Will this pass an EICR?
- Thread starter goosander
- Start date
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The two links to smoke detector guidance in the first of those documents do not work - at least, not for me.
However the guidance can be found by clicking here. . As can be seen, and as DS wrote, a heat detector in the kitchen is, indeed, explicitly one of the 'minimum requirements' (see section 7 of the doc to which I've linked).
Kind Regards, John
Hi John sorry the first link does not work for you, works fine for me.
As has already been covered the Scottish regs, are a little more enhanced than those in other UK countries.
I am of the understanding, that there are also talks of sprinkler systems being used.
No problem. Experiences often vary with these things, but, for what it's worth, it still doesn't work for me ...
Kind Regards, John
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Well thanks for the links, but oh dear me. Apparently I should now have a heat detector in kitchen, smoke alarm in living room plus further smoke alarms in the upstairs & down stairs halls, all mains powered & interlinked. This strikes me as total overkill - why would you need a smoke alarm in the living room? I mean if there is a fire in there during the day, you won't need an alarm to know about it! Given the small size of my flat, that would mean three detectors on the lower floor, about 10ft apart (one in the hall is plenty).
Don't think I can justify the cost and hassle (running wires) for this, not for a short period of letting. To comply with all of this, plus the other costs and risks of being a LL not to mention the recent changes to income tax treatment means I'm better off leaving the flat unoccupied. No wonder there is a housing shortage...
Don't think I can justify the cost and hassle (running wires) for this, not for a short period of letting. To comply with all of this, plus the other costs and risks of being a LL not to mention the recent changes to income tax treatment means I'm better off leaving the flat unoccupied. No wonder there is a housing shortage...
Wrong
A CO detector can be battery- it needs a lifetime battery with at least 7 years life
The ACTUAL Scottish Government rules are here
I prefer decent battery ones (like the Aico 208) as they are fit and forget. You can even use an app (free from app store) to download alarm data
Just be aware that there is a LOT of incorrect information around. Taking the rules for England (which I know about), there is a requirement for a CO detector in any room with a solid fuel burning appliance. Many people are incorrectly saying that they are needed in rooms with a gas boiler or fire because they are (apparently) incapable of comprehending the regs. And once one "knowledgeable" organisation has published the incorrect information, then others reference it and it becomes "fact" for many.
Back to your original query.
As stated, the regs are not retrospective. But ...
If you have a "certificate" saying the installation is safe, then you have a certain amount (quite a lot in fact) of protection from "your property injured me" claims from tenants - you are able to hold up a piece of paper that says that (at the date of the inspection) it was all "safe and compliant".
If your EICR report contains any non-conformities, even of a trivial nature, then there is scope for a tenant to use that to try and extort compensation out of you. Sadly there are tenants who will use any excuse to scam people. And if something did happen, even if the non-conformity was irrelevant - there is scope for a prosecuting council to wave the piece of paper listing the non-conformities around in court and make it look like you're the worst landlord in history for letting an obviously dangerous property. OK, perhaps an exaggeration - but you know that most people would not know that a C3 non-conformity isn't dangerous, only that it "must be dangerous" or they wouldn't have changed the regs.
So even if there is nothing serious, it's probably worth getting the system as up to date as is reasonably practical. On that basis, I made both my properties all RCBO a few years back as they didn't have any RCD protection. Annoyingly they are "non compliant" again thanks to the "though shalt use steel" rule in Amdt3
If you do decide to let the property out, I would suggest you consider joining one of the trade groups - National Landlords Association or the Residential Landlords Association. Both run training courses, and both have an accreditation scheme - IMO the NLA one is easier to qualify for as you can get onto it by passing all the core subjects in their online training library, the RLA one does require you to attend a course which may or may not be convenient depending on your location. A few topics (I notice this includes electrical safety) are available to non-members on the NLA site.
Don't forget that you will need consent from the lender if you have a mortgage. If you don't have consent, and they find out*, then you can find yourself on the receiving end of "you have 14 days to repay the loan" sort of letter, as well as possible fraud charges !
