Electrical Installation Condition Report London.
Qualified electrical inspections across all London boroughs. Legal requirement for landlords. Certificates issued the same day as inspection. From £99 for 1–3 bed properties. Part of GMAS Group's wider refurbishment and landlord-compliance service.
What is
an EICR?
An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) is a formal document produced after a thorough assessment of the electrical installations within a property. It identifies any deficiencies against the UK standard for electrical safety, BS 7671.
The report grades any issues found using a coding system: C1 (immediate danger, must be fixed before the certificate is issued), C2 (potentially dangerous, must be rectified within 28 days), C3 (improvement recommended but not legally required) and FI (further investigation required).
A satisfactory EICR is valid for 5 years for rental properties and is recommended every 10 years for owner-occupied homes. Mortgage lenders increasingly require an EICR where electrical concerns are flagged in a home survey.
Why London
homeowners choose us.
Since 1 April 2021, all landlords in England are legally required to have a valid EICR. New tenancies require one before the tenancy starts. Existing tenancies require renewal every 5 years. Failure to comply carries fines of up to £30,000.
Mortgage lenders and solicitors frequently require an EICR where a home survey flags electrical concerns. We can carry out same-day inspections to keep your purchase on track.
Many home and landlord insurance policies require up-to-date electrical certification. An EICR protects your policy validity as well as your tenants.
For owner-occupiers, an EICR gives confidence that your home's electrics are safe, particularly important in pre-1970s properties or after any significant renovation work.
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What actually happens during the inspection.
An EICR is an inspection and a set of measurements, not a look around. The electrician starts at the consumer unit, records what is there and checks the earthing and bonding arrangements, then works through every circuit in the property. Some of the testing is done with the power off, which is why the supply is switched off for part of the visit, and some is done live once the dead tests have passed.
For a typical one to three bedroom flat or house the electrical testing takes around two to three hours. Larger properties, older installations and anything with a mix of original and added circuits take longer, because every added circuit has to be traced and tested like any other. Where a circuit cannot be safely tested or accessed, it is recorded as a limitation on the report rather than quietly left out.
You do not need to be there for the whole visit, but somebody needs to give access to the consumer unit, the meter, the loft if there is wiring in it, and every room with a fixed outlet. Clearing access to sockets behind furniture before the electrician arrives saves time and keeps the inspection complete.
The tests behind the certificate.
Every EICR is built on the same sequence of electrical tests set out in BS 7671. These are the measurements that appear on the schedule of test results attached to your report, and they are what separates a real inspection from a visual check.
Confirms every earth conductor is connected end to end, so a fault has a path back and the protective device operates.
Proves a ring main is a complete ring and has not been broken or wired as a spur on a spur, which is one of the most common faults found in older houses.
Measures how well the cable insulation is holding up. Low readings point to damaged cable, damp, or a nail or screw through a run.
Confirms live, neutral and earth are the right way round at every point, including switches, so nothing stays live when it is switched off.
Measures the resistance of the fault path to confirm the breaker or fuse will trip quickly enough to be safe.
Times how quickly each residual current device trips, and whether it trips at all. A failed RCD on a socket circuit is a common reason for an unsatisfactory result.
Establishes the maximum current that could flow in a fault, which determines whether the installed protective devices are rated correctly.
Accessible wiring, accessories, enclosures and cable routes checked for damage, overheating, unsuitable modifications and missing covers.
C1, C2, C3 and FI, in practice.
Every observation on an electrical installation condition report carries a code, and the codes decide whether the report is satisfactory. A report is unsatisfactory if it contains any C1, C2 or FI. C3 items alone do not make it unsatisfactory.
C1, danger present
Something on the installation could cause injury now. Exposed live parts, a broken accessory with conductors showing, or a circuit with no earth. The electrician will make it safe on the day, either by isolating the circuit or fitting a temporary cover, and it is recorded as made safe on the report.
C2, potentially dangerous
Not dangerous while everything is intact, but dangerous if a fault occurs. Missing earthing on a lighting circuit, no RCD protection where it is now required, or a damaged cable in a concealed run. C2 items are the most common reason a property fails, and they have to be put right for the report to become satisfactory.
C3, improvement recommended
The installation complies with the standard it was built to, but not with the current one. A plastic consumer unit in a flat, or no RCD on a circuit that did not need one at the time. Nothing has to be done. It is a note for when the installation is next altered.
FI, further investigation
The electrician has found something that cannot be resolved within the scope of the inspection, often a circuit that cannot be traced or a reading that does not make sense. An FI makes the report unsatisfactory until it is followed up, so it is worth dealing with rather than filing.
What happens if the report fails.
An unsatisfactory report is not a disaster and it is more common than people expect, particularly in properties that have been extended, converted or rewired in stages. The report lists each coded observation with its circuit and location, so the remedial work is defined rather than open ended.
We price the remedial work from the report itself, item by item, so you can see what is legally required and what is only recommended. Most failures are resolved by replacing a consumer unit, adding RCD protection, correcting earthing and bonding, or repairing a small number of circuits. Where a property genuinely needs more, the full house rewire and consumer unit replacement pages set out what that involves.
Once the work is done, the circuits affected are retested and the certificate is issued. For landlords the 28 day clock for remedial work runs from the date of the report, so the sooner the remedial quote is agreed the easier that deadline is to meet.
The legal detail, plainly.
The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 apply to all tenancies in England. In short, the electrical installation must be inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified person, and the resulting report has to reach the right people within set times.
A copy goes to the existing tenant within 28 days of the inspection, to a new tenant before they take occupation, and to a prospective tenant within 28 days of a written request. The local authority can ask for a copy and must receive it within seven days. Where the report requires remedial work, it must be carried out within 28 days, or sooner if the report specifies a shorter period, and written confirmation that it has been completed goes to the tenant and the local authority within 28 days of the work finishing.
Local authorities can serve a remedial notice and arrange the work themselves if a landlord does not, and can impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000 for a breach. If you run a portfolio, the practical answer is to put every property on the same renewal cycle rather than tracking fourteen separate dates. We do that for the landlords and agents we work with, and the agents and landlords page explains how.
More questions, answered.
A qualified person competent in inspection and testing to BS 7671. Our electricians carry the relevant qualifications and their own ID, and the report names the individual who carried out the electrical testing as well as the company.
No. The supply is switched off for the dead testing, usually in stages, circuit by circuit where that is practical. Tell us in advance if anything in the property cannot lose power and the electrician will work around it where it is safe to do so.
No. An EICR covers the fixed electrical installation, meaning the wiring, the consumer unit, sockets and switches. Portable appliance testing covers the plug-in items. Landlords are often asked for both, and they are separate pieces of work.
Five years for a rented property, or sooner if the report recommends a shorter interval. Ten years is the usual recommendation for an owner-occupied home, and sooner on change of occupancy.
Usually yes. A surveyor will note the age and apparent condition of an installation and recommend a test by a qualified electrician. The EICR is that test, and it turns a vague concern in a report into a defined list of what needs doing.
Yes. The same electricians carry out the remedial work and the retest, so you are not coordinating two firms and two visits.
Anything that cannot be reached or safely tested is recorded as a limitation on the report, with the reason. It is better to state it than to sign off an installation nobody has looked at.