A landlord is required to produce certain certificates on demand and as needed. These certificates serve as documents of assurance that indicate the rented building’s safety, security, and liveability standards meet the BSA standards specified by the UK government. The certification requirements were both augmented and further clarified by the Building Safety Act (BSA) of 2022. Let’s take a quick look through the current certification requirements that every landlord should be aware of.
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
The EPC must be provided by a landlord to prospective tenants before any lease contracts are signed by the party, but most tenants will expect to see the certificate at the time of their viewing. Like the name suggests, the Energy Performance Certificate of a building indicates how energy efficient the building is.
For any property to qualify as rentable real estate, it must obtain an EPC certificate with A, B, C, D, or E rating (Descending order of quality). If the certificate has a F or G rating, then it indicates the property does not meet the EPC standards and changes must be made before a re-evaluation. EPC certificates are valid for 10 years in most cases.Â
Emergency Lighting Testing Certificate
The exact requirements for emergency lights will of course vary, depending on the kind of property it is, the building’s architecture, construction, etc. However, every building in the United Kingdom with guest, public or staff access must have appropriate emergency lights before it can be rented out to a tenant for occupancy of any kind.
Annual emergency lighting testing is a requirement by UK law and every landlord must be up to date with their checks. Quarterly checks are advised to ensure that the building gets a good rating on its annual emergency lighting testing certificate. As for the exact requirements, you will need to contact an accredited assessor.
Fire Risk Assessment
There may or may not be a certificate, but you must get your local fire department to check up on the property and assess it for potential fire safety hazards annually. Act on their recommendations and get the building reassessed soon after to get the approval needed to keep your building safe from fires.
Violating and/or neglecting fire codes can not only be a cause for tragedy, but they can also land the person held responsible in jail, with hefty fines and a suspension of their landlord’s license. Common steps that generally aid in passing the fire safety heck are as follows:
- Installing/checking CO (smoke) detectors and alert systems.
- Installing/checking emergency sprinkler systems accompanying the smoke detectors.
- Keeping/checking the supply of working fire extinguishers on every floor within easy reach.
- Checking that all landlord provided furniture in the building meets the Fire Safety Code’s Furniture and Furnishings Regulations.
Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR)
The Electrical Installation Condition Report, aka EICR, is a report that indicates the building’s current electrical safety standards. The parameters for checking will be quite different, depending on the kind of property it is, but the report may have any one or multiple of the following four codes for remedial action recommendations:
- Code 1 (C1) – Dangerous, unsafe, injurious/life threatening electrical safety standards. Remedial steps must be undertaken immediately.
- Code 2 (C2) – Can be dangerous, potentially unsafe. Remedial steps must be taken as soon as possible.
- Further Investigation (FI) – Immediate, further investigation is necessary to determine potential dangers.
- Code 3 (C3) – Remedial actions are not required by law but recommended to improve electrical safety.
No Code indicates that the building’s electrical safety standards are at its highest standard and no further work is necessary. The absence of any code itself on the EICR should act as the building’s certificate of highest electrical safety.