The Scottish Government has issued guidance for private landlords and letting agents to support them during these exceptional circumstances. If an electrical check is due in your property, you should make every effort to have this carried out, observing social distancing. You can find out more about this, and read all of the guidance on the goverment website.

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Advice for Landlords

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Private landlords are responsible for ensuring that an electrical safety inspection of their property is carried out by a registered electrician at least every five years.

The new legislation explained

As of 1st December 2015, under sections 13(4A) and 19B(4) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, private landlords in Scotland are required by law to ensure that their properties are electrically safe.

 

This covers:

• Any installations in the property for the supply of electricity

• Electrical fixtures and fittings

• Any appliances provided by the landlord under the tenancy.

 

Landlords must be able to prove that all of the above are in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order.

 

So what do landlords need to do?

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Landlords are required to ensure that regular electrical safety inspections are carried out by a competent person, and that anything that fails to pass the inspection is replaced or repaired immediately.

As a minimum, an electrical safety inspection must be carried out:

• Before a tenancy starts, and

• During the tenancy, at intervals of no more than five years from the date of the previous inspection.

 

A copy of the most recent electrical safety inspection reports must be provided to both new and retained tenants.