Posted By Joe Ridley I hope you can help me out here. I am trying to establish responsibility with the duty to carry out electrical installation checks. At the moment the company I work for, Renfrewshire Leisure Ltd, manages and operates nine sports and leisure centres on behalf of the local authority. Included in the these centres are swimming pools and dry centres. Recent changes in building regs and inspection and testing of electrical installations have required us to carry out these checks. But should we be doing them and carrying the cost? The company has been set as a Leisure Trust to manage the facilities, but someone was telling me that the Council as landlords are liable for the costs of these checks, is this the case? Can anyone out there help with this?. Thanks Joe

Posted By Glyn Atkinson The small print within the contract detailed wording will either state, or not state, the level of work and hence the testing that is required. I would think that if the specific requirements to pay for required statutory testing of electrical equipment were not written into this document as a formal requirement then both sides need to negotiate on how the wording should be, including cost responsibility. This is one for those lovely solicitors to fight over and rule on - and I bet someone will definitely pay for THEIR services in a watertight agreement. Moral - check ALL paperwork relating to contract requirements very carefully, especially in grey local authority contracts - never assume, have details in black and white and agreed before signing by both parties.