EICR in Maida Vale's mansion flats and conversions.
Electrical Installation Condition Reports across Maida Vale and Little Venice, carried out by registered electricians and emailed to you on the day.
Covering W9. Monday to Saturday 9am to 8pm, Sunday 9am to 3pm.
A district of mansion blocks
Maida Vale is known for long avenues of red brick Edwardian mansion blocks, many of them large, with lifts, porters and shared gardens. Between them are stuccoed and brick houses, most converted into flats, and closer to the canal the white villas of Little Venice. The flats are generous in size, with high ceilings and long corridors, and many have been refurbished more than once.
Inspecting a mansion flat
Mansion flats have some typical characteristics that shape the inspection.
Long circuits
Large flats with long corridors can have long circuit runs, which affects earth fault loop readings. The electrician checks these against the protective devices fitted.
Supplies from shared risers
The flat's supply may come from a meter room in the basement and rise through a shared riser. The report starts at the flat's own installation, and we note what the building provides.
Layered refurbishments
New kitchens and bathrooms often sit on older circuits. Each circuit is tested on its own merits, so the report shows clearly which parts are sound.
Converted houses
Maida Vale's converted houses share many features with other period conversions: shared meter cupboards, submains passing through other flats and loft or basement additions. Labelling of isolators and protective devices is often incomplete, and the report records this.
How the report is produced
Testing covers continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance and residual current protection on every circuit, plus a sampled inspection of accessories. Each defect gets a code: C1, C2, C3 or FI. See EICR London for what each means.
Landlord requirements
Privately let homes in England need an inspection at least every five years under the 2020 regulations. Tenants get the report within 28 days, new tenants before they move in, and remedial work must be completed within 28 days or the shorter time the report gives. Councils can impose penalties of up to £30,000.
Porters and managing agents
Most Maida Vale blocks have a porter or a managing agent with rules on contractor access. We book through them, arrange lift use where needed and agree a time with the tenant. A typical flat takes two to four hours depending on size.
Remedial work
With an unsatisfactory report you receive a quote for the remedial work. In mansion flats, the usual items are missing residual current protection, bonding to older metal pipework and worn accessories. Confirmation is issued once work is complete.
Little Venice and the canal side houses
Around Little Venice, stuccoed houses near the canal have been divided into flats and maisonettes, many with lower ground floors that sit close to the water table. Damp in lower ground floors can affect electrical accessories and cables, so the electrician pays close attention to sockets, switches and junction boxes near outside walls and floors.
Garden flats often have outside lighting, a socket on the terrace or power to a shed. Outdoor circuits should have suitable protection and enclosures rated for the conditions, and anything below standard is coded on the report.
Where a flat has been extended into a vault or under the pavement, the wiring in that space is tested in the same way as the rest of the installation, with a note made of any part we cannot reach.
What the codes mean
Each observation on the report carries a code. C1 means danger is present and immediate action is needed. C2 means potentially dangerous, and C3 means improvement recommended. FI means further investigation is needed without delay. A report with any C1, C2 or FI code is unsatisfactory, and landlords must have the work done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so, then give the tenant written confirmation.
From the board to the last socket
In a Maida Vale mansion flat, the board is often in a hallway cupboard near the front door, sometimes alongside the meter, sometimes with the meter in a communal cupboard on the landing. The electrician starts there, checking the type of board, how each circuit is protected, and whether residual current protection covers the circuits that need it.
Each room is then inspected. In the kitchen, the cooker circuit and the sockets around the worktop. In the bathroom, lighting, extract fans and any electric shower or towel rail. In bedrooms and reception rooms, the condition of sockets and switches, the ceiling roses and light fittings, and any signs of overheating. A sample of accessories is opened to see how the cables are terminated, and test results are taken for every circuit.
Residual current protection in older blocks
Flats that were rewired thirty or forty years ago often have a board with a single residual current device covering only the sockets, or none at all. Lighting circuits may have no protective earth if they date from an earlier rewire. These are common observations in W9.
Not every missing modern feature is coded as a fail. The electrician looks at how each circuit is used and where it runs before choosing a code. Where an upgrade is recommended, we quote for it separately and explain what it involves, including testing circuits first so that faults hidden by the old board are found before the new one is fitted.
