Electrical And Fire Safety Work Across The London Borough Of Sutton
Lektrix Installations Ltd has worked out of 820 Garratt Lane in Tooting since 1957, company number 00595683 at Companies House, and we have been NICEIC registered since 1962, certified under its Approved Contractor Scheme and its Domestic Installer Scheme.
The road outside the workshop is the A217. It runs through Mitcham, crosses the Wandle at Bishopsford Road, cuts across the St Helier Estate and reaches Rosehill, with Sutton town centre about seven miles down it.
The postcode districts set out the ground. SM1 is the town centre, Benhilton and the Garden Suburb; SM2 the villa belt at Sutton South, with Belmont and South Cheam; SM3 Cheam village, North Cheam and Stonecot Hill. SM5 covers Carshalton, Carshalton Beeches and The Wrythe, and SM6 Wallington, Beddington, Roundshaw and Hackbridge.
The council is the London Borough of Sutton, at the Civic Offices on St Nicholas Way, SM1 1EA. Fire safety enforcement sits with the London Fire Brigade, whose two stations here are on St Dunstans Hill, SM1 2JX, and Belmont Road in Wallington, SM6 8TE.
Sutton's housing is unusually wide in age. This was a village until the railway arrived in 1847, and piped water came only with the water company of 1863, so the oldest terraces sit tightly around the station. Beyond them are Edwardian villas, the London County Council cottage estate at St Helier built between 1928 and 1936, mile after mile of 1930s semis, the low-rise brick housing that replaced Roundshaw's concrete flats, and new flats at Hackbridge.
Rewires, Consumer Units And Fault Finding
Sutton's late-Victorian and Edwardian houses on Cedar Road, Mulgrave Road and in the Landseer Road Conservation Area are the classic full rewire: solid brick, no cavity, lath and plaster, and decades of extensions layered over the original chases.
Ex-council houses at St Helier, The Wrythe and Rosehill are a different job. Most have had two rewires already, and need a metal-clad consumer unit with RCBO protection and proper bonding rather than a strip-out.
EICRs And Landlord Certificates
Every private tenancy in England needs its fixed wiring inspected and tested at least every five years, and it is the job we do most often for landlords in Sutton. We are certified by NICEIC to carry out Electrical Installation Condition Reports, often called landlord electrical safety certificates.
Our page on landlord compliance sets the wiring, the alarms and the records side by side.
Fire Detection And Alarm Systems
Lektrix Installations Ltd is a BAFE Registered Organisation, ID 303447, holding BAFE SP203-1 Fire Detection and Alarm Systems for design, installation, commissioning and maintenance, third-party certificated by NICEIC.
That runs from interlinked Grade D1 alarms in a shared house to a panel-based Grade A system where the building and the licence conditions call for one. The grade and category are specified to BS 5839-6, not to a product.
Testing And Inspection For Commercial Premises
Sutton's commercial work sits in two belts: Kimpton Park Way and Minden Road in SM3, with the trade counters of Oldfields Road immediately east in SM1, and the Beddington Lane industrial area in SM6.
Our testing and inspection page covers fixed wire testing, emergency lighting and portable appliance testing.
Fire Risk Assessments
Since 1 October 2023 the responsible person has had to record the assessment in full and name whoever carried it out. That covers the shared areas of converted houses and blocks of flats, and commercial premises of any size.
It is a separate service from our BAFE-registered alarm work, and we set out below exactly where our certification stops. Our fire risk assessments page explains what we assess and what we refer on.
EV Charge Point Installation
Sutton is outer London, and street after street of 1930s semis with driveways or side access makes this straightforward ground for a home charge point on a dedicated 32A radial. Where there is no off-street parking we will say so rather than fit a unit that cannot be used safely.
Licensed Shared Houses And Converted Flats
Mandatory HMO licensing has applied borough-wide for years: five or more people in two or more households, sharing facilities. The council then approved a borough-wide additional scheme on 25 November 2025, in force from 22 March 2026 and running five years to 22 March 2031. It catches houses shared by three or four people who are not one household.
Mandatory licensing covers roughly 210 properties. The council's estimate is that the additional scheme brings in around 690 more, four times as many licensable houses, owned in the main by people who have never held a licence. There is no selective licensing scheme in Sutton for ordinary single-family lets.
