Electrical gas and water safety

Gas Safety

What are our responsibilities as landlord?

We need to carry out an annual service of your boiler, check your pipework and any gas appliances provided by Origin in your home. We will also ensure smoke, and carbon monoxide, detectors are fitted in your home and working correctly. This inspection will take approximately 45 minutes each year.

What’s involved?

During an inspection, we will:

Check all gas appliances, boilers, flues, pipework, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
Do a visual inspection of any gas cookers
Show you where the gas meter is and how to turn off the gas in an emergency
Record the safety checks we make and give you a copy
What we need you to do to ensure your home is as safe as possible
Check that you have credit on your gas and electric meter before our safety inspection
Do not use bottled gas (LPG) appliances or store gas bottles in your home at any time
Always ask permission before installing any new gas appliances and ensure you use a ‘Gas Safe’ registered business.
If you have a gas cooker or gas fire you should always arrange for regular servicing and maintenance using a registered gas safe contractor, as we will only carry out a visual inspection.

If you smell gas or suspect there may be a gas leak: call the National Grid Gas Emergency freephone number immediately on 0800 111 999. Once you have reported it to the National Grid, please let us know.

Useful tips and information

Never use a gas appliance if you think it is not working properly – warning signs can include yellow or orange flames (except fuel effect fires). A functioning appliance will produce a crisp blue flame
Never cover an appliance or block convection air vents
Never block or obstruct fixed ventilation grilles or air bricks
Never block or cover outside flues (where a boiler releases steam)
Please make sure anyone carrying out work on gas appliances or fittings is both competent and registered with Gas Safe. If you are in any doubt you can quickly check registration on the gas safe website - www.gassaferegister.co.uk

Useful contacts

Gas Emergency Freephone Number: 0800 111 999
HSE Gas Safety Advice Line: 0800 300 363
www.hse.gov.uk
www.gassaferegister.co.uk

Electrical Safety

What do we need to do?

We need to ensure that all of the electrics in the homes we own and manage are as safe as possible. Safe use of electrical equipment and ensuring all electrics are installed correctly is an important part of building safety and preventing fires.

We will check the electrics in our communal areas at least every five years to make sure they are safe and working properly. We also ensure any electrical work we complete is carried out by a competent professional contractor.

For any fixed wiring installations and equipment owned by Origin Housing, we will carry out testing and routine maintenance repairs. If we come across any installations where improvements could be made, we will either rewire or upgrade the installation to ensure it’s as safe as possible.

What’s involved?

We will test and inspect any fixed electrical installations in your home. This can include wiring, fuse boxes/RCD units, plug sockets, light fittings, electrical showers, extractor fans and more.

The electrician can make safe any immediate hazards before they leave your home.

The electrician will not check the safety of your personally owned appliances like TVs, white goods, kettles, toasters etc.

What we need you to do to ensure your electrics are as safe as possible

Ensure the electrical cupboard is clear to allow access for testing
Ensure that your own electrical appliances, light fittings, switches etc. are installed by a competent person and are kept in a safe condition
Carry out regular visual inspections of your electrical appliances.

Do and Don’ts

Please ensure any electrical equipment used outdoors is suitable for outdoor use.
Check the condition of any extension leads and chargers and do not overload them as this can create the risk of fire.
Please don’t bring mains-powered appliances into the bathroom. This includes things like hairdryers, heaters and radios
Don’t overload electrical sockets or extension leads
Always use a charger that is designed to be used with the product you are charging. This is very important when charging things like e-scooters and/or e-bikes.
Do not leave your mobile phone charging on your bed whilst you sleep

Please don’t drill holes or fix nails in walls or partitions without knowing what is hidden behind them. There could be electrical cables you aren’t aware of that you could damage.

Useful websites

Register your appliances for important safety updates, recalls and information at:
Home - Register My Appliance
Electrical Safety First - The UK's Electrical Safety Experts

Contact your local council for advice on disposing of electrical items:

What else can I recycle? - Camden Council
Recycling, waste and environment | Hertfordshire County Council

Water Safety

Domestic hot and cold water systems can provide an environment where legionella bacteria may grow. This can cause ‘Legionnaires’ Disease’ - a potentially serious form of pneumonia, together with other less severe health conditions. The bacteria is found in the natural environment but can be found in artificial water systems too, such as storage tanks, pipework, taps and showers. It’s normally found in bigger systems rather than ones for individual homes

By doing a few simple things, the risk is extremely low.

If you have been away from your home for more than two weeks:

Run the hot water tap for a minimum of 60 seconds
Remove the showerhead and run water for at least 10 minutes
Flush the toilet with the lid down twice to circulate fresh water
Clean showerheads every three to six months

On a monthly basis, please run your hot and cold taps, and within two minutes:

The water from your hot tap should reach 50 degrees
The water from your cold tap should remain at 20 degrees or under
If you have a mixer tap please check the hot temperature with the tap running on hot only and the cold temperature with the tap running on cold only

If you have a hot water cylinder the thermostat on the cylinder should be set to 60 degrees.

If the temperature is not sufficient, please contact us as soon as possible.

Useful websites

Asthma + Lung UK (asthmaandlung.org.uk)
HSE - What is Legionnaires' disease?
Legionnaires' disease - NHS (www.nhs.uk)