Electrical blogs

Landlord Certificates - EICR

Landlords have legal obligations when it comes to electrical safety: Current regulations state that the private rental sector must provide a current landlords electrical safety certificate EICR to tenants.

The electrical installation in a rented property must be safe when new tenants move in and it must be maintained in a safe condition throughout the duration of the tenancy with landlords failing to do so facing possible fines of up to £30.000 and banning orders.
HMO's, House in Multiple Occupation has to have a electrical installation condition report (EICR) carried out on the property every five years. This will highlight any deteriation of the fixed wiring and accessories or any faulty or dangerous parts to the electrical instalation

It is now a requirement that you carry out an EICR and you must make sure that the test is carried out by a registered electrician like Wycombe Electrical Ltd on your rental properties at least every five years to ensure safety compliance and also to protect you as the landlord from any future litigation.
You must ensure that any appliance provided within the property is safe and has at least the CE marking (which is the manufacturer’s claim that it meets all the requirements of European law). if it doesn't then you are taking risks that are simply not worth taking.

This basically means that all landlords are now required by law to do what good landlords have already been doing: make sure the electrical installations in their rented properties are safe. Our electricians carry out EICRs for a number of local estate agents so are very skilled and thorough.

We can also carry out your annual checks on fire protection systems and emergency lighting.

In order to meet these requirements you, as landlord will need tocarry out regular basic safety checks on your rental property to ensure that the electrical installation and appliances are safe and working and within current regulations.

We recommend the following

That you carry out a visual inspection of the property between each tenancy.

Landlord electrical safety certificates

ALWAYS use a registered electrician for work carried on your property, like Wycombe Electrical Ltd
Carrying out regular PAT testing on the electrical appliances provided as part of the rental agreement

Wycombe Electrical Ltd are the chosen company for estate agents and private landlords throughout the towns surrounding High Wycombe and Marlow. We are reliable, efficient and carry out our inspections methodically and quickly with courtesy to the tenant.

Landlord electrical safety certificates and EICRs in Marlow, Beaconsfield and around High Wycombe - Call today on 01494 623 006

Landlord Safety Information Click Here

LED Lighting

Garden Office

Outbuildings, sheds or Garden offices.

In the past we liked to have sheds and outbuildings to store our collection of junk in. These days we want to spend time in them. With todays property prices we all seem to be making a bit more use of our gardens and what better way than to create that extra room.

Generally our garden offices, garden gyms or Mancaves/She-sheds all need electricity for lighting and power.

With LED lighting power requirements come down quite a lot. then on top of that we'll generally need 13amp sockets, a form of heating and probably an internet connection.

To run power down to your garden room the correct cable must be used. We always use SWA armoured cable for the run from building to building. This will protect against the environment and also wildlife damage. That cable must always be protect by at least an RCD. In the unlikely event of somebody cutting into it with a lawnmower for example, it will be protected by automatic disconnection of supply.

A 40amp supply should generally be ample to cover the needs of the supply. A small consumer unit to distribute the power and to protect the individual circuits. If you have an outbuilding that you'd like to make more use of, we would be happy to offer a free quotation to safety connect it up to provide power and lighting.

Give us a call at Wycombe Electrical Ltd on 07720 565 722 to discuss your garden power

Garden Lighting

Garden lighting is one of those jobs that can transform your outside spaces. With the Advancement of LED lighting the choices we have of different types of low energy garden lighting or huge.

Firstly how will we control the lights?

Photocel, the lights will automatically come on at dusk and go off at dawn
Timer, your garden lighting will come on and go off at preset times.
Simple on off switch inside the house
Remote control via an app on your phone from anywhere in the world.

So, having decided on our method of control we'll then decide on positioning, colour, brightness, etc

Wall mounted lights are the most common and the least problematic. When I say problematic I mean that if the installation of your lighting isn't carried out correctly by a skilled electrician then you are bound to encounter problems. Wall mounted lighting will throw up the least problems for you.

Deck or recessed floor lighting is very effective as decoration or mood lighting but not so much as functional lighting. You can achieve some stunning effects with recessed patio lighting

However, installation of patio floor lighting can be extremely problematic if not carried out by a skilled electrician. We need to remember that if there is a way into something, then rain water will find it.

Below is a photo from a job we got called to. A family had recently spent over £100k on a beautiful extension to their family home. To finish of they had a lovely patio laid using Indian sand stone. As a nice finishing touch they had 100mm recessed LED lighting installed around the perimeter.

First mistake was the outside lighting was coming off of the downstairs lighting circuit. It is always best practice wherever possible to keep outside lighting on its own circuit. If you develop a fault outside you don't want to lose your indoor lighting too.

Second mistake, ummm, well, just about everything really. The material selection is all wrong and the worst mistake....... There was a junction for each light, under the actual patio. We felt terrible but we had to rip the patio up to put this job right for the customer. We wanted to completely rewire and do the job properly but due to costs and time the customer requested that we repair the connections in their current location as best we could.

It's been 2 years since and no problems so far.

Garden lighting is important especially at this time of year we are happy to come and advise on best practices and solutions to light up the dark parts of your property through the darker months. Just taking the bins out can be a task without correct lighting in winter.

Call Wycombe Electrical on 07720 565 722 for your correctly installed garden lighting