A Market Town That Grew Around the Railway
Lektrix Installations Ltd has worked out of 820 Garratt Lane in Tooting since 1957, and Kingston upon Thames is about seven miles down the road. We cover the whole Royal Borough: KT1 and KT2 through the town centre, Canbury and Norbiton; KT3 for New Malden; KT4 around Old Malden; KT5 and KT6 for Surbiton, Berrylands and Tolworth; KT9 for Chessington; and the SW15 pocket at Kingston Vale.
The housing in Kingston follows the railway. The line reached the town in 1863 and developers filled more than 180 acres in Canbury piecemeal, so those streets are a patchwork of Victorian terraces, not one estate. The local type is the semi detached cottage with the front door at the side and the staircase mid plan, almost no straight cable runs, which is what turns a partial rewire into a full one.
The Kingston Bypass opened in 1927 and interwar suburbia followed at Berrylands, Old Malden, Tolworth and outer New Malden, so those semis are on their third generation of wiring. Kingston Hill is different again: villas from the 1840s onwards, many divided into flats, each needing its own consumer unit, sub main and landlord's supply.
Electrical Work in Kingston: Rewires, Consumer Units and Fault Finding
Period stock needs a plan before it needs a price, so we test first and stage the work around you. The council publishes more than twenty five conservation areas across Kingston, so meter boxes, surface conduit and exterior lighting need care before anything is fixed to a front elevation. Our domestic electrical work runs from one faulty circuit to a full rewire.
Work we carry out week in, week out:
- Full and partial rewires
- Consumer unit upgrades to RCBO boards
- Extra sockets and lighting circuits
- Loft and garage conversion circuits
- Interlinked smoke and heat alarms
- Fault finding and repairs
EV Charge Points and Load Assessment
Coombe is the borough's large detached belt: the Coombe Hill, Coombe Warren and Coombe Park private estates, and the houses along George Road and Coombe Hill Road. A charger there usually means a load assessment, an armoured sub main and sometimes a supply upgrade. In the town centre and Canbury, Victorian terraces front straight onto the pavement and off street parking is scarce, so we survey the supply and the cable route before quoting anything. Our EV charge point installation starts with the supply, not the unit.
Landlord Certificates, EICRs and Shared Houses
Every private tenancy across Kingston needs its fixed installation inspected and tested at least every five years, and any C1, C2 or FI code put right within 28 days. The maximum civil penalty rose to £40,000 on 1 November 2025.
Licensing here is mandatory only: the borough wide additional scheme ended on 28 February 2023 and has not been replaced, so a licence is needed where five or more people in two or more households share a kitchen, bathroom or WC. Kingston University had around 18,815 students in 2024/25, taught at Penrhyn Road by the town centre and at Knights Park on Grange Road, with halls at Chancellors', Walkden, Middle Mill, Clayhill and Seething Wells. A shared house that no longer needs a licence still needs the five yearly inspection and working interlinked detection, and where it has common parts it still needs a fire risk assessment.
Commercial, Retail and Mixed Use Premises
Kingston's commercial grain is small unit and old. Historic buildings on Market Place and Old London Road hold restaurants and bars, Clarence Street and Eden Street carry flats and offices above shops, and New Malden High Street is a dense strip of Korean restaurants and supermarkets with people living above. Tolworth Tower still runs to 22 storeys, with offices above the ground floor store.
Commercial services:
- Fixed wire testing and periodic inspection
- Distribution board and sub main work
- Three phase supplies and machine circuits
- Emergency lighting installation and testing
- Fire alarm design and maintenance
- Portable appliance testing
Fire Risk Assessments in Kingston upon Thames
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 puts the duty on the responsible person: the employer in a workplace, otherwise whoever controls the premises in connection with a trade or business. Article 9(1) requires a suitable and sufficient assessment of the fire risks people face. It covers the common parts of blocks of flats and shared houses and all non domestic premises, but not inside a private home.
London Fire Brigade is the enforcing authority for the Fire Safety Order across Kingston, working from stations at 390 Richmond Road, Ewell Road in Surbiton and Burlington Road in New Malden. It is also a statutory responsible authority under the Licensing Act 2003, so pubs and restaurants around Fife Road and Market Place already sit inside a fire safety loop.
Since 1 October 2023 the record has had to be a full one: section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 removed the five employee threshold and deleted the word “significant” from the recording duty. Guidance also requires the record to name whoever carried it out, so we tell you before you book who will attend.