* And apparently they are getting quite serious about looking for such cases - actively looking for signs of letting, such as the property being advertised, changes in electoral roll, etc.
Also, you need a proper landlords insurance as your current domestic insurance will not cover you for a number of risks that you really ought to cover against.
Back to your original query.
As stated, the regs are not retrospective. But ...
If you have a "certificate" saying the installation is safe, then you have a certain amount (quite a lot in fact) of protection from "your property injured me" claims from tenants - you are able to hold up a piece of paper that says that (at the date of the inspection) it was all "safe and compliant".
If your EICR report contains any non-conformities, even of a trivial nature, then there is scope for a tenant to use that to try and extort compensation out of you. Sadly there are tenants who will use any excuse to scam people. And if something did happen, even if the non-conformity was irrelevant - there is scope for a prosecuting council to wave the piece of paper listing the non-conformities around in court and make it look like you're the worst landlord in history for letting an obviously dangerous property. OK, perhaps an exaggeration - but you know that most people would not know that a C3 non-conformity isn't dangerous, only that it "must be dangerous" or they wouldn't have changed the regs.
So even if there is nothing serious, it's probably worth getting the system as up to date as is reasonably practical. On that basis, I made both my properties all RCBO a few years back as they didn't have any RCD protection. Annoyingly they are "non compliant" again thanks to the "though shalt use steel" rule in Amdt3
If you do decide to let the property out, I would suggest you consider joining one of the trade groups - National Landlords Association or the Residential Landlords Association. Both run training courses, and both have an accreditation scheme - IMO the NLA one is easier to qualify for as you can get onto it by passing all the core subjects in their online training library, the RLA one does require you to attend a course which may or may not be convenient depending on your location. A few topics (I notice this includes electrical safety) are available to non-members on the NLA site.
Don't forget that you will need consent from the lender if you have a mortgage. If you don't have consent, and they find out*, then you can find yourself on the receiving end of "you have 14 days to repay the loan" sort of letter, as well as possible fraud charges !
* And apparently they are getting quite serious about looking for such cases - actively looking for signs of letting, such as the property being advertised, changes in electoral roll, etc.
Also, you need a proper landlords insurance as your current domestic insurance will not cover you for a number of risks that you really ought to cover against.
Do you mean at the time of installation, or do you install ones with 10-year batteries and replace them every 3 years?
Kind Regards, John
You can use RF linked detectors, there will still be some cables to run, to a nearby light, but the link cables between each detector can be excluded.
The rules is Scotland require much more than those in other UK countries, but if you wish to let, then you must comply.
The problem with leaving the property empty, is you will still have bills to pay on the property and properties if not lived in for long periods do loose their condition.
The landlord rules for smoke detectors in Scotland shadow the building standards.
It should be pointed out that the building standards are VERY stringent in Scotland, on a side note- the flammable panels that are all over the rest of the UK have been banned in Scotland for years.
Indeed - and I don't know what the situation is in Scotland, but in England many/most local authorities hike up the Rates/Community Charge after a significant period of unoccupancy.
Kind Regards, John
As I understand it most councils, no longer allow for a no charge unoccupied period. It was 6 months, then 1 month now not at all.
If the property is empty, you are better claiming that one person lives there, so a 25% discount can be claimed. Not that I am suggesting any wrong doings may I add
If the property is empty, you are better claiming that one person lives there, so a 25% discount can be claimed. Not that I am suggesting any wrong doings may I add
Of course notAs I understand it most councils, no longer allow for a no charge unoccupied period. It was 6 months, then 1 month now not at all. If the property is empty, you are better claiming that one person lives there, so a 25% discount can be claimed. Not that I am suggesting any wrong doings may I add
A friend of mine has a property in Hampshire that has been unoccupied for quite a long time. Not only did they charge in full after the initial 'free' period (I think 6 months in his case), but after a year or two they put it up to 150% of the (occupied) full rate, and are threatening a further increase to 200%.
Kind Regards, John
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