Electrical Safety Test

[#1]

Hi All
Is there any legislation on "Electrical Safety Test" for a tenants property while the tenant is in resident?
I know the landlord must do one before the tenant moves in to the property, but I can not see any legislation on "Electrical Safety Test" for tenants property while the tenant is in resident.
My landlord is giving us a hard time, and using excuses to go in the flat to find any excuse to get us out of the flat, to try to say we broke the tenancy agreement, the tenancy agreement go's back to 1986 when we moved in to the flat, we have a long term tenancy agreement.
So my question is do I have to let the landlord in to do a "Electrical Safety Test"?
Oh I forgot my landlord is a housing association, to be precise the landlord is Affinity Sutton.

[#2]

From reading this:
http://www.elecsa.co.uk/Documents/Public-Documents/Bldg-and-Property-Mngt/Landlords-Guide-to-Electri... (Chapter 14)
Is does suggest that an inspection be done every 10 years at maximum, but doesn't appear to be set in stone.

[#3]

I'm sorry to say but yes you do have to let your landlord in if he/she deems its a safety concern!
From what i can gather is domestic consumer units AKA fuse board/boxes have to be tested every 5 years.
maybe your landlord is checking to see if any alterations have been made which is illegal if you are not qualified!

[#4]

Short answer is yes, you do have to allow him in to carry out checks.

Quote

That the electrical installation in a rented property is safe when tenants move in and maintained in a safe condition throughout its duration.

http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guides-and-advice/for-landlords/

Edit: I think he may have grounds for terminating your contract if you refuse to allow him to comply with the law, so I would think carefully about refusing. 

[#5]

Quote from: Mook

http://www.elecsa.co.uk/Documents/Public-Documents/Bldg-and-Property-Mngt/Landlords-Guide-to-Electrical-Safety-May-2011_01.aspx (Chapter 14)

Is not legislation, I.E. a act of parliament.

Quote from: nozzer

http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guides-and-advice/for-landlords/

Seen it, it is not legislation, I.E. a act of parliament.
Thanks for trying to help Mook and nozzer

[#6]

You are correct, it is not legislation, but if an accident or fire occurs because checks were not made, then he will be liable for prosecution under law. I bet that somewhere in your contract it says you must allow access for this kind of thing.
Same as IEE regs Part P, they are not legal documents, but non compliance can lead to prosecution if negligence of some sort is proved.
However, you have rights too! Might be worth going to the Citizens Advice people.

[#7]

there is a bit within the housing act that requires them to perform an electrical safety test every 5 years with advice being to get it done every 2 years, and gas safety every year.
however the test relates purely to the wireing and consumer unit, takes about 30 minutes (if done properly) and requires that all your equipment is unplugged while they test each of the circuits performance,
failure to allow safety checks can be a breach of tenancy and grounds for them to evict you.
my advice would be if your worried about legality of them doing the test would be to get citizens advice to help you out.
as to them trying to evict you and trying to find reasons to do it, refusing access for safety checks would be the quickest way to give them the ammunition to do it /

[#8]

The landlord is responsible for the fixed wiring within the property let to you and the electrical safety of any appliances (fixed or portable) supplied as part of the agreement.  If by "tenant's property" you mean your portable appliances then, unless your tenancy agreement specifies it, I can't see that the landlord has any right to test your equipment. 
What does your tenancy agreement say?

[#9]

Quote from: pwatson

What does your tenancy agreement say?

There is nothing about Electrical Safety Testing, the tenancy agreement was drawn up in 1986, to be trueful there is nothing about Safety Testing of any kind whatsoever, but there is legislation for a annual Gas safety test what is done annually.
I think I will let them do it this time and see the Citizens Advice Bureau for guidance for the future on what to do!
P.S.
Thank you all for your help!

[#10]

Yes let them do it, not sure if you have house or contents insurance but if you refused them access to do it your insurance would be null and void in the event of a fire.
Also landlords are using every means to get tenants out so do nothing that gives them an excuse to get you out.
A check should not take that long.

[#11]

why would you NOT want them to come and check that everything is safe and working correctly?
other than some sort of "if the law doesn't say so then i'm not complying with anything" attitude, it can only be in your best interests that have safety checks on anything done at no cost to yourself.

[#12]

Quote from: nanotm

takes about 30 minutes (if done properly) and requires that all your equipment is unplugged

That's fast! We had ours done a couple of years back and it took ~3 hours. Not only was the consumer unit visually inspected but all accessible sockets and light switches and wring the loft. As well as the bonding and ring tests. Very thorough. Looked hard, rewired one junction box and replaced a cracked socket.

[#13]

Quote from: chenks76

why would you NOT want them to come and check that everything is safe and working correctly?

Tennants often have things they want to hide... Pets are the first thing that comes to mind. Children are another, then there is damage to property (eg paintwork) and all the hassle that comes with the skeletons in the closet.
We used to dread the owner coming round in the old place as we had a skeleton that needed hiding every time he came round and that was always a bit of a pain. Luckily he was a decent guy and although i think he suspected this skeleton, he never pushed the issue.
It's just one of those things, property owners think they have the right to demand how their tenants live their lives while tenants being fed up with renting, just want to get on and live their lives and while paying someone elses mortgage, why shouldn't they?
But yes.. I'm with chenks... safety first - even if you have to move half your posessions out temporarily.

[#14]

well we knew they were going to arrive within a set 2 hour time slot so everything was ready for them, and the house is less than 5 years old so they were able to use plug in kit to perform the checks which probably made it a lot faster than it could have been otherwise