Who is responsible for sorting this.. (pic)

[Carol1]

I went to visit my daughter and 4 year old granddaughter at their new rented property yesterday and was surprised to see the consumer situated about 3 feet from the floor just above the radiator in the entrance hall. My first thought was to think how easily accessible it was to my granddaughter. To my horror I then noticed there was a large gap inbetween the breakers. Surely this isn't acceptable in a rented property. I told my daughter to ring the estate agents first thing this morning and their response was that they wanted her to get an official report from an electrician before they would contact the landlord.
Surely it is their responsibiltiy to sort this out, and quickly. It is a perfect height for my granddaughter to easily pull down the cover and put her fingers inside.

Untitled

• Carol1
• 17 Dec 2012
• 1

 

[ricicle]

You need to get the landlord to sort this first thing tomorrow. In the meantime get your daughter to tape the lid shut !
Don't let him fob you off. If this was part of a report it would go down as dangerous and needing urgent attention.

 

[JohnD]

put it in a letter to the agent, with a print of your photograph, and say that you expect them to deal with it before an accident occurs. There is probably some council office you can cc, but I don't know which.

Agents hate having dangers pointed out in writing, because it will be awkward for them not to be able to claim ignoirance if an accident does occur.

Head the letter "Dangerous Electrical Installation" and preferably deliver it by hand. Take your copy with your and mutter "delivered by hand at 10 am on Tuesday 18th December" as you annotate your copy.

As well taping it shut, I'd suggest putting a heavy item of furniture in front of it. Children are very inquisitive. Try not to let the child see you making a fuss over it.

 

[chivers67]

Send them an email with this thread link attached!

 

[OwainDIYer]

I would hand deliver to their office, at 9 a.m. today and get a signed, timed and dated copy as a receipt, a letter saying:

Unless you arrange for a qualified electrician to attend and remedy this dangerous installation WITHIN FOUR HOURS I shall report it to the local electricity distributor as dangerous and failing to meet the requirements of Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 as amended.

I shall regard the property as uninhabitable and shall report it as such to the local Environmental Health Officer requesting an immediate Housing Health and Safety Rating System assessment and enforcement action against your principal for a Category 1 hazard. I shall further request the local authority to serve notice on you and your principal of intent to remedy the defective state of the premises under Building Act 1984, s 76(1) (2). I shall also seek alternative accommodation in a nearby hotel whilst the property is uninhabitable. I shall hold your principal liable for my full costs in so doing and place you on notice of this.

I draw your attention to the fact that a landlord is potentially liable under the Defective Premises Act 1972 if a tenant or resident suffers death or injury or has personal belongings damaged as a result of a defect in the electrical system in the premises and your principal's civil liability for defects under s 4 of that Act. I further draw your attention to Section 11 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 regarding landlord’s repairing obligations relating to short residential tenancies to keep electrical installations in repair and in proper working order.

http://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/guides/responsibilities/electrical_safety.shtml

 

[EFLImpudence]

Whilst you are undoubtedly correct the tenant must bear in mind that there are some very unsavoury landlords around.
A bit more tact may be advisable.

Not much point getting run over on a zebra crossing knowing you have the right of way.

 

[ericmark]

412.2.2.3 Where a lid or door in an insulating enclosure can be opened without the use of a tool or key, all conductive parts which are accessible if the lid or door is open shall be behind an insulating barrier (providing a degree of protection not less than IPXXB or IP2X) preventing persons from coming unintentionally into contact with those conductive parts. This insulating barrier shall be removable only by the use of a tool or key.

Often the blank plates for one make of consumer unit are used on another. There are distribution units where the tags for the MCB's can be isolated with a slide switch. In which case snap in place blanks can be used as if removed there are still no live parts. Reasonably sure the one you show is not that type. With the type where it is not isolated then the blanks have to be the type where whole cover is removed and they are inserted at an angle and then straightened before the cover is replaced so can't be removed with fingers you need a screwdriver.

I have failed installations many times where wrong type are fitted and with good nails they can be removed.

I am sure you now know the dangers and you will get rectified make sure correct type are fitted.

The position is more of a problem.
559.10.5.1 Classification of external influences
The following classes are generally recommended:
(i) Ambient temperature: AA2 and AA4 (from -40 °C to +40 °C)

Table 54.2
Values of k for insulated protective conductor not incorporated in a cable and not bunched with cables, or for separate bare protective conductors in contact with cables where the assumed initial temperature is 30°C

It is not easy to prove that the heat from the heater has not been taken into account but it would seem likely it has not. So likely either heater or consumer unit will need moving. Clearly you would like to see consumer unit moved.

It is common to see consumer units under stairs and in other low positions and I can't think of any rule that says they must be out of reach of small children.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Contact the estate agents again, inform them that it is the landlords responsibility to ensure the electrical installation and equipment that came with the let, is safe and suitable for continued service. They have a duty of care to you, also inform them that it is landlord that should be having the inspection/report done not you.
Tell them you are prepared to have this put in writing and if they are not prepared to have the installation checked then you are willing to contact your local council office (council's environmental health department) with regards to this.
The real issue here is that the CU has not been blanked off and the live busbar is exposed, it is sometimes unavoidable to keep CUs out of the reach of children but as this is a let property, I would expect that some provisions were made against this.

 

[pjcomp]

Health and Safety Executive - this would come under their remit if the landlord or agent doesn't do anything. HSE has more clout and is more likely to use it than the local council, who usually know naff all about electrics

PJ

 

[bernardgreen]

It would be worth telling the letting ageny that they have failed in their duty of care to tenants by failing to notice that danger during their pre-tenancy inspection. That negligence could leave them wide open to prosecution, corporate manslaughter if there was a death as a result of their negligence.

When this legality was pointed out to a letting agency who had let a house to students where the plumbing was defective the letting agency had a plumber on site within the hour.

 

[Lectrician]

They are meant to have a EICR carried out at change of occupancy. Most letting agents (around here anyway) do.