How to Get Full Marks on a Property Safety Inspection

Whether you are a homeowner or a tenant, staying safe in your own home is naturally going to be at the forefront of your thoughts from day to day. For landlords - and especially managing agents - these thoughts extend to their rental properties too, not least because the law demands that landlords be responsible (within reason) for the general safety of tenants that occupy those properties. Specific rules apply to areas where safety concerns are greatest -- for example gas installations and gas appliances by law must be periodically inspected to ensure their safety. If the property is a Home in Multiple Occupation (HMO) the local council has a right to gain access to the property and perform a safety inspection. If what they find is unacceptable the landlord will be required to make the necessary improvements - or face prosecution. Given the severity of the punishment that may be handed down to landlords who flout the law, it is best to wise-up to what you need to do, and how to get full marks on a property safety inspection, should an inspector call!

Safety focus areas

Property safety inspectors, whether they be from a private firm hired by the landlord to examine the building or from the council for an HMO, will focus their inspection on four key areas:

 - Gas: This is the big one! Gas safety is absolutely critical. If the gas supply to your property is proved to be unsafe, or if gas appliances are not maintained or checked annually, not only could you / your tenants be leaving yourselves open to the real risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, but you could also be opening yourself up the risk of a gas explosion. If you have a periodic maintenance programme in place for all gas appliances in the property, and do all that you are required to do to comply with the annual gas safety check, including providing tenants with a copy of the gas safety certificate, you should have little to worry about.

 - Electricity: The law requires that all electrical equipment and installations in the home are designated as safe for their purpose. The only way to ensure that this is the case in your / your tenant's property is to employ only qualified and competent contractors to work on electrical installations, and to have all portable electrical equipment periodically tested by a Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) firm.

 - Fire Risk, Prevention & Management: House fires are one of the most feared hazards that we have to contend with in our homes.  Regardless of the recently introduced ban on smoking indoors in public buildings, the danger to life and limb from fires remain real in any environment.  Remember that private dwellings that are also used as a workplace fall under the same new regulations - if used by more than one person who doesn't live there. Assessing fire risks and eliminating them is key to lowering our exposure to the risk of fire. Regular appliance checks, good preventative measures, such as not overloading electrical sockets, and good management -- i.e. having fire extinguishers and fire blankets accessible, closing doors and having unhindered access to a fire escape -- can all help to put you in the good books of a property safety inspector!

 - General Property Condition: On a council safety inspection of an HMO, the inspector will want to assess the building's structure and interior to ensure suitability for multiple occupation. State of repair, structural condition, cleanliness, drainage as well as the safety and condition of common access areas (stairs and corridors etc.) will come under scrutiny. So long as overall the property is in a good state of repair and the areas inspected are free from major defects, you shouldn't have a problem here.

Now that you are aware of what the law require of you, change your hat for that of a Property inspector and play out the procedure the yourself.  You will find that having checked off the above items, you will most probably want to consider the following areas that the professional inspector might have overlooked:  Alarms and Security, Doors, Windows, Locks, Flooring, Dampness, Air Conditioning, Vents, Roofs, Gutters, Trees, Insurance, and Subsidence -  the list is far from being exhaustive; if you follow theis column every week, it is safe to assume that you will have covered all your bases. 

Of course, worrying about so many things could bring on insomnia or worse, cause you nightmares - therefore it is advisable to take on two or three items at a time and work your way through the list.  You will find that when you have to do it next year it will come naturally and with far less hassle.  Remember that a stitch in time saves a dime...