Furniture & Furnishings (FIRE /SAFETY) Regulations

Government legislation has made it an offence to allow tenants to take up residence in a property whereby furnishings do not meet the current fire safety standards. If you are unsure please ask and we will be able to provide you with details of the act together with the relevant kite marks etc which you should look for. A simple guide you can follow to decide whether your soft furnishings are within the law is to establish whether the items were purchased after 1990. If this is the case it would be reasonable to assume that they comply with current legislation.

  Gas Safety Regulations

The Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1994 stipulates that all Landlords must have any Gas appliances inspected by a registered CORGI engineer. The regulations place a ‘Duty of Care’ on the Landlord to maintain gas appliances and pipework, ventilation and flues in a safe condition.

All appliances must be serviced annually and a CP12 gas safety certificate issued. Penalties for non compliance is a hefty fine or in the worst cases imprisonment. Please make any certificates available that may already be in your possession. A copy of this certificate will be given to your tenant and Crofters will add the details to our database to ensure that you always comply with the regulations.

     Electrical Safety Guidelines From 1st January 2005

There are, under the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) regulations and government guidelines as defined under BS 7671 and Low Voltage Electrical safety regulations (1 June 1990) recommendations that all electrical wiring and appliances are checked regularly. The plugs and sockets (Safety) regulations 1994 must also be recognised. There is an implied responsibility upon the Landlord to ensure that all electrical items left for the tenants use are safe. This would normally be ensured by having a regular annual check carried out by a qualified electrician. We realise that in the case of furnished properties where a number of electrical items have been left that this annual checking may become very expensive as a test would probably cost around £3.00 per appliance.

To combat this requirement we suggest you consider very carefully whether you leave small electrical items or not.

Also With effect from 1st January 2005. It is the owners legal responsibility to ensure that all major electrical work at their property is undertaken by an IEE qualified Electrician and necessary permission has been granted by the local authority before certain works are undertaken. Please check with us if you are unsure and we can provide you with details of the new regulations.

As with the Gas Regulations, Crofters can assist you to ensure that you always comply with the regulations.