The EICR, explained for landlords
What an Electrical Installation Condition Report covers, the codes that matter, and how to handle an unsatisfactory result.
Since 2021, every privately rented home in England has needed a valid Electrical Installation Condition Report, yet the EICR remains the compliance document landlords misunderstand most. This guide covers what the inspection is, what the codes on the report legally require of you, and how the process runs from booking to a satisfactory certificate.
What an EICR inspects, and what it does not
An EICR is a periodic inspection of the fixed electrical installation: the consumer unit, the wiring in the walls, sockets, switches and fixed lighting. It does not cover appliances (that is PAT territory) and it is not a repair; it is a condition survey with a verdict. A qualified inspector tests circuits, inspects accessible parts of the installation and grades any defects found. Portable items a tenant plugs in are outside its scope, as is anything the tenant owns, which is a distinction worth understanding before reading the report.
What inspection day looks like
A typical inspection of a flat or small house takes two to four hours, longer for larger properties or older installations with many circuits. Power is switched off in stages while circuits are tested, so tenants should expect interruptions, and the inspector needs clear access to the consumer unit and a sample of sockets and fittings around the property. Warn tenants in advance about the power interruptions and about furniture that may need moving away from sockets; a blocked consumer unit cupboard is the most common reason an inspection runs long. The practical obstacle in rented stock is rarely the electrics; it is arranging a day when access works, which is why we advise booking against the expiry date with weeks in hand rather than days.
The codes: C1, C2, C3 and FI
The grading codes carry the legal weight. A C1 means danger is present and immediate action is required; inspectors will usually make it safe before leaving. A C2 is potentially dangerous and makes the whole report unsatisfactory. A C3 is a recommendation for improvement only: it does not fail the report, and it is the code most often misread as a demand for work. An FI means further investigation is needed, which also renders the report unsatisfactory until resolved.
Reading a report through that lens changes how it feels. A page of C3 observations on an older but sound installation is a satisfactory result with a wishlist attached, not a repair bill. One C2 buried between them is the line that matters.
The defects London installations actually produce
The capital's housing stock fails in recognisable patterns. Conversions carry the wiring of every decade they have been altered in, and the junctions between eras are where inspectors find trouble: a modern kitchen circuit spliced onto sixty-year-old cable, or a borrowed neutral connecting two circuits that should be independent. Consumer units without RCD protection remain common in flats that have not been touched since the nineties, and they are the single most frequent C2 we see. In period houses, rubber-insulated cable that has survived in a loft since the fifties will have perished at every junction box even if it looks intact from below. None of this makes an EICR frightening; it makes the five-year cycle sensible, because these are exactly the faults that develop silently between inspections.
A note for new purchases: a brand-new installation is covered by its Electrical Installation Certificate for up to five years, so a recently rewired or newly built rental does not need a separate EICR immediately. What it does need is that certificate on file, because without the paperwork the clock defaults to now.
Unsatisfactory result: the 28-day clock
If your report is unsatisfactory, the clock starts: remedial work on C1, C2 and FI items must be completed within 28 days (or sooner if the report says so), with written confirmation supplied to the tenant and, on request, the local authority. Councils can fine up to £30,000 for non-compliance, and they do.
Practically, the clean path is to have the inspecting firm price the remedials from their own report immediately, agree the schedule, and complete the work inside the window with the confirmation issued the same week. The messy path is a satisfactory-price shopping exercise across three contractors while the 28 days run out. Price discipline matters, but so does the calendar, and a second opinion is easier to arrange before the inspection than during the remedial window.
How long a report lasts
Reports last five years at most, but the interval is set by the inspector; a tired installation may be given less, and that shorter interval is binding. The report must reach existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection, a new tenant before they move in, and the local authority within seven days of a request. Treat the renewal date as you would a gas certificate: booked well ahead, never discovered in arrears, and filed where the next agent or buyer can find it, because a missing historical report has a way of surfacing during sales and disputes.
What drives the cost
Two things move the price of the inspection itself: the number of circuits and the age and condition of the installation, because both drive time on site. What moves the total cost is the remedial schedule, and here the honest observation from our side of the trade is that the cheapest inspection is frequently the most expensive route: a rushed survey either misses defects, which resurfaces at the next inspection, or over-codes borderline observations, which turns C3-grade suggestions into an invoice. A thorough inspection by someone accountable for the follow-through prices the risk correctly once.
Choosing an inspector
The regulations require the inspector to be qualified and competent, which in practice means someone working to BS 7671 with test instrumentation, insurance and a track record of rental-sector reports. Ask how they code borderline defects, ask for a sample report, and be wary of anyone quoting a suspiciously flat rate sight unseen for any size of property. The report is only as good as the judgement behind the codes, and the codes are what the law attaches consequences to.
Where GEM fits
GEM schedules EICRs automatically for properties on our Complete plan, prices remedials from the report itself, and files the satisfactory certificate against the property record. One thread from inspection to compliance, with the 28-day windows tracked by the system rather than by anyone's memory. For portfolios, we stagger inspection dates deliberately so a whole estate never falls due in the same month and remedial budgets stay predictable year to year.