EICR for landlords: the five-year check and the 28 days

An EICR, an electrical installation condition report, is the report of an inspection and test of a home’s electrical installation. In England, a rented home’s installation must be inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every 5 years, and before a new tenancy starts. If the report requires further work, it must be done within 28 days, starting with the day of the inspection, or sooner if the report says so.

How often, and when

The next inspection is due within 5 years of the last, or by the earlier date the last report gives. A new tenancy needs one before it starts, unless the last was less than 5 years ago and needed no further work.

In the app, an EICR’s row shows Next inspection due by and the date. Because a report can ask for the next inspection “by” or “before” a date, the app takes the day before the date it gives, and says so.

It helps to book the next inspection well before that date, so there’s time for any further work it finds.

Choosing who does it

The regulations ask for a qualified person. Many landlords use an electrician who belongs to a registration scheme. They look the electrician up on the scheme’s own register, rather than trusting a logo on a van or a website.

When you book, ask what the inspection covers, whether the price includes the report, and whether they can do any further work the report finds. The email the app sends for an EICR, or for its remedial work, says: “Only take it if the person who goes is qualified to inspect and test.”

If you’re looking for someone new, see finding a good trade when your usual one can’t come for the checks to make.

When the report says further work is needed

The app asks for the report’s Overall assessment, as its summary gives it: Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory.

Further investigative or remedial work the report requires must be done by a qualified person within 28 days, starting with the day of the inspection. That means by the inspection date plus 27 days, or sooner if the report says so. An inspection on 3 November, for example, means the work is due by 30 November.

It helps to book the work as soon as you have the report, and to tell your tenant who is coming and when. Agreeing a time with them usually goes best.

Written confirmation, and copies

Once the work is done, you get written confirmation from a qualified person that it was done. That confirmation goes, with the report, to each existing tenant and to the council within 28 days of the work.

The report itself goes to each existing tenant within 28 days of the inspection, and to a new tenant before they move in. The council can ask for a copy in writing, and you then have 7 days to give it.

In the app, an email counts as serving a copy only where your tenant has agreed to documents by email, or the written tenancy agreement names email. Otherwise the app sends a courtesy copy, and the document still has to be given on paper. Keep a note of when and how each copy was given.

Appliances you supply

The inspection the regulations ask for is of the electrical installation. Many landlords also have the appliances they supply tested, such as a cooker, a fridge or a washing machine, and keep the certificate with the others. The app can keep it as PAT testing, with its dates.

What the law says

• Every electrical installation must be inspected and tested by a qualified person at intervals of no more than 5 years. It must be done sooner if the last report gives an earlier date, and before a new tenancy starts.
• No new inspection is needed before re-letting if the last was less than 5 years ago and needed no further work.
• A copy of the report goes to each existing tenant within 28 days of the inspection, and to a new tenant before they move in. It goes to the council within 7 days of its written request.
• Further investigative or remedial work the report requires must be done by a qualified person within 28 days, starting with the day of the inspection. It is due sooner if the report says so.
• Then you get written confirmation from a qualified person, and give it, with the report, to each existing tenant and the council within 28 days of the work.

For a particular tenancy, and anything this guide leaves open, take advice from a solicitor or Citizens Advice.