Renfrewshire Council

Electrical safety

You can check what may have caused a power failure in your home, but it is not safe to investigate a power supply, switch, socket, or appliance that is not working.

Electrical faults and repairs

If you're building or street has no electricity

If you have an electricity power failure in your home, check if your neighbours are affected as well. You can also check if the lights or power are working on the stairs or communal areas of your building.

If the power outage affects other people in your building or street, freephone Scottish Power Energy Networks on 105 to report the issue. 

If your home has no electricity

If it's just your property that has no electricity, it's likely the issue is inside your home. 

First, check the main trip switch in your fuse box. The main trip switch controls the power supply to your entire property. Your fuse box is usually located next to your electric meter.

If the main trip switch is down, move it back up to turn the power back on. 

If it trips again and the power goes off, contact us and tell us you have no electricity at all. An electrician will come and investigate the problem.

If it's a faulty socket or appliance

The electrical power failure could be caused by a faulty appliance or socket in your home. 

This can happen when:

• there are too many appliances on a circuit, and it's overloaded
• an appliance is faulty
• water has leaked into a circuit or has spilled onto a plug
• there is faulty or damaged wiring in a socket
• a light bulb has blown.

First, check all the trip switches in your fuse box. The trip switch supplying the faulty appliance or socket can switch off to break the electrical circuit.

If any of them are down, push them to the up position. You may also need turn the main switch off then on again to reset the system.

If it trips again and the power goes off, see if you can identify an appliance causing the fault. Disconnect or unplug the appliances powered by that trip switch and then turn the trip switch back on again.

If this restores the electricity, there may be a problem with one of your appliances. If other appliances work in the same socket, get the appliance checked by a qualified electrician.

If no appliance works in the socket you've identified, contact us and tell us you have no electricity in part of your home. We'll arrange an appointment for an electrician to come and investigate the problem.

If the lighting is not working

If you have no lighting in part of your home, first check if the lightbulb in that part of your house is working, or it needs to be replaced.

If this does not solve the issue, contact us and tell us you have no lighting in part of your home.

If you've run out of credit

If you use a card meter to top up your electricity supply, the power will be cut off if you do not have enough credit on your account. 

Check the balance of your meter, either on the meter box itself or online. If it is too low or zero, you'll you will need to add more credit to reconnect your electricity supply.

Electrical safety checks

We have a legal duty to carry out an electrical safety test in your home every five years. 

This means sending an electrician to your home to carry out a safety inspection. 

We do this for the safety of our tenants and our property; and to fulfil our obligations as your landlord.

Before your electrical safety check

We'll send you a letter around 8 weeks before your electrical safety check is due. 

It's important that you respond to this letter. 

You must contact us to book your appointment.

If you forget to contact us, we'll send you a reminder.

Unsafe electrical systems or appliances are dangerous and can cause death or injury, so it is very important that you allow us to carry out these checks. 

Your electrical safety appointment

As part of your tenancy agreement, you must allow us access to your home so that we can carry out these essential checks. If you do not, we may have to force entry to your property, and you'll have to pay any costs such as repairs to the door.

Contact us if you need to change your appointment.

Before we arrive, make sure 

• the cupboard or area around the fuse box and electricity meter is clear so the electrician can access it 
• all electrical sockets and light switches are accessible.

We'll carry out the inspection in a safe manner and clean switches and surfaces before and after the safety test.

Contact us

Contact us to report an electrical issue, or to book or change your appointment:

• online through the Report a housing repair form
• by phoning us on 0300 300 0300
• by email at repairs@renfrewshire.gov.uk.