Shared houses and ground floor shops
Away from the mansion blocks, some Maida Vale and Kilburn border properties are let as shared houses, and a few parades have shops on the ground floor with flats above. A licensed house in multiple occupation needs a satisfactory report at least every five years, and the licence will usually ask for evidence of it. The landlord's supply to common parts, such as hall lighting and the fire alarm, is part of the inspection.
Shops have their own supplies and need their own inspection under the industry guidance. If you own the whole building, we can inspect the residential and commercial parts on the same visit and issue separate reports.
Keeping the agent and the tenant informed
Many W9 flats are let through local agents, and the agent is usually the one who books the inspection. We agree access with the tenant in advance, confirm on the morning of the visit, and send the report to the agent and the landlord the same way. If remedial work is needed, the quote goes with it, so the landlord can approve it quickly.
Landlords must give the tenant a copy within 28 days of the inspection, and give new tenants a copy before they move in. Westminster City Council can ask for a copy, which must be provided within seven days. Unsatisfactory reports need the work done within 28 days, or sooner if stated, with written confirmation sent afterwards. Penalties for breaches can reach £30,000.
After an unsatisfactory report
An unsatisfactory result is common in older flats and is not a reason for alarm. It means there are one or more items that need attention. Most are small, such as replacing a damaged accessory, adding protection to a circuit, or fixing bonding to a pipe.
Once the work is done, the electrician confirms it in writing, usually with an electrical installation certificate or a minor works certificate for the items repaired. That confirmation, together with the original report, is what the landlord gives the tenant and keeps for the council.
How long it takes and how to prepare
Most one and two bedroom mansion flats take a few hours. Larger flats with four or more bedrooms, long corridors and several circuits per floor can take most of a day. The estimate depends mainly on the number of circuits rather than the floor area.
Before the visit, make sure the board and the meter can be reached, including any communal meter cupboard, and that the porter knows we are coming. Tenants should expect the power to go off for short periods, and should save work on computers. Moving furniture away from a few sockets and clearing the space under the sink, where fused spurs for appliances are often fitted, helps the electrician work quickly.
If the flat has been let for many years with no previous report available, the first inspection usually takes a little longer, because the circuits have to be traced and labelled from scratch.
Lower ground floors near the canal
Lower ground floor and garden flats close to the Grand Union Canal can be affected by damp in walls and floors, especially where the building has had a tanking system fail or a leak from above. Damp can lower the insulation resistance of cables and corrode the back boxes of sockets and switches set into outside walls.
The test results show where moisture is affecting a circuit. When that happens, the electrician records it and suggests what should be done, whether that is replacing affected accessories, rerouting cables away from a damp wall, or dealing with the damp itself first. GMAS also handles damp and timber work, so both parts can be quoted together.
Nearby
We cover Maida Vale, Little Venice, Maida Hill and the St John's Wood edge. See also gas safety certificates in Maida Vale and EPCs in Maida Vale.
EICR in Maida Vale: your questions.
Yes. We book the visit through the porter or managing agent and arrange lift access if needed.
No. The landlord's report covers the flat's own installation. Communal supplies are the freeholder's or managing agent's responsibility.
Usually two to four hours, depending on the number of rooms and circuits.
Yes. Power is off only briefly for each circuit, and we agree the time in advance.
Missing residual current protection, bonding to old metal pipework and worn accessories.
Yes, if it is supplied from your installation. The cable, its protection and the accessories in the shed are inspected and tested as part of the report.
Book an EICR in Maida Vale
A fixed written quote, agreed before any work starts. We reply in our opening hours, Monday to Saturday 9am to 8pm and Sunday 9am to 3pm.
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More on this service, and nearby.
Booking somewhere else in London? Our EICR London page covers every borough, how the visit works and what affects the cost.
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Areas we cover.
We take EICR inspections across all 32 London boroughs. Most of our work is in west London, in Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, Chiswick and White City, and in south west London, in Putney, Wandsworth and Wimbledon. We also work in south east London, in Greenwich, Blackheath and Lewisham.
If your property is outside these areas, call us anyway. We travel across London and will tell you honestly if a job is too far to price properly.