to new tenant before the tenancy begins.
HOME ELECTRICAL SAFETY INSPECTION
Already a homeowner – Then one of your main concerns is the safety of your home and everyone in it. We recommend having any electrical work inspected by one of our licensed, bonded, and insured electricians.
Buying a home – You’ll want to know what, if any, defects or safety hazards are present in the home. Items that rate high on the list are things like:
Aluminum wiring
GFCI receptacles
Grounding
Water leaking into service parts
Insuring your home – When insuring your home, particularly for the first time or when switching from one insurance provider to another, insurance companies will want to know specific details regarding your homes electrical system and wiring
Of particular concern are details such as:
Aluminum wiring
Knob and tube wiring
The ampacity of your electrical service
Whether your electrical panel contains circuit breakers or fuses
Guide for tenants: electrical safety standards in the private rented sector
These Regulations mean that:
The electrical wiring, sockets, consumer units (fuse boxes) and other fixed electrical parts in rented homes must be inspected and tested every 5 years, or more often than this if the inspector thinks that is necessary.
Throughout the whole time a tenant is living at the property, national electrical safety standards must be met.
Your landlord must give you a report that shows the condition of the property’s electrical installations. They also have to give this to the local council if they ask for it.
These Regulations do not cover social housing. Council tenants or tenants of housing associations should contact their housing provider if they are worried about the electrics in the property. These Regulations also do not cover tenants who live with their landlord (lodgers)
Glossary
EICR: Electrical Installation Condition Report. This is the most common type of report you’ll be given by your landlord after an inspection.
Electrical installation: The ‘fixed’ electrical parts of the property, like the wiring, the plug sockets, the light fittings and the consumer unit (sometimes called a fuse box). This does not include appliances that aren’t ‘fixed’, such as cookers, fridges and televisions.
Local council: In this guide we refer to your local housing authority as your local council. The local housing authority has the power to make landlords comply with the Regulations and can be the borough council, district council, city council or ‘unitary authority’.
Regulations: The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector
Remedial work / remedial action: Work that a landlord must have carried out to make the electrical installation safe.
Tenancy: The contract you sign with a landlord to live in a rented property.
Introduction
This government is committed to making sure that rented homes are safe, secure and high-quality places to live, work and raise families.
really value the contribution made by good landlords. Most landlords provide well-maintained and quality accommodation for their tenants. However, a significant minority fail to do so, and this can put tenants’ safety at risk.