Are you a health and safety compliant landlord?

As a landlord there are a number of responsibilities that you must ensure that you are compliant with when it comes to health and safety aspects of your leased property.

Failure to comply with them could result in serious issues for you as a landlord with penalties including hefty fines and potentially some jail sentences.

We've put together this handy list of health and safety areas that you must comply with if you are a landlord.

If you're worried  that you may not be compliant with some of these then you need to come to one of our free landlord open days at either Aberdeen, Glasgow or Perth. Find out more here.

Smoke Alarms

All properties must be fitted with mains wired and interlinked smoke alarms. The number and position of alarms will depend on the and layout of the house but generally there must be at least:

- One smoke alarm in the room that is frequently used by the occupants for general daytime living purposes.

- One smoke alarm in every circulation space, such as hallways and landings. It is important to note that longer hallways will require more than one detector and there must be at least one alarm on each floor.

- One heat alarm in every kitchen.

Rooms with open fires will require multi fuel detectors and open plan living/kitchens require to be fitted with a heat detector.

Electrical Safety

Introduced in 2014, the Housing (Scotland) Act requires that all landlords must carry out a fixed wiring Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) every five years.

Portable Appliances Tests (PAT) on electrical items belonging to the landlord must also be checked regularly for safety. At Aberdein Considine we arrange and carry out these tests annually.

Gas Safety

All gas installations and applicances require to be checked on an annual basis by a 'Gas Safe' engineer.

Carbon Monoxide Alarms

All landlords must have carbon monoxide detectors fitted in their properties as it is a requirement of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014.

A long life battery or mains powered detector must be fitted in any space which contains a carbon based fuel appliance. There should also be one in any bedroom or living room which is bypassed by a flue.

Legionnaires' Disease

Landlords have a legal duty to ensure that the risk of exposure of tenants to Legionnaires' Disease is properly assessed and controlled.  A risk assessment should be carried out and regularly reviewed and control measures should be implemented.

Our landlord clients rest safe in the knowledge that we will always ensure they are compliant with what is a complex set of regulatory and legal obligations. Our professional team are on hand to advise on all of these areas should you have any queries.