Landlords in the UK have an obligation to ensure tenant safety regardless of whether their property is for domestic or commercial use. Tenants need utmost security for their items and lives when renting a property. This requires the landlord to meet regulations pertaining to safety from gas, electrical, fire, and criminal activity. Before letting out your property, here are things landlords do to ensure tenant safety.
Safe electrical installations
Tenants find a property with basic electrical installations including sockets, light fittings, circuits, and switches. However, the landlord should do a routine inspection to ensure that they are working properly. These might become faulty from wear and tear, or poor use. Continuing to use faulty sockets and switches puts the property at risk of a short circuit and electrical shocks. This puts the property at risk of a fire and the tenants’ lives are in danger. The best way to lessen the electrical hazards is by removing non-functional sockets and witches, fixing stray wires, and loose electrical boards.
The best solution is to schedule electrical installation checkup and maintenance. Apart from the basic installations, portable items like heaters, lights, and ceiling fans should also be checked as well. The basic electrical equipment given to tenants should meet standards. The general rule of thumb is a periodic inspection by a certified electrician to guarantee that everything works well. Afterward, an electrical safety certificate is issued as proof that your property is safe from electrical hazards.
Safe gas installation and equipment
Using gas is a cheaper way to cook in the kitchen than using electricity. However, poor maintenance or gas equipment might lead to a carbon monoxide build up. Prolonged use of ineffective gas equipment might cause an explosion that can be fatal. For anyone looking forward to listing his or her property, a gas safety certificate selling house is mandatory. This is issued after all gas related equipment is serviced and verified to be safe. The gas safety certificate is after a technician has checked all the gas installations throughout your property. This is strongly recommended once annually. It involves the gas engineer checking all fittings, flues, and pipes. When everything is discovered to be in order, the safety certificate is issued to give the new occupants peace of mind. For anything that requires attention, the engineer makes a report with recommends afterward.
Fire safety
Homes and working spaces are prone to fire hazards that might cause considerable damage and loss of lives. To guarantee the safety of tenants and their property, landlords should take appropriate steps to lessen the chances of fire hazard. This might require installing smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. These are helpful in noticing that a fire is about to happen and allows everyone to find safety outside. This allows calling assistance from the fire brigade to put out the fire before it causes considerable damage. Lessening chances of fires requires installing fire-resistant fixtures in the property to limit fire from spreading fast to other parts. A good idea is using emulsion paint for being less flammable compared to hessian coverings and wallpapers. An alarm safety certificate is issued as proof that your alarm system meets standards.
Safety from criminal activity
Tenants are at risk of criminal activity. It is the role of the landlord to ensure that the property is safe. A security system is necessary to ensure that the tenants are protected from criminal attacks. Feeling protected will give the tenants peace of mind. The security system can be integrated into a 24/7 monitoring system to monitor things happening on the premises.
The property should have strong doors and windows that cannot be easily broken during forced entry attempts. Unbreakable glass for the windows is a smart idea. Have all the access points to the property fitted with strong doors with smart biometric locks to prevent unauthorised entry. Having these in place will keep your tenants and their items safe from thieves.
In conclusion
Having the above in proper order will keep tenants on your property safe and secure. Fortunately, you can work with a team of engineers offering the gas, fire, and electrical installation backed by appropriate certificates. Make sure that you choose a company with professional and accredited engineers to ensure the best service to meet the required standards.