Premises we assess:
- Common parts of purpose built blocks
- Period villas converted into flats
- Licensed and unlicensed shared houses
- Flats and offices above shops
- Shops, restaurants, bars and workshops
- Schools, colleges and places of worship
There is no licence and no protected title for fire risk assessors in England. Article 18(5) of the Order sets an outcome test instead: sufficient training and experience, or knowledge and other qualities, to do the job properly. Certification is voluntary, and fire risk assessment falls under a separate BAFE scheme we do not hold. We say so plainly rather than let a badge talk for us.
Lektrix Installations Ltd is a BAFE Registered Organisation, ID 303447, holding BAFE SP203-1 Fire Detection and Alarm Systems, third party certificated by NICEIC. That registration covers fire detection and alarm systems and nothing else. We carry out fire risk assessments as a competent person under article 18 of the Order, not under a BAFE scheme, and we quote them on their own after a short conversation about the building.
What Happens After the Report
A report that only lists problems leaves you with the next job to organise. The action plan is written against the standard rather than against a product, BS 5839-6 for detection in housing, BS 5266-1 for escape lighting, so you can take it to any installer you like. If you would rather we put it right, that is quoted and invoiced separately from the assessment.
The findings that come up most often:
- Detection below the grade the building needs
- Emergency lighting missing or untested
- Fire doors without strips, seals or self closers
- An expired electrical report, or C1 and C2 codes left open
- No log book and no record of routine testing
- Smoke alarms not interlinked across floors
On detection the benchmark councils work to is the LACORS housing guidance of August 2008: a normal risk shared house of up to four storeys is usually Grade D LD3, and five or six storeys moves up to Grade A LD2. Grade A LD2 is not a national requirement, although many councils write it into licence conditions, and the licence conditions are what bind you.
In blocks of flats, regulation 9 and regulation 10(1) to (3) of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 have applied since 23 January 2023 to any building with two or more sets of domestic premises and common parts used for escape, whatever its height. The fire door check duties in regulation 10(4) to (6) start above 11 metres. Converted offices around Kingston town centre rarely inherit residential compartmentation, so they need an assessment at handover and another once people are living there.
One Visit Instead of Four
Landlords and managing agents often end up with four contractors on four days: one for the assessment, one for the alarm, one for the emergency lighting, one for the electrical report. We can do all four with the same team, and we keep the assessment invoice separate from any remedial work so the two are never bundled. Established in 1957, Lektrix Installations Ltd is run by the third generation of the family, registered at Companies House under number 00595683, and certified by NICEIC under its Approved Contractor Scheme, with NICEIC registration going back to 1962.
Access, Parking and Timing
Norbiton and the hospital streets are the shortest run from Tooting. Clarence Street and Eden Street were pedestrianised after the relief road was finished in 1989, so Kingston town centre jobs need a loading window agreed beforehand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I still need an HMO licence now the borough's additional scheme has ended?
Only if five or more people in two or more households share a kitchen, bathroom or WC. Kingston's additional licensing scheme ended on 28 February 2023 and has not been replaced, and selective licensing has never been introduced. The fire safety duty on the common parts remains.
Which fire and rescue service enforces fire safety law in the Royal Borough?
London Fire Brigade, the enforcing authority for the Fire Safety Order here. Three stations serve the area: Kingston at 390 Richmond Road, Surbiton on Ewell Road, and New Malden on Burlington Road.
Does a flat above a shop on Clarence Street need a fire risk assessment?
The building does, although the inside of a private flat falls outside the Fire Safety Order. It covers the common parts, the escape route, the flat entrance doors, and how the commercial ground floor relates to the sleeping accommodation above, a common Kingston case.
How often does a rented house in Surbiton or New Malden need an EICR?
At least every five years, or sooner if the previous report says so. Give it to a sitting tenant within 28 days, to a new tenant before they move in, and to the council within seven days of a request.
Are you BAFE registered for fire risk assessments?
No, and we will not imply otherwise. Fire risk assessment sits under a separate BAFE scheme we do not hold. We are a BAFE Registered Organisation, ID 303447, under SP203-1 for fire detection and alarm systems. In England the statutory test is competence under article 18(5).
Do I need a fire risk assessment for a Victorian villa converted into flats?
Yes, for the common parts. The villas built from the 1840s onwards along Kingston Hill have been divided into flats in large numbers, and each has a shared entrance hall, a single staircase and a landlord's supply. The freeholder, agent or residents' company is the responsible person.