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Cooper80023  
#1 Posted : 05 November 2009 15:17:40(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Cooper80023

Can anyone help. Who is responsible for carrying out the periodic elec inspection if there is a teneant(multiple)/landlord situation, is each tenant reponsible for their own wiring or is the landlord responsible for everyone's and must have this carried out. Thanks
Clairel  
#2 Posted : 05 November 2009 16:04:17(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Clairel

Depends on the tenant contract.
MarkFarrell  
#3 Posted : 05 November 2009 16:28:08(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
MarkFarrell

HSW duties are on the employer/and person in control of premises. In practice this means the landlord. Maintenance can be included in lease but this would make the landlord vulnerable as the duty cannot be passed on via a lease. So, if the tenant agrees to do it but forgets, the buck stops with the landlord.
Cooper80023  
#4 Posted : 05 November 2009 16:53:05(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Cooper80023

Thanks for your help with this
Cooper80023  
#5 Posted : 05 November 2009 17:03:06(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Cooper80023

Farrel, just as a matter of interest do you have the definition of "person in control of premises"
David Bannister  
#6 Posted : 05 November 2009 17:14:17(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
David Bannister

I'm with Clairel on this one. In very many instances the employer (tenant) has control over their own electrical system and would have responsibility for ensuring that their portion of the entire system remains safe. Conversely, the client with whom I was working today had no responsibility under their lease for the mains electrical system and any work needed was done by the landlord.
Cooper80023  
#7 Posted : 05 November 2009 17:17:22(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Cooper80023

Stuff, this makes sense to me and was my initial thought, although now i am slightly confused becasue Farrel's response says that "this duty cannot be passed on via a lease". Any thoughts?
knight998  
#8 Posted : 05 November 2009 17:33:29(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
knight998

Is this a business tenancy or a person tenancy. We have just done our 5yr periodic as this is stipulation of our business insurance and is our responsibilty for maintenance and repair as per the tenant agreement. In the circumstance of a private peron as the tenant in a group of flat say it would surley be the landlords responsibilty the same as for Gas checks etc. Group use in Business becomes everyones responsibilty and I would imagine most business insurance would have some sort of stipulation about this. thus would be in everyones interest. I would say look at your agreement.
David Bannister  
#9 Posted : 05 November 2009 17:39:17(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
David Bannister

Cooper80023, a lease is a legally binding agreement that may specify, amongst other things, who has repairing responsibility. If the landlord's part of the premises is faulty then liability for that failure cannot be passed over but if a commercial tenant accepts legal responsibility for their own portion then they also accept responsibility for discharging their legal duties and the consequences of failures.
Canopener  
#10 Posted : 05 November 2009 18:52:15(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Canopener

As Claire has said, it will depend on the contract or heads of terms etc and in many cases those themself will often depend on the size of the building and how the electrical installation is 'structured'. We have a couple of 'business centres' in 'multiple occupation' and our contract is that 'we' as the landlord are responsible for the installation. In our case we feel that this is the most practical, pragmatic approach that will ensure that the overall 'safety aim' is achieved.
MarkFarrell  
#11 Posted : 06 November 2009 09:10:58(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
MarkFarrell

Cooper. The phrase is from HSW Article 6(2) (here in N Ireland) cf HSW Act Section 4(2). Terms not specifically defined in Act, so, apply common dictionary meaning.
Clairel  
#12 Posted : 06 November 2009 09:33:56(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Clairel

MFarrell, the duty is on whoever has control of the building and that does not necessarily mean the landlord, it can mean the tenant, depending on the contract. That is the same for all aspects of building maintenance and repair etc.
MarkFarrell  
#13 Posted : 06 November 2009 10:25:51(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
MarkFarrell

Clairel. I dont agree. HSW duties cannot be passed on by contract. So, a landlord (or whoever is in control of premises) cannot rely on a tenant (or anyone else) to discharge his/her duty.
Clairel  
#14 Posted : 06 November 2009 10:37:47(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Clairel

Well we shall have to disagree then.
Cooper80023  
#15 Posted : 06 November 2009 13:20:06(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Cooper80023

Knight. This is all business tenancy. There is a landlord and 5 seperate businesses within the premises. I will get them to have a look at their lease and see what comes back.
Canopener  
#16 Posted : 06 November 2009 13:44:44(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Canopener

In general I would agree that you can't vary a statutory duty by contract, although contracts can and are used to help 'clarify' or agree the assignment duties to different parties. A classic example of where this happens is the employment of agency workers, and much the same does often apply to landlord/tenant/employer relationships as well. What is interesting in this thread is that no one has identified what statutory duties they think exist in respect of the question asked. I would say that there are a number, and that some are duties owed by employers and some by 'those in control of premises' or 'occupiers'. I am sure that may not be seen by some as being very helpful!
Jim Tassell  
#17 Posted : 09 November 2009 17:32:07(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Jim Tassell

Did I miss it or has someone suggested what I thought was a well-established rule of thumb: tenant downstream of meter, landlord upstream?
firesafety101  
#18 Posted : 09 November 2009 23:05:57(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
firesafety101

I'm not sue if I know the answer to this one but do find it interesting that the answer is hard to determne. I believe that it is the person in control of the premises that the electrical equipment is in, is this not the same person that is responsible for the fire risk assessment?
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