Do It Yourself (DIY)

Electrical Safety in dwellings

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should any electrical repairs, renewals and/or alterations be carried out in the Associations properties other than by a contractor authorised by the Association.

Under new legislation, EVEN small jobs carried out MUST now be undertaken by qualified personnel as detailed below.

Building Regulations Part P

From 1 st January, 2005 any electrical work that involves adding new circuits to dwellings must either be

Completed by a person competent to do the work and be notified to/inspected by the Local Authority Building Control (Isle of Wight Council)
Completed by a Competent Person registered with a Part P self-certification scheme. The Competent Person must then notify the scheme provider.

Small jobs carried out in areas such as kitchens and bathrooms (eg replacing socket-outlets on existing circuits) will also need to be notified to the Local Authority Building Control.

Gas Safety Checks
Gas Safety (installation and use) Regulations 1998

The Association has a legal obligation under the above legislation to ensure that any gas appliance, installation, pipework, or flue installed at any place of work under its control is maintained in a safe condition so as to prevent risk of injury to any person.

Under these Regulations, the Associations duty to maintain and check appliances does not apply to gas appliances owned by the tenant (those appliances which the tenant is entitled to remove from the property), nor to any flues that ONLY serve such appliances. However, Vectis is responsible for maintaining common flues that serve both an appliance owned by the tenant and an appliance owned by the Association.

In order to ensure the Association meets its Health & Safety requirements as set out in the above Regulation, an appointed Contractor is required to undertake a programme of planned maintenance that ensures all appliances are serviced annually and gas pipework is safety checked.

It is ESSENTIAL that the service engineer is provided access to a property to allow the servicing to be completed within the requisite time.

Please ensure that you keep any appointments made to avoid the need for further action to be taken.

Contact the office for further information or to obtain a copy of the Associations Policy

Repairs: 01983 520353
All other enquiries: 01983 525985

enquiries@vectis-housing.demon.co.uk