Landlord EICR — East London
Every privately rented home in England needs a satisfactory Electrical Installation Condition Report at least every five years. DA Electrical London is registered and based in Walthamstow, E17 — we inspect, report and, where the report calls for it, carry out the remedial work ourselves across East London and Waltham Forest.
What the 2020 Regulations require of you
The obligation is straightforward to state and easy to fall foul of, because most of it is about deadlines rather than about the electrics. If you let a property in England privately, the fixed installation has to be inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years, and the resulting report has to reach several people within fixed windows.
The five things the regulations actually ask for
A five-yearly inspection is only the first of them. The rest are distribution and record-keeping duties, and they are where landlords most often get caught out — a valid certificate sitting in a drawer, never sent to the tenant, is still a breach.
If the report is unsatisfactory, the clock is tighter: you have 28 days from the inspection to complete the remedial work, or less if the report specifies a shorter period, and then a further 28 days to send written confirmation that it is done.
A local authority can impose a financial penalty of up to £40,000 for a breach, and can arrange the remedial work itself and recover the cost from you.
What makes a report satisfactory — and what does not
An EICR does not give a score. It records observations against four classification codes, and only three of them affect whether the report passes. This matters commercially as well as legally: a report can look alarming and still be satisfactory, and some contractors are considerably freer with C2 codes than others.
The four classification codes
- C1 — danger present. A risk of injury exists now. Immediate action is required, and the inspector should make the installation safe before leaving.
- C2 — potentially dangerous. No immediate risk, but a fault could become dangerous. Urgent remedial action required.
- C3 — improvement recommended. Not a defect and not a fail. A C3-only report is satisfactory and needs no remedial work to be compliant.
- FI — further investigation required. Something could not be assessed during the inspection and needs following up. FI makes a report unsatisfactory.
So the test is simple: any C1, C2 or FI makes the report unsatisfactory and starts the 28-day remedial clock. C3 codes alone do not. If you have been told a property fails on C3 observations, that is worth a second opinion.
Where a report does come back unsatisfactory, we price the remedial work up front and carry it out ourselves, so the re-test and the written confirmation your tenant and council need come from the same contractor rather than from a second firm picking up another contractor’s report.
Where we test across East London
Our registered address is in Walthamstow, E17, so the Waltham Forest patch and the boroughs bordering it are the work we do most and travel least for. That matters more for landlord testing than for most trades, because portfolios are rarely in one street and the scheduling is half the job.
The local patch
Walthamstow and E17, Leyton, Leytonstone, Chingford, Highams Park and Wanstead — the Waltham Forest core, where most of our landlord testing sits. Beyond it we test regularly across Redbridge, Newham, Hackney, and Barking and Dagenham.
The housing stock, and why it shapes the report
East London’s rented stock is dominated by Victorian and Edwardian terraces converted into flats, interwar and post-war housing, and later conversions above shops and on former industrial plots. Conversions are where EICRs most often come back unsatisfactory: shared supplies and borrowed neutrals between flats, earthing and bonding never brought up to date when the house was split, consumer units carried over from an earlier layout, and circuits extended over decades without records.
None of that is unusual and none of it is alarming in itself — but it does mean an inspection on a converted East London flat turns up more to code than one on a single-occupancy new build, and it is worth knowing that before the report lands.
Several properties, one schedule
We work with private landlords, HMO landlords, portfolio owners and managing agents. Where there are several properties, we schedule them together so the reports come back as one consistent batch on a shared renewal date, rather than drifting apart into separate five-year cycles that each need chasing individually.
Reports come back in the same format every time, which makes them straightforward to file and to hand to a council or a new tenant. Where remedial work is needed on more than one property, it is priced together and carried out on the same visits.
Licensed HMOs have had a five-yearly inspection requirement for longer than the wider private rented sector, and your council’s licence conditions may ask for the certificate at particular points. The inspection standard is the same either way — tell us it is a licensed HMO and we will make sure the paperwork suits the licence.
Beyond the landlord certificate
This page covers the landlord duty specifically, and the East London patch we cover most. The full range of inspection and testing work — homeowner and pre-purchase EICRs, commercial fixed wire testing, PAT testing, fire alarm and emergency lighting testing across London — is set out on our EICR & electrical safety testing page.
If your report calls for remedial work, that sits inside our general domestic electrical service — consumer unit replacements, earthing and bonding upgrades, rewires and circuit work. Three pieces of background reading landlords ask about most often: how often you need one, what an EICR actually is, and what an EICR certificate costs.
Trusted by London homeowners, landlords & property managers
Reviews from homeowners, landlords and property managers across London. We publish our verified Google reviews here as they come in.
Amazing experience and professional and experienced. Would recommend.
Used DA to swap out our old fuse board as it was ancient and kept tripping. Lads turned up when they said, got it done in a few hours and left no mess. New unit looks miles better and got all the paperwork through after. Can't fault them
DA Electrical resolved our plumbing issues when fitting our bathroom. Included new pipework as well as connections. Neat tidy work and very considerate, kept us informed every step of the way. Pleased they did the electrics and plumbing. Highly recommended
DA Electrical replaced our old fuse board and sorted the wiring in our flat in Walthamstow. Turned up on time, explained everything clearly, and left the place spotless. Fully certified and a fair price — wouldn't hesitate to recommend them
Easy communication and clear information about costs. Very polite and completed the job to our satisfaction. Thank you!
Great price — Honest, on time and professional.
Excellent service from DA Electrical London LTD. They arrived on time, completed the work professionally, and left everything clean and tidy. Highly recommended.
Great price — I would highly recommend they take care of all of our properties safety certificates and electrical issues. They are reliable, knowledgeable, professional, and punctual. They always carry out all work to high standards. Thank you for your continued great service.
Frequently asked questions
How often does a landlord need an EICR?
At least every five years, or sooner if the report itself specifies a shorter interval. The 2020 Regulations have applied to new tenancies since 1 July 2020 and to all existing tenancies since 1 April 2021, so every privately rented home in England needs a current report.
What happens if the report comes back unsatisfactory?
An unsatisfactory report means at least one C1, C2 or FI code was recorded. You have 28 days from the inspection to complete the remedial work — or less, if the report specifies a shorter period — and then a further 28 days to supply written confirmation that it is done to your tenant and to the local authority. We carry out the remedial work ourselves, so the re-test and the confirmation come from the same contractor.
Do C3 codes mean the property fails?
No. C3 means improvement is recommended, not that anything is dangerous. A report carrying only C3 codes is satisfactory and needs no remedial work to be compliant. Only C1, C2 and FI codes make a report unsatisfactory.
Who do I have to give the EICR to?
Your existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection; any new tenant before they move in; any prospective tenant within 28 days of them asking; and the local authority within seven days if it requests a copy. You also give a copy to the next inspector at the following EICR.
What is the penalty for not having one?
A local authority can impose a financial penalty of up to £40,000 for a breach of the 2020 Regulations. It can also arrange the remedial work itself and recover the cost from the landlord.
Can you test several properties across East London at once?
Yes. We work with portfolio landlords and managing agents across Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Newham, Hackney and Barking and Dagenham, and schedule properties together so the reports come back in one consistent batch rather than arriving piecemeal from different contractors.
Does an HMO need a different EICR?
The inspection follows the same standard, but licensed HMOs have had a five-yearly requirement for longer than the wider private rented sector, and the licence conditions your council attaches may ask for the certificate at specific points. We issue the report in the same format either way.
Book a landlord EICR
Tell us the property or properties, the postcodes and whether the current certificate has expired, and we will come back with a price and a date. If you are a managing agent or hold a portfolio, send the list and we will schedule it as one batch.