Electrical safety for council homes
We are responsible for the electrical supply to your council home.
All council houses have an electrical supply. We will meet our regulatory and statutory obligations to ensure it is safe.
Council tenants are responsible for all electrical equipment they own. We are responsible for the wiring and communal electrics in the property.
What to do in an electrical emergency
Call 999 if you have been injured by electricity.
An electrical emergency could include:
- damaged switches or sockets
- water leaking through light fittings, switches or sockets
- a burn mark or smell of burning
- a crackling sound from electrical equipment
- circuit breakers tripping out
- a total loss of power
In an electrical emergency, it is important to act fast to make sure nobody gets hurt. You should do all of the following if it is safe to do so:
- If you have total loss of power, check with neighbours first to see if their power is cut. This could mean that the whole area is affected. If not, it may be isolated to your home.
- Switch off and isolate the power to the circuit where the problem is. This is normally at the mains board/consumer unit.
- Check to see if you have credit on your meter (if you have one).
- Make sure that your circuit breakers have not tripped on your mains board/consumer unit.
If those checks are not successful, call the Responsive Repairs Line.
Telephone: 0300 373 0373
Electrical safety checks
Council homes must have an electrical safety inspection every 5 years. This produces an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR).
Our approved electrical contractor will contact you within a suitable notice period to alert you that an inspection is due. This inspection last typically no more than 3 hours.
The engineer will check the sockets, circuits and lighting are in working order and free from any hazards for day-to-day occupancy. They will also ensure that no electrical DIY works have been undertaken.
You can help us by allowing access to your home. We aim to give you suitable notice, unless there is an emergency and we need urgent access.
If we are due to electrical safety inspection, you will receive a communication from us or our approved electrical contractor.
You can also contact us to request a service.
Telephone: 0300 373 0373. Select Option 4.
We will create an EICR at the time of the service. You can request a copy of the EICR by contacting the Housing Compliance Team.