Health and Safety Advice for Landlords and Letting Agents

Product Safety Guide for Landlords and Letting Agents

Many Regulations which have the force of criminal law impose obligations on Landlords and Letting Agents relating to the safety of products or services supplied to tenants.

Most of the laws covering product safety are derived from the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (CPA) and the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 that state that where goods are ‘supplied’, in the course of a business, to consumers certain safety standards must be met. The following list is not exhaustive.

Upholstered Furniture
Electrical Appliances
Gas Appliances
Oil-fired Boilers
Heaters and Fires

You will be considered a supplier of the goods (including the furniture and equipment) in your accommodation if it is available for use by your tenants. In each case you must ensure that the products are safe to use and are provided with proper instructions for their use.

Products includes electricity.

Product Safety

The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations apply to just about all electrical equipment likely to be present in your accommodation. If you are making that equipment available to tenants then you will be considered to be supplying it.

Electrical equipment which is “supplied” must be safe, including supplied as part of the letting of accommodation.  These items include kettles, toasters, TV’s, table lamps etc.  The Plugs and Sockets (Safety) Regulations 1994 also requires that plugs must comply with BS1363, have sleeved live and neutral pins and be fitted with a correctly rated fuse.

Electricity in the Workplace

Any gas appliances must be installed and maintained in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions.

They must also be maintained and installed by a qualified Gas Safe engineer and inspected at least once per annum.

Gas Safety

Any oil-fired boiler installations must be installed and maintained in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions.

They must also be maintained and installed by an OFTEC registered engineer and inspected at least once per annum. Oil storage tanks must be safe and their location must conform to fire separation requirements.

Oil-Fired Boilers and Oil Storage Tanks

Liquid Petroleum gas (propane or butane) are highly flammable gases sometimes used to power gas hobs in areas where there may not be another gas connection.

LPG should not be used without a specific written risk assessment that covers the installation and maintenance of the appliances and the storage and use of the LPG itself, including a COSSH risk assessment.

COSHH - Liquid Petroleum Gas

The Fire Safety Order 2005 replaces previous fire safety legislation and requires all businesses to conduct a fire risk assessment and to put into place adequate fire prevention and evacuation procedures.

If your premises are an HMO, flat or maisonette they will also be subject to the Housing Act 2004.

Fire Safety Order

The above list is not exhaustive. In particular, you should also consider the water supply.
Help is available from your local authority

We will be happy to help you conduct a full risk assessment of your business: Email the We'll Do It For You Team.

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Quick Guides are not intended to be a full statement of the Law.
For a definition of "Employee" and "Employer"
Contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive under the Open Government Licence