What is an EICR and how often do you need one?

By YourHouseFix · Published 29 September 2026 · 9 min read

Quick answer

An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is a formal report from a qualified electrician on the safety of a property's fixed wiring, sockets, lights and consumer unit. Landlords in England, Scotland and Wales must get one at least every five years. Homeowners are not required to, but NICEIC and Electrical Safety First advise one at least every ten years.

How often you need an EICR: owner occupied homes at least every 10 years (advised by NICEIC and Electrical Safety First), private and social rented homes at least every 5 years (the law in England, Scotland and Wales). The four report codes: C1 danger present, C2 potentially dangerous, FI further investigation needed, all three make the report unsatisfactory; C3 improvement recommended.

An EICR, or Electrical Installation Condition Report, is the written result of a full inspection and test of the fixed electrics in a home by a qualified electrician. It tells you whether the wiring is safe to keep using, and lists anything that needs fixing in order of urgency. Landlords need one by law. Homeowners do not, but it is one of the most useful checks you can have done on an older house.

What is an EICR?

An EICR is a report on the condition of a property's fixed electrical installation, measured against the UK wiring standard, BS 7671. The electrician carries out a periodic inspection and test, then records what they found on a standard form. You may hear it called a periodic inspection, a landlord electrical certificate or an electrical safety certificate. They all mean the same report.

It is not a pass certificate for a single job. When an electrician fits a new circuit or consumer unit, they give you an Electrical Installation Certificate or a Minor Works Certificate for that work. An EICR looks at the whole installation as it stands today, including work done by people you have never met.

What does an EICR check?

The GOV.UK guidance for landlords describes the fixed installation as the wiring, the sockets, the light fittings and the consumer unit. In practice a thorough inspection covers:

The consumer unit (fuse box): whether it is suitable, has the right protection, and that each circuit is labelled.
RCD protection: that residual current devices trip fast enough to protect you from a shock.
Earthing and bonding: the main earth, and the bonding to gas and water pipes.
Wiring and cables: signs of age, heat damage, wear, or cables that are not suitable for where they are.
Sockets, switches and light fittings: cracked or scorched accessories, loose connections and polarity.
Fixed appliances: showers, extractor fans, cookers and anything else wired in rather than plugged in.
Special locations: bathrooms, outside sockets and garden supplies, where the rules are stricter.

An EICR does not test your plug-in appliances. That is PAT testing, which is a separate job. It also does not include the gas supply or the boiler. For that, see our guide to what a boiler service costs and what it covers.

How often do you need an EICR?

It depends on who lives in the property and who owns it.

Property	How often	Required by law?
Home you own and live in	At least every 10 years, and when you buy	No, but advised by NICEIC and Electrical Safety First
Private rented home, England	At least every 5 years	Yes, since 2020
Social rented home, England	At least every 5 years	Yes, from 1 December 2025 for new tenancies
Rented home, Wales	At least every 5 years	Yes, under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016
Private rented home, Scotland	At least every 5 years, plus appliance checks	Yes, under the Repairing Standard

Sources: GOV.UK guidance, November 2025, NICEIC, GOV.WALES, gov.scot.

These are the longest gaps allowed. The electrician can recommend a shorter one on the report if the installation is old or in poor shape, and landlords are expected to follow it.

When a homeowner should get one sooner

You have just bought the home, or are about to. A survey is not an electrical test.
The wiring is old, or you do not know when it was last looked at.
You are planning an extension, a new kitchen or an EV charger and want to know the installation can take it.
You notice warning signs: scorch marks, a burning smell, warm or buzzing sockets, flickering lights, or an RCD that keeps tripping.

What landlords must do by law

In England, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 set out the duties, and from 2025 they also cover social landlords. According to the GOV.UK guidance, a landlord must:

Have the installation inspected and tested by a qualified and competent person at least every five years.
Give a copy of the report to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection, and to a new tenant before they move in.
Give a copy to a prospective tenant within 28 days of them asking, and to the council within 7 days of it asking.
Have any remedial work or further investigation done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so.
Give written confirmation that the work is done to the tenant and the council within 28 days of finishing it.
Keep the report until the next inspection is due.

Councils can fine a landlord up to £40,000 for a breach, according to the current guidance. For social housing, the rules apply to tenancies granted from 1 December 2025, and every existing social tenancy must have been checked before 1 November 2026.

In Wales, the landlord must give the contract holder a copy within 14 days of the occupation date, or within 14 days of the inspection if it is done later. In Scotland, private landlords must also have the appliances they supply checked, which the Scottish Government calls in-service inspection and testing, or PAT testing.

What do the EICR codes mean?

Every problem the electrician finds is given a code. The codes decide whether the report is satisfactory or not.

Code	What it means	Does the report fail?
C1	Danger present. Risk of injury. Needs making safe immediately, often before the electrician leaves.	Yes
C2	Potentially dangerous. Not an immediate risk, but could become one.	Yes
FI	Further investigation needed without delay. The electrician could not confirm it is safe.	Yes
C3	Improvement recommended. Not up to the current standard, but not dangerous.	No

A C3 on its own does not make a report unsatisfactory. Older installations often carry a few, for example a consumer unit with no RCD on the lighting circuits. They are worth planning for, but they are not a reason to panic.

Watch for "LIM" on the report

LIM means a limitation: a part of the installation the electrician did not test, such as a room they could not get into. Which? Trusted Traders warns that some cheap inspections mark hard to reach areas as limitations rather than testing them. If you see a long list, ask why.

How much does an EICR cost?

