Hope someone can advise on this! My son has just moved in to new student digs - the first we saw of the house was when we helped he and his mates move their stuff. The kitchen made my hair (what's left of it) stand on end, and I'll concentrate on the electrics just now. The electric 4-plate hob had no "on" indication for any of the plates, and one of the control-knobs flopped around and/or came off in your hand; I've persuaded the landlord to replace that, but now we come to the wiring. The main supply-switch & aux socket are to the right of the hob; the power cable to the switch runs horizontally across the tiled splashback, approximately 25cm above the back of the hob, enclosed in white plastic trunking which is showing signs of heat-distortion from one of the back plates. scanning to the left we see the end of the trunking and the cable disappearing up beside the end wall-cabinet, where it disappears into a junction-bow, from which issues another cable which leads to sockets which are used to run the fridge, freezer, washing-machine, etc. I don't imagine for a moment that this setup has anything to do with Health & Safety regs, but can anyone advise on how I can point out the error of his ways to the landlord, short of calling in the Environmental Health people??? Sorry about the long ramble - any advice gratefully received!
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Cooker wiring
- Thread starter filbaker
- Start date
Ask the landlord if he has a recent periodic inspection report and see if any of the concerns you have were mentioned on it.
Unlike gas, there is no legal requirement for landlords to have an electrical inspection carried out.
HOWEVER, there are areas where they are liable and have a duty of care. I have copied a whole chunk here but its all meaningful and will help you get the landlord to sort this out, pronto....
There are two main Acts of Parliament that impose a statutory duty on landlords with respect to the safety of electrical equipment:
1. The Consumer Protection Act 1987
2. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
The Consumer Protection Act affects all persons who let property in the course of their business because it defines them as "suppliers", i.e. they are supplying goods to the tenant. There are several items of secondary legislation under the umbrella of the Consumer protection Act which are directly relevant to the supply of electrical goods, including:
1. The Low Voltage Electrical Equipment Regulations 1989
2. The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994
3. The General Product Safety Regulations 1994
4. The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994
In essence, these regulations impose a duty on landlords to ensure that all
electrical equipment supplied by them is safe for use by the tenant. The Consumer Protection Act provides a defence of 'due diligence', i.e. a landlord can defend a contravention of the Act if he can demonstrate that he took reasonable steps to avoid committing the offence.
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act places a duty of care upon both employer and employee to ensure the safety of all persons using the work premises. This general requirement has been galvanised by several recent regulations, some of which explicitly extended their requirements to cover "self employed persons" and "all persons affected by their operations". In the Electricity at Work Regulations, a self-employed person is defined as follows:
"A self-employed person is an individual who works for gain or
reward otherwise than under a contract of employment whether
or not he employs others."
This definition would appear to apply to landlords and agents; similarly, tenants would appear to be a group of persons affected by the landlord's operations. This tends to suggest that electrical regulations, which are ostensibly directed at employers and the work place, are equally applicable to landlords, their premises and their tenants.
Some of the specific regulations that are applicable to electrical installations
include:
Regulation 3(1b) of The Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1992 states:
"Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient
assessment of: the risks to the health and safety of persons
not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the
conduct by him or his undertaking"
Regulation 3 of the Electricity at Work Regulations states:
"It shall be the duty of every employer and self-employed
person to comply with the provisions of these Regulations in so
far as they relate to matters within his control."
Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations states:
"As may be necessary to prevent danger, all [electrical]
systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is
reasonably practicable, such danger."
In summary, a landlord has duties both as a 'supplier of goods' and as the 'person responsible' for an electrical installation. As a 'supplier of goods' he must ensure that goods are checked before the tenant takes them over and as a and as a 'person responsible' he must ensure an adequate system of maintenance.
I see alot of this sort of stuff, hope this helps.
HOWEVER, there are areas where they are liable and have a duty of care. I have copied a whole chunk here but its all meaningful and will help you get the landlord to sort this out, pronto....
There are two main Acts of Parliament that impose a statutory duty on landlords with respect to the safety of electrical equipment:
1. The Consumer Protection Act 1987
2. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
The Consumer Protection Act affects all persons who let property in the course of their business because it defines them as "suppliers", i.e. they are supplying goods to the tenant. There are several items of secondary legislation under the umbrella of the Consumer protection Act which are directly relevant to the supply of electrical goods, including:
1. The Low Voltage Electrical Equipment Regulations 1989
2. The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994
3. The General Product Safety Regulations 1994
4. The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994
In essence, these regulations impose a duty on landlords to ensure that all
electrical equipment supplied by them is safe for use by the tenant. The Consumer Protection Act provides a defence of 'due diligence', i.e. a landlord can defend a contravention of the Act if he can demonstrate that he took reasonable steps to avoid committing the offence.
