EICRs and testing

An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) is a check of the wiring you already have. It is not a certificate for new work. It records the condition of the installation against BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations, and lists anything that is dangerous, potentially dangerous or worth improving.

It covers the fixed installation: the consumer unit, the earthing and bonding, the circuits and everything wired into them, such as sockets, switches, light fittings and fixed appliances. It does not test the things you plug in.

Not every accessory is taken apart. A proportion is opened up and inspected, and the report says how much was sampled and what could not be reached, under fitted flooring or behind kitchen units, for example.

For an owner-occupied home, IET guidance recommends a periodic inspection at least every ten years, and whenever the property changes hands. No law makes an owner-occupier have one, but there are good reasons to:

• Buying. A survey notes the age of the board, but it does not test anything. An EICR tells you what you are taking on before you exchange.
• Selling. Buyers’ solicitors ask about the electrics, and a recent report answers the question.
• Planning work. Before a new kitchen, an extension or a loft conversion, it is worth knowing what condition the existing circuits are in.
• Warning signs. Scorch marks, warm sockets or plugs, buzzing, flickering lights or frequent tripping.
• Nobody can remember the last one.

Private landlords in England must have the electrical installation in a rented home inspected and tested at least every five years, under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. Alongside that:

• Give your tenants a copy of the report.
• If the report says remedial work is needed, have it done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so.
• Keep the paperwork that shows the work was done.

We can inspect between tenancies or with tenants in place. Tell us how access works and we will arrange it around them. Shared areas in blocks and converted houses are covered on our commercial page.

Inspection comes first: the consumer unit and its devices, the earthing and the bonding to the gas and water pipes, the condition of cables and accessories, signs of overheating or damage, and rooms such as bathrooms, where the rules are stricter.

Testing follows, circuit by circuit:

• Continuity of the earth conductors, and of ring circuits all the way round.
• Insulation resistance, to show current is not leaking between conductors or to earth.
• Polarity, so switches and fuses break the line conductor, not the neutral.
• Earth fault loop impedance, so a fault makes the breaker or fuse disconnect fast enough.
• RCD operation, so each RCD trips within the required time.

Some tests need the power off. Save your work and unplug computers when we ask, and tell us about anything that has to stay on, such as medical equipment.

Everything found is written up as a numbered observation and given a code:

• C1, danger present. Someone could be hurt now. It is made safe straight away, usually by isolating the circuit, with your agreement.
• C2, potentially dangerous. Not dangerous this minute, but it would be if something else went wrong. It needs putting right.
• C3, improvement recommended. The installation does not meet the current regulations on this point, but it is not unsafe. Worth knowing; not a failure.
• FI, further investigation required. Something could not be confirmed during the inspection and needs looking into without delay.

The regulations change over the years, and installations do not change with them, so older houses often collect a few C3s. That is normal.

The report ends with an overall assessment. Any C1, C2 or FI makes the installation unsatisfactory. C3s on their own do not: an installation can be satisfactory with recommendations.

Unsatisfactory does not mean the house needs a rewire. It means there are specific items that need attention, and they are listed. Sometimes it is a short list: missing bonding, a damaged socket, a circuit nobody could trace.

For a landlord, an unsatisfactory report starts the 28 days for the remedial work, or a shorter period if the report sets one.

With the report you get a written quote for the remedial work, item by item, matched to the observation numbers, so you can see what clearing each one involves.

You are free to use any registered electrician for it. If we do the work, it is tested and certified: a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate for small changes to existing circuits, or an Electrical Installation Certificate where a circuit or the consumer unit is new.

The report and the certificates for the remedial work together are the paperwork to keep, and for a landlord, the proof that the work was done.

• The Electrical Installation Condition Report, including the extent of the inspection and anything that could not be checked.
• Every observation, numbered and coded.
• A schedule of test results for every circuit.
• The overall assessment, satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
• A recommended date for the next inspection.
• A written quote for any remedial work.