Tenants may encounter a number of boiler and electrical faults, many do not know what to do. Becoming familiar with these issues can help understand how to solve the problems.
Leaking is a fault that requires an engineer. The tenant should inform their landlord of the problem, in order for a professional to investigate and repair.
Leaking of the boiler is usually caused by a broken internal component such as a pressure valve or pump seal. Pressure valves may break from high boiler pressure, whilst pump seals break when they are worn.
Leaking can also occur around the pipes or the tank which strongly suggest corrosion. Another reason could be poor installation.
The pilot light is found in older boilers, which causes the boiler to fail when starting up. This means there will be no hot water or heat in the house.
The tenant should inform the landlord when a boiler pilot light goes off and fails to start. Tenants should not try and fix this problem themselves.
A boiler could be heating water but failing to heat the home, due to a broken diaphragm and airlocks. This could also be caused by the boiler pressure dropping too low or the wrong thermostat levels being set.
This is another fault that can also cause the boiler to heat water but fail to heat the home.
A tenant is required to notify the landlord on these issues, in order to have a professional carry out any repairs that are needed.
Condensing boilers with a condensate pipe that drains the acidic water away from the unit, are prone to freezing. A boiler may fail to work if the condensate pipe freezes. You will require an experienced tradesman to assist you with the thawing of a frozen condensate pipe.
Here are some common electrical faults.
• Faulty electrical wiring
• Unsteady currents that causes flickering in appliances and devices plugged in
• Frayed and naked wires
• Loose power sockets installed incorrectly to the wall
• Broken power socket covers, with exposed wiring
• Sparking from power sockets when appliances are plugged in
• Faulty fuse box that continuously causes tripping within the circuit
• Faulty light switches
If you experience any of the electrical faults above, you should notify your landlord immediately. The landlord has the responsibility to repair these and other electrical faults. The boiler is also amongst the electrical equipment owned by the landlord, that should be serviced by them.
At Tenant Rescue, we help tenants understand their landlords' obligations when it comes to boiler and electrical faults. Please understand that The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 stipulates that the Landlord is responsible for the servicing of a boiler in order to keep it working efficiently. The same law states that the landlord should have electricity, water, gas and sanitisation systems supplied, via working order installations.
Also according to the law, the landlords are entirely responsible for the repair as well as maintenance of the electricity supply to their rented properties.
Do not fail to inform your landlord of a faulty boiler. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act (1985) having no heating or hot water is an emergency. This is a hazard that should be checked and fixed within 24 hours.
Our solicitors are here to help if your landlord neglects their responsibility of providing hot water, heating, gas, electricity and sanitisation systems.
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