An electrical fault in a rented property can become stressful very quickly. Tenants want to know whether the property is safe and who to contact, while landlords and letting agents need to understand whether the issue requires an urgent call-out, follow-up repairs or further electrical inspection.
If there are signs of immediate danger — such as burning smells, visible arcing, exposed live parts, smoke, fire or water affecting electrical equipment — the priority is safety. Do not attempt a DIY repair. If there is a fire or an immediate threat to life, leave the property and call the emergency services.
BKA Electrical provides emergency electrical call-outs in Brighton and works with homeowners, landlords, tenants and property professionals across Brighton & Hove. This guide explains what tenants and landlords should do when an electrical emergency happens in a rented home, and where an EICR fits into the process.
What Counts as an Electrical Emergency in a Rented Property?
Not every electrical fault requires an out-of-hours emergency visit, but some problems should not be left without professional advice. Examples include:
- a burning smell from a socket, switch, consumer unit or fixed appliance
- sparking, crackling, scorching or visible heat damage
- exposed or damaged wiring
- water leaking through a light fitting or reaching electrical equipment
- repeated tripping where the cause cannot be safely identified
- a sudden loss of essential power that is not part of a wider network outage
- an electrical shock or tingling sensation from fixed equipment
If you are unsure whether the situation is urgent, avoid touching damaged equipment and get professional advice. Our existing guide on when to call an emergency electrician covers the most common warning signs in more detail.
What Should a Tenant Do First?
The first step is to report the fault to the landlord or letting agent as soon as possible. Brighton & Hove City Council advises private tenants to seek help where serious disrepair is not being dealt with, and landlords have a responsibility to keep rented homes safe and free from hazards.
If it is safe to do so, you can switch off the affected circuit or the main switch at the consumer unit. Do not remove socket fronts, open the consumer unit, dismantle fittings or touch anything affected by water.
If the problem involves smoke, fire or an immediate danger to life, leave the property and call 999. An electrician should only attend once it is safe to do so.
Electrical Safety First advises tenants to raise electrical problems with their landlord as soon as they appear and not to carry out their own electrical repairs. Their electrical safety advice for tenants explains these responsibilities in more detail. If a privately rented home is in disrepair and the landlord is not fixing it, Brighton & Hove City Council also provides a route for private tenants to request help.
What Should a Landlord or Letting Agent Do?
When a tenant reports a potentially dangerous electrical fault, the first question should be whether the property needs to be made safe urgently.
An emergency electrician may need to attend to identify the fault, isolate an unsafe circuit, replace a failed accessory or restore safe power. In some cases the immediate visit resolves the fault completely. In others, the electrician may make the installation safe and recommend further remedial work.
Good communication is important. The tenant should know which circuits or equipment are safe to use, whether anything has been isolated, and what follow-up work is required.
Landlords in England are required to make sure the electrical system in a rented property is safe. Current government electrical safety guidance for rented homes requires electrical installations to be inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years, with the report supplied to the tenant.
Is an Emergency Call-Out the Same as an EICR?
No. This is an important distinction.
An emergency call-out is focused on the immediate fault: identifying the cause, removing any immediate danger and restoring the installation to a safe condition where possible.
An EICR for a Brighton rental property is a broader periodic inspection of the fixed electrical installation. It assesses the condition of the installation as a whole and records observations and test results.
A landlord should not wait for the next scheduled EICR if a tenant reports an urgent electrical danger. Equally, an emergency repair does not automatically replace the need for a periodic EICR when one is due.
Does Every Electrical Emergency Mean a New EICR Is Needed?
No. A new EICR is not automatically required every time a socket fails, a circuit trips or an accessory needs replacing.
The electrician may carry out fault finding, appropriate testing and any necessary remedial work without carrying out a full periodic inspection of the whole installation.
However, a wider inspection may be sensible if the fault raises concerns about the overall condition of the installation, if there are several unexplained problems, if previous electrical work is questionable, or if the existing EICR is due or unavailable.
If an EICR has already been carried out and the report is unsatisfactory, our guide to unsatisfactory EICRs in Brighton explains what the observations mean and what happens next.
What Happens During an Emergency Electrical Visit?
The exact process depends on the fault, but an electrician will normally begin by establishing what happened, when the problem started and which circuits or equipment are affected.
Testing can then be used to narrow down the problem. Where necessary, the unsafe part of the installation may be isolated so the rest of the property can remain safe to use.
Some faults can be repaired immediately. Others may require specialist parts, access to another area of the building or more extensive remedial work. The priority of an emergency call-out is always to remove immediate danger and leave clear instructions about what can and cannot be used.
A recent example on our site is an emergency electrical fault in Queens Park, Brighton, where testing was used to identify the cause of a circuit that would not reset.
Electrical Emergencies in Flats and Converted Properties
Brighton has many flats, converted houses and shared buildings. Electrical faults in these properties can sometimes be more complicated because the problem may involve an individual flat, communal areas or equipment serving more than one part of the building.
Tenants should avoid assuming that a fault belongs to their own installation or trying to investigate communal electrical equipment themselves. The landlord, managing agent or freeholder may need to coordinate access depending on where the problem is located.
If only your property has lost power while neighbouring homes still have electricity, our guide on what to do when your house has no power but neighbours do explains some safe initial checks.
What Are a Landlord’s EICR Responsibilities?
Under current rules in England, landlords must ensure the electrical installation is inspected and tested by a qualified person at intervals of no more than five years, unless an earlier date is specified on the report. They must provide the report to tenants and carry out required remedial or further investigative work within the required period.
Where an EICR identifies C1, C2 or FI observations, remedial or investigative work is required. Government guidance says this must normally be completed within 28 days, or sooner if the report specifies a shorter period.
Brighton & Hove City Council’s electrical safety guidance for landlords also states that rented properties must have their electrical installations inspected and tested at least every five years.
You can also read our guide explaining C1, C2, C3 and FI EICR codes.
What If the Landlord Does Not Deal With the Electrical Problem?
Private tenants should keep a record of when the fault was reported and any communication with the landlord or letting agent.
Brighton & Hove City Council says private tenants can ask the council for help where a rented home is in disrepair and the landlord is not fixing it. The council also provides advice for tenants concerned about health and safety conditions.
This does not mean every minor electrical issue becomes a council enforcement matter, but serious electrical hazards should not simply be ignored.
Emergency Repair First, Compliance Follow-Up Second
For landlords and letting agents, it helps to separate the two jobs:
- Immediate safety: deal with the electrical fault and make the property safe.
- Follow-up: complete any necessary repairs, certification or further inspection.
If the existing periodic inspection is due, or the fault suggests wider concerns about the installation, a full EICR may be the appropriate next step. If the EICR is already current, the electrician can advise whether fault-specific remedial work is sufficient.
BKA Electrical provides emergency electrician services in Brighton, electrical fault finding and landlord EICRs in Brighton & Hove. We are NAPIT registered and regularly work with landlords, homeowners and property professionals across the city.