Vital checks helping to highlight hidden risks
Inspection and testing is an important part of new regulations on short-term accommodation and, as SELECT Member Peter Young discovered, it’s playing a key role in uncovering examples of poor practice
Some landlords are unaware of their inspecting and testing (I&T) obligations when it comes to short-term accommodation. That’s the first thing SELECT Member Peter Young found out when he received a call from the owners of a holiday let on Scotland’s west coast looking for advice.
But there was another surprise to come for Peter – and one which turned a routine enquiry into something much more urgent. He explained: “Unfortunately, they didn’t have a clue about the new regulations. They phoned for advice and I said I’d look at the property.
“A few days before I was due to visit, the woman who manages the changeover of guests sent me a picture showing a concerning sight. It was the burnt switch for an electric shower.
“Looking closely, I saw that someone had wrongly used a wood screw rather than a proper M3.5 screw in the fitting. It had been getting hot and been doing so for a while. I’ve seen this situation before with poor connections – the box has a brass insert that pulls out and people often put a wood screw in rather than replace the circuit protective conductor (cpc) properly. What’s more, since the earth wire was burnt it indicated there was a neutral-earth reverse somewhere.”
A story of neglect emerged when Peter visited the property and found the fitting hanging off the wall.
“It had been like that for some time,” he said. “There was a gap someone could get their fingers in. It needed further inspection, so I put the shower on, attached the clamp meter and it immediately showed 40 amps flowing down the earthing conductor. That confirmed my suspicions.”
And he soon spotted the reverse polarity in the connection. “The date code on the shower was 2013,” said Peter. “It could well be the reverse polarity had been in place for 10 years.
“My immediate concern was that the cable to the shower would be damaged because the 2.5mm2 cpc had been carrying 40 amps. Luckily, there was plenty of cable length in the wall, so I stripped to length and checked it out.
“It all looked good, but to be sure I carried out an insulation resistance check and it passed with flying colours. I put the connections back properly, installed a new switch box, put the shower on and noted there was zero flowing back to earth.”
The haphazard approach to wiring appears to be in line with the property’s own chequered history. Peter said: “Even when it was built 18 years ago, there were reportedly problems with subsidence.
“The original owners got an insurance payout and the insurance company took on the house. It was sold then occupied for around eight years before the present owners came on the scene. On my visit it was clear there hadn’t been any inspection and testing done during its lifetime.”
He suspects the dangerous shower fitting was installed by a DIYer and not a qualified electrician. “During the EICR I spotted a socket-outlet in the kitchen that had simply been extended from the lounge,” he said.
“Nothing was labelled accurately and there was a lot of poor practice on show.”
“someone had wrongly used a wood screw rather than a proper M3.5 screw in the fitting. It had been getting hot and been doing so for a while”
Although Peter said the situation he was faced with is rare in his part of the world – he’s based in Dundonnell in the north-west Highlands – there are examples that give cause for concern. He said: “In this area there are a lot of properties let out for holiday rentals. In my experience 99% of the owners are very responsible and keep up to date with legislation, however, there are the odd one or two that see rules and regulations as a waste of money.”
He described another recent property visit where the I&T on smoke alarms was five years out of date. Peter added: “While the alarms work, the sensors have a finite life. If there’s a fire, and the loss adjuster sees that inspection and testing are not up to date, they will throw out any claim.
“Many of the short-let properties I deal with are large with three or four bedrooms. It’s easy to spend a day there doing the EICR plus any repairs and from some cynical owners’ view, all they get at the end of the process is a piece of paper.
“But as these cases show, it’s vital to carry out inspection and testing. We need to get people into that mindset.” As well as making potential life-saving interventions, Peter has made at least two property owners aware of the need for regular I&T. He’s determined to keep hammering that message home to the people of Ross and Cromarty.
A strong sense of family
Peter Young Engineering is made up of Peter and his son, Sam. Originally from Hertfordshire, Peter moved north in 2000 after holidaying in the Highlands and falling in love with the area. He said: “I’ve been a member of SELECT’s Inverness and North of Scotland Branch for 10 years. I really like the Toolbox Talks and the training is excellent. I try to do one or two courses a year and have just taken the module on EV charging. It’s important to have an organisation like SELECT to protect and enhance the status of the profession.”
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