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Electricians for block and estate managers.
Communal lighting, the landlord supply, door entry, emergency lighting and fire alarms, all from one team, with reports you can forward to the board. We find the cause of the fault that keeps coming back.
Managing a block means taking the calls when the stairwell lights stay on all night, the door entry stops working for one flat, or the emergency lights fail their test again. We are the electrical contractor behind managing agents, housing providers and residents’ management companies: one team for the landlord supply, communal lighting, door entry, emergency lighting and fire alarms, with written reports you can pass straight to the board, the freeholder or the insurer.
The faults that keep coming back
Repeat faults in blocks are rarely bad luck. There is usually one root cause that nobody has had the time to trace. These are the ones we are asked about most.
| The fault | What usually causes it | Where we start |
|---|---|---|
| Communal lights on all night or all day | A sensor set wrong or failing, a dirty or covered photocell, a timer that lost its time in a power cut or the clock change, or sensors reacting to something else in the building | Find out exactly what controls each lighting circuit, then test every sensor and timer on it |
| The landlord supply keeps tripping | Water getting into outside lights or sockets, one faulty circuit taking a shared RCD with it, or too many circuits on one RCD | Test the circuits one by one to find the one leaking to earth, rather than resetting and hoping |
| Door entry works for some flats but not others | Damaged cable in the riser, a failing power supply, a faulty handset or a worn lock release | Test at the panel, then along the riser, so we replace the faulty part and not the whole system |
| Emergency lights fail their test | Batteries at the end of their life, fittings whose charging supply has been switched off, or no record of the last test | Full-duration test, replace the failed batteries or fittings, and start a proper logbook |
| Fire alarm false alarms in shared areas | Dust or dirt in detectors, the wrong type of detector near a bin store or kitchen, or a faulty device | Check the panel history to find the device, then fix the cause, not just silence the alarm |
What we look after in blocks and estates
- Landlord supply and communal areas: fixed wire testing (EICR), remedial work, new distribution boards and mains and sub-mains.
- Communal and outside lighting: LED upgrades, sensors and timers set up properly, car park and path lighting, and security lighting.
- Emergency lighting: installation, monthly and annual testing, and logbooks.
- Fire alarms: communal systems and interlinked alarms in flats.
- Door entry and warden call: repairs, upgrades and full replacements.
- EICRs in the flats themselves: whole-block programmes with the remedial work done, see landlords and housing providers.
- EV charging, data and Wi-Fi: shared chargers for residents and cabling for door entry, CCTV and Wi-Fi.
- Faults and maintenance: emergency call-outs and planned maintenance across your portfolio.
Testing that keeps the block compliant, and the records to prove it
| System | What is needed | What you get from us |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency lighting | A short function test every month and a full-duration test every year. Fittings in buildings where people sleep, including blocks of flats, must last 3 hours (BS 5266-1:2025) | Tests carried out and logged, failed fittings listed with a price to fix |
| Communal fire alarm | Servicing every six months (BS 5839-1:2025). The system type for shared areas depends on the building’s fire risk assessment and evacuation strategy | Service record, faults found, and anything the fire risk assessment needs from the electrics |
| Landlord supply | A periodic inspection (EICR) at the interval recommended on the last report | A full report with every observation explained in plain English, and the remedial work quoted and completed |
How we work with managing agents
- One contact for every block you manage with us, and one number for faults.
- Residents looked after: notice given, access booked, shared areas kept safe and tidy, and shutdowns planned for the quietest time.
- Reports you can forward: photos of what we found and what we did, so the board, the freeholder or the insurer can see it for themselves.
- Written, itemised quotes you can share with leaseholders or use in a Section 20 consultation.
- Invoices that match your system: block name, your order number and the job reference on every one.
- Our own engineers, employed by SEG and NICEIC approved, not a chain of subcontractors.
Example: 105 flats in 11 days
At Wallbrook Gardens in Canning Town we inspected all 105 flats in a single block in 11 days on site, completed every remedial and issued 105 satisfactory EICRs, with a photo report for each flat. Read the case study. For older residents’ schemes, see how we replaced warden call systems for a housing group.
Questions we’re asked
Can you work in occupied blocks?
Yes. Most of our block work is in occupied buildings. We give residents notice, book access to flats in advance, keep shared areas safe and tidy while we work, and plan shutdowns of the landlord supply for the quietest time of day.
Can you give quotes we can use for leaseholder consultation?
Yes. Our quotes are written and itemised, so you can share them with leaseholders and use them in a Section 20 consultation where the works need one.
Do you keep the emergency lighting and fire alarm logbooks up to date?
Yes. Every test and service we carry out is recorded in the block’s logbook, and we send you a copy of the record with any defects and what it will take to put them right.
How quickly can you get to a fault?
Our phones are answered 7am to 10pm, seven days a week. For emergencies in St Albans and the surrounding towns we aim to be on site within the hour, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm; outside those times we will tell you when we can get an engineer there.
Do you only work in St Albans?
No. We are based in St Albans and work across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and North and West London, including large programmes such as 105 flats in Canning Town.
Written by SEGplc. Last updated 19 October 2026.
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