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act places a duty of care upon both employer and employee to ensure the safety of all persons using the work premises. This general requirement has been galvanised by several recent regulations, some of which explicitly extended their requirements to cover "self employed persons" and "all persons affected by their operations". In the Electricity at Work Regulations, a self-employed person is defined as follows:
"A self-employed person is an individual who works for gain or
reward otherwise than under a contract of employment whether
or not he employs others."
This definition would appear to apply to landlords and agents; similarly, tenants would appear to be a group of persons affected by the landlord's operations. This tends to suggest that electrical regulations, which are ostensibly directed at employers and the work place, are equally applicable to landlords, their premises and their tenants.
Some of the specific regulations that are applicable to electrical installations
include:
Regulation 3(1b) of The Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1992 states:
"Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient
assessment of: the risks to the health and safety of persons
not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the
conduct by him or his undertaking"
Regulation 3 of the Electricity at Work Regulations states:
"It shall be the duty of every employer and self-employed
person to comply with the provisions of these Regulations in so
far as they relate to matters within his control."
Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations states:
"As may be necessary to prevent danger, all [electrical]
systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is
reasonably practicable, such danger."
In summary, a landlord has duties both as a 'supplier of goods' and as the 'person responsible' for an electrical installation. As a 'supplier of goods' he must ensure that goods are checked before the tenant takes them over and as a and as a 'person responsible' he must ensure an adequate system of maintenance.
I see alot of this sort of stuff, hope this helps.
Thanks for that info, taylor - most interesting! I'm also interested in the detail of this installation, eg: I think I read somewhere that the power-supply to the cooker should be discrete and not be shared with anything else (in this case there appear to be wall-sockets sharing the same supply); and apart from the obvious madness of running plastic trunking above a heat-source such as a cooking hob, are there any regs which expressly forbid this kind of thing? Cheers.
A cable must be suited to the environment it is run in. I doubt thats heat proof cable in the trunking. Definitely not heat proof trunking! The cooker switch should be on the other side so the cable doesnt have to cross the cooker top.
Junction boxes are frowned upon to start with, especially on cooker circuits, and especially even more where they are used to supply sockets on a dedicated appliance circuit.
Junction boxes are frowned upon to start with, especially on cooker circuits, and especially even more where they are used to supply sockets on a dedicated appliance circuit.
Have a word with the accomodation office at the university where your son is studying. Mention the safety concerns.
If the landlord is on the accomodation office "approved" list then the accomodation office may ask him to improve or be taken of the list. Being taken off the list could reduce the landlord's profits in next year or term.
If the landlord is on the accomodation office "approved" list then the accomodation office may ask him to improve or be taken of the list. Being taken off the list could reduce the landlord's profits in next year or term.
Hi Crafty, that follows my own thinking so it may be an idea to have the Environmental Health people to have a look (giving the landlord prior notice in case he feels like changing it , of course!).
Thanks too, to you Bernard - I have been in touch with the Uni's Accommodation office; this address is not presently on their books but they've made a note of it in case an application is made in future!
I wonder what the rest of the wiring in the house is like....?
Thanks too, to you Bernard - I have been in touch with the Uni's Accommodation office; this address is not presently on their books but they've made a note of it in case an application is made in future!
I wonder what the rest of the wiring in the house is like....?
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The wiring attached to the cooker circuit will only be compliant if:
a). it is wired in cable that has a current carrying capacity that equals or exceeds that of the fuse or MCB,
and
b). the circuit has been designed to take the additional load.
Personally, I would only have the cooker on a radial circuit like that and nothing else.
If there is wiring like that in the property, there's likely to be other areas of non-compliance.
a). it is wired in cable that has a current carrying capacity that equals or exceeds that of the fuse or MCB,
and
b). the circuit has been designed to take the additional load.
Personally, I would only have the cooker on a radial circuit like that and nothing else.
If there is wiring like that in the property, there's likely to be other areas of non-compliance.
Yep, that's what I'm thinking. The fridge & freezer were running off a garden-type extension lead when I saw it first; apparently, when he renewed the dodgy hob he installed a couple more sockets for them - on the spur that comes off the cooker circuit. Nightmare. I'll get the council to inspect it. Many thanks for taking the trouble to respond, it's much appreciated.
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