Prior to sale or leasing of a residential property, the owner must ensure compliance with current regulations. Smoke alarms and RCD’s must be checked, and an Electrical Safety Certificate (commonly referred to as an ESC) must be issued by an Electrical Contractor. Always Electrical is able to do an electrical inspection and relevant tests to ensure compliance, and if necessary do the relevant upgrades or installations to bring up to current requirements.
During this inspection our Electrical Tradesman will ensure that there is the correct amount of smoke alarms for the dwelling, making sure they are in date and are in working order. While there are a number of factors that determine the required number of smoke alarms, the fundamental rule is that if all bedrooms are off of one hallway then only 1 hardwired smoke alarm is required. However, if there is a separate bedroom in another area of the house, another smoke detector will be needed in that area as well. In addition to this, if it is a double storey house, there will need to be one smoke alarm on each level of the home.
Our tradesmen will also ensure that there are minimum of 2 RCDs installed in your homes switchboard to protect all power and lighting circuits, as per government requirement for sales or rental properties. RCDs are used to protect circuits in case of an electrical or appliance fault. Having this safety item installed means that you are protected if a fault or electrical hazard occurs. These devices provide a quick power trip to defend you from harm if an electrical fault is detected.
RCD Safety Switches are imperative to ensure you are safe in case of fault, which means it is so important to check and test your RCDs regularly. Each RCD is fitted with a test button, it is recommended that you press this button every 3 months to ensure the RCD trips your power. If it cuts off power to the circuits through the test simulation you can be reassured that the safety switch is in good working order. To restore power, all you have to do is flip the switch of the tripped RCD back on. However, if by pressing the test button the power is not cut-off, we recommend you call Always Electrical to attend to your home, as this indicates that your RCD is faulty.