... with my othwr hand resting on the metal around the oven it gave me an electric shock. It then continuously is tripping the fuse. An engineer from British gas came and inspected it and said the ovenand hob were unearthed and there was a fault I'm the socket. He tested the metal and said it was live. After informing my landlday she is implying that it was earthed and that we have caused the fault. My question which I would love some help with is 'is it possible in any way for us by user error to have caused the oven to become unearthed and so carry a current?' I want to be as informed as possible before she and her close friend who is the electrician come round and blame me. Many many thanks
Answers (2)
If the oven and hob are supplied with the property and you haven't modified or tampered with them in any way, then there is no way that normal use could cause the earth connection to fail. Failure could be caused by corrosion, loose connection, poor quality installation, water damage or many other causes. Assuming that none of these causes could be blamed on you (for example negligent flooding of an upstairs bathroom might result in water damage to kitchen electrics) it is the responsibility of the owner to maintain the fixtures and fittings in a safe and working condition. As a conscientious landlord myself, I find it outrageous that your landlady is implying that a possibly life-threatening technical issue is somehow the fault of the tenant!