Keep yourself safe after flooding
If you are affected by flooding, there could be damage to the electrical installation and/or electrical equipment in your property so please be careful when going back into your home.
Although the job of the Fire and Rescue Services is primarily to save lives, they can also assist in any evacuation process and help to limit the amount of damage to property where possible.
Make sure the property is safe before you re-enter and try to avoid direct contact with any water which remains as it may be contaminated.
- Have a torch at hand when entering the property.
- Switch off the electricity supply at the consumer unit/ fusebox, only if it is safe to do so.
- Seek professional advice from a registered electrician if there is any sign of water inside the consumer unit/ fusebox or any signs of arcing or overheating.
- Unplug any damaged electrical appliances and move all portable ones away from the area affected by flooding.
- Avoid using any mains-powered electrical appliances until advised by a registered electrician that it is safe.
- Arrange for other services, such as gas, to be switched off. Electricity and gas supplies should not be turned back on until professional advice says it is safe.
- Keep away from any exposed wiring as it may still be live.
- Do not attempt any electrical repairs or connection of temporary supplies yourself – always use a registered electrician.
Useful contacts
- Floodline: 0845 988 1188 (For England and Scotland)
- England environment-agency.gov.uk
- Scotland sepa.org.uk/flooding
- Wales: 08708 506 506 naturalresources.wales
- Northern Ireland: 028 9054 0540 doeni.gov.uk
- Environment Agency emergency hotline: 0800 80 70 60
- National Flood Forum: 012 9940 3055 nationalfloodforum.org.uk
- Association of British Insurers: 020 7600 3333 abi.org.uk
Repairing flood damaged electrics
- Contact your insurance company (and landlord if you are a tenant) for advice and to get approval to have any repairs carried out by a professional.
- Take photos of the damage and keep records.
- Use a registered electrician to assess the condition and damage to electrical wiring, equipment, and appliances affected by the flood.
- Ask the electrician for an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). This shows the condition of the wiring and equipment in need of repair.
- If the water damage to the electrics is relatively minor and caused by clean water (e.g. a burst water pipe or tank), the electrician may need to just dry out cables and replace any accessories affected by the water such as socket-outlets, switches, and plugs.
- If there is major flood damage to the electrics or the water is contaminated, rewiring is likely.
- It is advisable to ask the electrician if the height of the newly installed electrical equipment (such as the consumer unit and socket-outlets) can be raised above any expected flood level.
- Test appliances. All electrical equipment affected by the flood must be professionally checked and tested to ensure they are still safe.
ALWAYS
- Make sure the property is safe before you re-enter.
- Switch off the electricity supply at the consumer unit/ fusebox if it is safe to do so.
- Unplug any damaged equipment and move to dry areas.
AVOID
- Going near any exposed wiring, it may still be live.
- Carrying out any electrical repairs yourself.
- Using any mains-powered equipment until advised it is safe to do so.
Stay safe with electrical products
Check plugs and sockets
Don't ignore burn marks, ‘arcing’ (buzzing or crackling) sounds, fuses blowing, circuit-breakers tripping, or if it feels hot to touch.
Unplug and contact the retailer, manufacturer, or a qualified repair technician.
Protect with an RCD
An RCD (residual current device) in your consumer unit (fusebox) protects you from electric shocks if a product is faulty.
If you don’t have RCD protection, use an RCD plug on the socket where the product is plugged in.
Fit smoke and heat alarms
Ensure there is at least one smoke or heat alarm per floor in your property. Fit enough alarms to cover all areas where a fire could start.
Test alarms at least once a month. Replace them every ten years or when the replace by date is reached.
Selected FAQs
Answers to commonly-asked questions we receive about electrical safety.
First, you need to find out whether the electrician you used is actually registered. To do this, contact the operator of the scheme they have claimed to be part of, and they will tell you whether this is the case. If they are registered, the scheme operator can guide you through their complaints procedure.
If you find out the electrician misled you and is not registered, you should report this to your local Trading Standards Department as they are breaking the law. We would also recommend that you get an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) carried out on your home; this will assess any work that has been undertaken and will act as sufficient documentation to certify that work. This needs to be carried out by a registered electrician and unfortunately will be an added cost for you.
We recommend that you get at least three quotes from different electricians before you go ahead with any major electrical work in your home. We also advise that you always use a registered electrician as if you’re not happy with their work you can complain to their scheme operator, who will in turn ask them to rectify any mistakes.
When an electrical installation is rewired, it is good practice to remove redundant wiring. If this is not possible, any redundant wiring must be permanently disconnected from any electrical supply so that it doesn’t present a risk.
It depends on its condition rather than its age, if it has been tested and is in good condition and everything is working effectively there is no requirement to rewire. However, you may wish to consider adding RCDs to enhance the safety of the installation.
A qualified electrician will say if your home needs rewiring and what can be achieved within a specific budget.
You can find an electrician local to you here.
Electrical products are recalled more regularly than you might think, but the response rate to a recall is often worryingly low. This means there are potentially millions of recalled electrical items still in UK homes.
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