EICRs, landlord safety checks & testing

What is an EICR?

An Electrical Installation Condition Report is an inspection of the fixed wiring in a property. It records what condition the installation is in on the day, grades anything found, and tells you what needs attention and how urgently.

It is what a buyer, an insurer or a letting agent will ask you for. The report codes each observation: broadly, whether something is dangerous and needs immediate attention, whether it needs improvement, or whether it is worth further investigation. A report with no codes at all is a satisfactory installation; one with serious codes is not, and the report will say so plainly.

An EICR describes the installation on the day it was inspected. It is not a guarantee about the future, and it does not cover anything the inspector could not see or reasonably reach, which the report itself will state.

How often does a landlord need an EICR?

If you let property in England, at least every five years, and it is a legal requirement rather than good practice.

Under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 the installation must be inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified person. A copy of the report goes to your tenants within 28 days, to a new tenant before they move in, and to the local authority within 7 days if they ask for it. Anything the report says must be put right normally has to be done within 28 days, or sooner if the report specifies. Government guidance is published on gov.uk.

This applies to England. Scotland and Wales have their own regimes.

How often should PAT testing be done?

There is no legally fixed interval, and anyone telling you the law requires an annual test is mistaken. The duty is to keep equipment in a safe condition, and how often that means testing depends on what the equipment is and how hard it works.

Portable appliance testing covers the equipment that plugs in rather than the fixed wiring. The obligation comes from the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and from the duty to maintain work equipment, neither of which sets a frequency. A power tool on a building site and a desk lamp in an office plainly do not need the same regime.

We will tell you what is sensible for your setup rather than selling you an annual round of it because that is what everyone does. For some businesses that means a schedule; for others it means testing the things that actually take a beating and leaving the rest to visual checks.

What happens if the report finds problems?

We explain what was found in plain terms, and quote separately for any remedial work, so you can see exactly what is required and what is merely advisory.

Separating the two matters. An inspection that quietly rolls the remedial work into one number gives you no way of telling a genuine safety problem from an upgrade someone fancied doing. You are also under no obligation to have us do the remedial work; the report is yours either way.

If we find something dangerous during the inspection we will tell you at the time and in writing, and where the danger is immediate we will make it safe, which may mean isolating a circuit and leaving it off. That is not a sales tactic, it is what the regulations require of us.

What we cover

• Electrical Installation Condition Reports for homes and businesses
• Landlord safety checks, with the report your agent needs
• Portable appliance testing at a sensible interval
• Findings explained in plain English, not just a coded list
• Remedial work quoted separately

Common questions