Certificates · Guide · 6 min read

What is an EICR, and what do the codes mean?

The Electrical Installation Condition Report is the MOT of a building's wiring. Here is what it covers, who can issue one, the landlord rules, and how to read the codes on the back.

By Connor McKay, founder of Trade PA · 6 October 2026

The report, plainly

An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is a formal inspection and test of a property's fixed electrical installation: the consumer unit, the wiring in the walls, sockets, switches, lighting circuits and earthing. Not the kettle and not the washing machine (portable appliances are PAT territory), but the infrastructure they plug into. The inspector examines against the current edition of BS 7671, the wiring regulations, and reports the installation's condition with an overall verdict of satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

It is a condition report on what exists, which is why an older installation can pass: it is judged on safety, not on whether it matches this year's regs to the letter. Departures from the current standard that are not dangerous get recorded, not failed.

Who can carry one out

The person must be qualified and competent in periodic inspection and testing: in practice, an electrician with the inspection and testing qualifications, typically working through a registration scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT. It is a distinct skill from installation work, involving live testing and judgement calls on ageing kit, and landlords and building managers are entitled to ask for evidence of competence. Any electrician who does hold it will happily show it.

The codes on the back

The landlord rules

For privately rented homes in England, the Electrical Safety Standards regulations require an EICR at least every five years (or sooner if the report specifies), with a copy to tenants within 28 days, to new tenants before occupation, and to the local authority on request. Where the report comes back unsatisfactory, remedial work must be completed within 28 days (or sooner if the report says so), with written confirmation to tenants and the council. Councils can fine landlords substantial sums for non-compliance, so agents now chase these certificates hard. Scotland and Wales run their own similar regimes; businesses need periodic inspection under the Electricity at Work Regulations too, commonly on a five-year cycle for offices and shorter for harsher environments. Homeowners are not legally required to have one, but every ten years, at purchase, or before major work is the standard sensible advice.

Reading a quote for an EICR, and giving one

Price follows circuits and access: a one-bed flat is a different morning from a rambling farmhouse with three consumer units. A proper quote states the number of circuits covered, whether minor remedials on the day are included, and that the deliverable is the full report, not a one-line certificate. For the electricians reading: unsatisfactory reports convert to remedial work at a very high rate when the quote for the fixes arrives with the report itself, itemised against the C2s. That is ordinary good service, and it is also the difference between a £180 inspection and a proper job.

If certificates are part of your week, Trade PA produces digital EICR, EIC, CP12, PAT and pressure test certificates from the job record, and Eve books the five-year reminders so the renewals come back to you instead of to whoever emails the landlord first. More trade guides live on the blog.