An EICR is priced mainly on time. Which? Trusted Traders suggests expecting about £40 to £50 an hour in the property, plus VAT, and gives these typical times:

Home size	Typical time in the property	Worked example at £45 an hour, plus VAT
One bedroom	Up to 3 hours	Up to £135 plus VAT (£162)
Two bedrooms	Up to 4 hours	Up to £180 plus VAT (£216)
Three bedrooms and larger	3 to 5 hours	£135 to £225 plus VAT (£162 to £270)

Hourly rate and times: Which? Trusted Traders, updated February 2025. The worked example is our own arithmetic at the middle of that range. Not every electrician is VAT registered.

The price also moves with the number of circuits, the age of the installation, access to the consumer unit and loft, and where you live. Repairs are always extra, so ask for a separate price for anything found.

Which? Trusted Traders warns against anyone offering a thorough EICR in an hour and a half. A proper inspection of a three bedroom home is most of a morning, and the paperwork takes time on top.

How do you find a qualified electrician for an EICR?

The law asks for a qualified and competent person. In practice that means an electrician who is registered with a government approved scheme and does periodic inspection work.

Check the scheme. Look the business up on NICEIC, NAPIT or the Electrical Competent Person register, which lists registered businesses from every scheme.
Ask whether they do inspection and testing. Not every registered electrician is set up for EICRs. Ask how often they do them.
Get a fixed price and a time. Ask how long they expect to be in the property, and compare that with the Which? guide times above.
Ask for a sample report. A good electrician will show you what you will get, with photos of anything coded C1 or C2.
Keep the repair quote separate. Unless something is dangerous right now, you can get a second price for any remedial work.

If you are in the West Midlands, you can compare electricians in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Solihull, Dudley and Walsall. Listings on YourHouseFix show whether the business has claimed its page or is listed from public records and not yet verified, so check the scheme register either way.

What happens after the inspection?

The electrician gives you the report after the visit. It lists the overall result (satisfactory or unsatisfactory), each observation with its code, any limitations, and the date the next inspection is due.

Satisfactory: keep the report somewhere safe and diary the next date.
Unsatisfactory: get the C1, C2 and FI items fixed, and keep the certificate for that work with the report. Landlords must send written confirmation to the tenant and the council.
A lot of C2s on an old installation can mean a rewire or a new consumer unit is cheaper than patching. Ask the electrician to price both.

Get an EICR booked

You can post your EICR job free and a local electrician comes back to you with a price and a time. Say how many bedrooms the home has, roughly how old the wiring is, and whether it is rented, so the price you get back is a real one. You pay the electrician directly, and nothing is taken online.

Letting a property with gas too? A landlord gas safety check is a separate legal duty, covered in our boiler service cost guide. For more on repairs and costs, see all our home advice.

Key takeaways

An EICR checks the fixed electrics: wiring, sockets, light fittings, the consumer unit and permanently connected items such as showers. It does not test your plug-in appliances.
Private landlords in England must have one at least every five years, give it to tenants within 28 days, and can be fined up to £40,000 by the council for a breach.
Social landlords in England came under the same five year rule from 1 December 2025, with every existing tenancy covered by 1 November 2026.
Homeowners are not legally required to have one, but NICEIC and Electrical Safety First advise at least every ten years, and when you buy a home.
C1 (danger present), C2 (potentially dangerous) and FI (further investigation) make a report unsatisfactory. C3 is a recommendation only.
Which? Trusted Traders suggests about £40 to £50 an hour plus VAT, and 3 to 5 hours for a three bedroom home. Be wary of anyone promising a full EICR in an hour and a half.

Frequently asked questions

What does EICR stand for?

Electrical Installation Condition Report. It is the written report an electrician produces after a periodic inspection and test of the fixed electrical installation in a property, checked against the UK wiring standard BS 7671.

How often do I need an EICR as a homeowner?

There is no legal requirement for owner occupiers. NICEIC and Electrical Safety First advise an inspection at least every ten years, and sooner if the wiring is old, if you have bought the home, or if you notice warning signs such as scorch marks, buzzing sockets or a trip switch that keeps going off.

How often do landlords need an EICR?

At least every five years in England, Scotland and Wales, or sooner if the last report says so. In England the report goes to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection, to new tenants before they move in, and to the council within 7 days if it asks.

How much does an EICR cost?

Which? Trusted Traders suggests budgeting about £40 to £50 an hour in the property, plus VAT. It expects up to 3 hours for a one bedroom flat, up to 4 hours for two bedrooms, and 3 to 5 hours for three bedrooms and larger, so larger homes cost more. Any repairs are extra.

What happens if my EICR is unsatisfactory?

At least one C1, C2 or FI item was found. For a rented home in England, the landlord must have the work done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so, and give written confirmation to the tenant and the council within 28 days of finishing it. Homeowners are not bound by that timetable, but a C1 means danger now and should be made safe straight away.

Does an EICR include PAT testing?

No. An EICR covers the fixed installation. In England, tenants are responsible for their own appliances. In Scotland, private landlords must also have appliances they provide checked, known as PAT testing, as part of the Repairing Standard.

How long is an EICR valid for?

For a rented home it lasts until the next inspection date on the report, which is at most five years. For an owner occupied home, the electrician will usually recommend a next inspection date of up to ten years. A report can ask for a shorter interval if the installation is older or in poor condition.

Do I need an EICR when selling or buying a house?

It is not a legal requirement for a sale, but buyers and their solicitors often ask for one, and a home survey is not an electrical test. If you are buying an older home, an EICR before you exchange tells you whether a rewire or a new consumer unit is coming.

Sources

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YourHouseFix. We help homeowners across the UK post a job and hear back from a local tradesperson who answers. Guidance here is general; always confirm details with your tradesperson.

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