On this page
- What an EICR certificate is: a report, not a certificate
- What the inspector checks: the EICR checklist
- The EICR test procedure: what a safety check involves, step by step
- The four codes, and what each one costs you
- Satisfactory and unsatisfactory, and why one fault decides it
- An EICR report example: the parts to read first
- Who needs one, and how often
- What happens after an unsatisfactory result
The short version
- EICR stands for Electrical Installation Condition Report: an inspection of fixed wiring, not the appliances you plug in.
- The inspector looks first, then tests: continuity, insulation and polarity with the power off, then live tests.
- One C1 or C2 makes the whole report unsatisfactory, however small the rest looks.
- FI means investigate without delay. Landlords must get it investigated within 28 days.
- C3 means improvement recommended. A report full of C3s is still satisfactory.
EICR stands for Electrical Installation Condition Report. It is a formal inspection and test of a property's fixed electrical installation: the wiring, consumer unit, sockets and switches. Every fault found gets a classification code, and the worst code decides whether the installation is declared satisfactory or unsatisfactory overall.
What an EICR certificate is: a report, not a certificate
Most people call it an EICR certificate or an electrical safety certificate. They mean the same document, and the electrical safety check a landlord books is the inspection that produces it. New wiring work gets a different document, the Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC).
Strictly, it is a report. It assesses the installation as it stands against the current edition of BS 7671, the UK wiring regulations, however old the wiring is. Older work that met earlier editions may not comply in every respect, and that does not automatically make it unsafe.
What the inspector checks: the EICR checklist
The inspection covers the parts of the electrical system that are fixed in place and belong to the building. The inspector is looking for overloading, shock and fire risks, defective work, and missing earthing or bonding.
- The consumer unit: breakers, RCDs, main switch and the condition of the enclosure
- Fixed wiring throughout the property, including cable condition and signs of overheating
- Sockets, switches and light fittings, checked for cracks, wear and burning
- Earthing and bonding, which is where a large share of faults are found
- Wear and tear, corrosion, damage, and changes of use the wiring was never designed for
Your appliances are not part of it. A kettle, a washing machine or a heater falls under separate appliance testing, so an EICR can come back satisfactory while something plugged in is still faulty.
The five tests behind the report
Looking is only half of it. Circuits are then tested with calibrated instruments, which is what separates an EICR from a walk-round visual check:
- Continuity: the conductors, including the earth, are connected with no breaks
- Insulation resistance: the insulation between conductors has not broken down
- Polarity: live and neutral are connected the right way round
- Earth fault loop impedance: a fault would clear quickly enough to cut the supply
- RCD operation: each RCD trips fast enough to prevent a serious shock
What the inspection cannot see
An EICR is not a strip-out. Cables buried in walls and floors usually cannot be inspected, and a circuit that cannot be traced may be left out. Anything not covered is written on the report as a limitation, with the reason. The more limitations, the less the report is worth, so read that section too.
The EICR test procedure: what a safety check involves, step by step
If you have been asked for an electrical safety check, this is the same inspection. The visit runs in this order:
- Agree the scope. What will be inspected, and any limitations, are agreed and recorded.
- Visual inspection. The consumer unit, wiring, accessories, earthing and bonding are checked for damage and deterioration.
- Dead tests. With the power off: continuity, insulation resistance and polarity.
- Live tests. With the power back on: earth fault loop impedance and RCD trip times.
- Making safe. Anything coded C1 is made safer on the spot, and you are told about it at once.
- The report. Every observation is coded, and the installation is declared satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
For how long the visit takes and how long the report stays valid, see how long an EICR takes and lasts.
The four codes, and what each one costs you
Every fault found is given one of four codes. This is the part of the report that decides everything, and it is worth understanding before you read the observations list.
C1 is the one that stops the job
A C1 means danger is present at the moment of inspection: exposed live parts, a damaged accessory you could touch, signs of overheating. The inspector should make it safer before carrying on, even temporarily, for example by isolating the circuit. It is still recorded on the report until it is properly fixed.
FI is the code people misread
FI means further investigation required without delay. It does not mean a fault was proven. The inspector found a possible safety issue that could not be settled within the agreed limits of the visit, such as a circuit that could not be traced. It needs following up promptly, and landlords must get it investigated within 28 days.
A report can list a dozen C3s and still pass. It can list one C2 and fail. The number of observations tells you very little — the codes tell you everything.
Satisfactory and unsatisfactory, and why one fault decides it
There is no score and no percentage. The report is a binary outcome, and it is driven by the worst code on it.
- Every observation gets a code as the inspection proceeds.
- If any observation is coded C1 or C2, the installation is declared unsatisfactory.
- If the only observations are C3s, or there are none, it is satisfactory.
An unsatisfactory result is not a condemnation of the property. It is a list of specific things to put right, and most of them are ordinary remedial work rather than a rewire.
An EICR report example: the parts to read first
The finished report runs to several pages, and five parts of it matter most to the person holding it:
- The overall result: satisfactory or unsatisfactory, stated once for the whole installation
- The observations: each fault described, with its code beside it
- Extent and limitations: what was covered, what was not, and who agreed it
- The schedules of inspection and test results: the checklist and the reading from every tested circuit
- The recommended date for the next inspection: the deadline that counts
Read the overall result first, then find the codes that produced it. If you have an older report too, check whether its observations have since been put right.
Who needs one, and how often
For landlords in England this is a legal duty under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020: an inspection at least every five years, a copy to the tenant within 28 days, and 28 days to put right any fault or FI the report identifies.
Homeowners are under no legal obligation, but ten years is the usual guidance, and sooner if you are buying somewhere with older wiring. Our guide to how often you need an EICR sets out every interval by property type.
What happens after an unsatisfactory result
The remedial work is quoted from the observations list, carried out, and the affected items are re-tested. You do not usually need a whole second inspection: the electrician confirms the specific faults are cleared and issues the paperwork to show it.
An EICR from us starts from £120 including VAT for a 1-bed flat, and remedial work is quoted separately once the report is written. Our EICR price guide covers larger properties and common fixes.
We are NICEIC approved and carry out both the EICR and the remedial work across London, so the retest is not a second contractor's problem. If you are holding a report you do not understand, call 07727 619854 and read us the codes. We will tell you what is urgent and what can wait.
Frequently asked questions
Electrical Installation Condition Report. It records the condition of a property's fixed wiring, consumer unit, sockets, switches and earthing, codes every fault found, and states whether the installation is satisfactory or unsatisfactory overall.
No. C3 means improvement recommended, not required, and a report containing only C3 observations is still satisfactory. Many C3s are simply older work that was compliant when installed and has since been superseded by newer standards.
Not according to NICEIC, which says only C1 and C2 codes make a report unsatisfactory. Some inspectors still mark a report with an FI as unsatisfactory, so read the overall result on the report itself. Either way, FI means a possible safety issue needs investigating without delay, and a landlord must have that done within 28 days.
Yes. Both names are used for the Electrical Installation Condition Report, the document a landlord gives tenants and a council can ask to see. Strictly it is a report rather than a certificate, and what makes it worth having is the testing behind it.
For parts of it, yes. Continuity, insulation resistance and polarity are tested with the power off, so plan for periods without electricity during the visit. An empty property between tenancies is the easiest to test.