Most of it lands on one kind of house. The big Edwardian properties around Sutton South, Benhilton and the Cheam Road end were carved into flats and bedsits piecemeal: three storeys, one staircase, no protected route, original doors nowhere near FD30, and wiring nobody wrote down. Converted blocks of flats may also be caught, so check the council's current guidance first.
What a licensed shared house is commonly asked for, depending on its size, layout and licence conditions:
- Electrical Installation Condition Report
- Consumer unit upgrade with RCBO protection
- Landlord's supply separated from the flats
- Interlinked smoke and heat detection
- Fire alarm design, installation and commissioning
- Emergency lighting where the escape route needs it
- Portable appliance testing for supplied appliances
- Fire risk assessment of the shared areas
All of it is work we carry out ourselves: one firm, one visit where the job allows, and certificates that read together when a Sutton licensing officer sees them.
Conservation Areas And Period Property
Four conservation areas cover Sutton town centre and its edges: the High Street Crossroads area, Landseer Road, the Garden Suburb at Benhilton and the Grove Avenue estate between Grove Road and Cheam Road. Carshalton Village and Cheam Village have their own.
High Street Crossroads was designated on 9 May 2011 and runs from the station to Trinity Square, taking in part of Grove Road with its late-Victorian masonic hall and the Edwardian police station on Carshalton Road. Landseer Road, designated in 1992, is nine hectares and 138 Edwardian houses.
None of that stops the work; it changes how it is done: surface conduit where chasing would be wrong, cable routed through voids rather than original plaster, and listed building consent raised before anyone lifts a floorboard.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the new licensing scheme mean my shared house needs a fire risk assessment?
The shared areas of a house in multiple occupation come under the Fire Safety Order whether the house is licensed or not. What the additional scheme changes is that an in-date electrical report and evidence of suitable detection now form part of the paperwork Sutton Council wants to see.
Do you cover flats above shops?
Yes. Sutton High Street, Cheam Broadway, Woodcote Road and Central Road all carry flats over shops with a shared staircase, where the responsible person is often the shop's landlord rather than the occupier.
How often does a landlord need an EICR?
At least every five years on a private tenancy, or sooner if the report says so. The council can ask for a copy within seven days of a request, and the maximum penalty for breaching the electrical safety regulations rose to £40,000 on 1 November 2025.
What grade of fire alarm does a three-storey shared house need?
It depends on layout, use and the licence conditions, not on a rule of thumb. The LACORS guidance councils work to recommends Grade D interlinked alarms covering the escape route and the high-risk rooms in a normal-risk shared house of up to four storeys. A panel-based Grade A system is the benchmark for taller houses and for bedsit conversions of three storeys and above.
Does my shared house need emergency lighting?
Not always. The LACORS benchmark is that ordinary lighting is usually enough in a two-storey house. At three or four storeys escape lighting may be needed where the route is long or complicated, and at five or six storeys it is recommended in every case.
Can I carry out my own fire risk assessment?
Legally, yes. England has no licence, no protected title and no mandatory register for fire risk assessors. Article 18(5) of the Fire Safety Order sets an outcome test: sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities. On a converted house with one staircase, that is rarely the owner.
How do I know the assessor is competent?
Ask, and write the answer down. Since 1 October 2023 the recorded assessment has had to name whoever carried it out. We tell you who is attending and what their training and experience is before you book. Third-party certification for assessors is a separate voluntary scheme we do not hold.
Can I have an EV charger fitted without a driveway?
Not at the kerb: trailing a cable across a public footway is not something we will install. Sutton Council has 115 lamp-column charge points funded through London Councils' Go Ultra Low City Scheme, plus Source London points in six council car parks.
The Honest Position On Competence
Fire safety law in England is less prescriptive than most people expect. Article 9 of the Fire Safety Order requires the responsible person to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk, and article 18(5) defines competence as sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities. That is the whole of the statutory test.
What changed on 1 October 2023 is recording. The assessment must be written down in full and the record has to name who carried it out. Third-party certification for fire risk assessors is a separate voluntary scheme and not one we hold. Our BAFE registration covers fire detection and alarm systems only, and we would rather say so than blur the two.
What Happens After The Report
Most assessments stop at the report. The action plan on a converted house in Sutton is nearly always the same list: detection below the grade the building needs, escape lighting that will not run the three hours sleeping accommodation calls for, fire doors without strips or self-closers, and an expired condition report.
Apart from the joinery, that is all electrical work we do ourselves. The assessment is invoiced separately and written to the British Standard categories rather than to a product, so you can take it to any installer.