There is no legal requirement in England, Wales or Scotland to hand a buyer an electrical certificate when you sell your home. The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector Regulations 2020 apply to landlords only, not to sales. What sellers do have to do is answer the Law Society's TA6 Property Information Form truthfully, and that form asks specifically about electrical work carried out since 1 January 2005 and about any testing done. In practice a buyer's surveyor, solicitor or mortgage lender will often ask for an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), and a Satisfactory report dated within the last few years removes the question before it becomes a bargaining chip.
- No law requires an EICR or other electrical certificate to sell an owner-occupied home in the UK.
- The TA6 form asks about electrical work since 1 January 2005 and whether Part P certificates or Building Regulations completion certificates exist.
- A buyer's surveyor will usually recommend an electrical inspection if there is no recent EICR, so sellers often commission one to keep the sale moving.
- Missing Part P paperwork is normally handled by a copy from the scheme provider, a regularisation certificate, an EICR, or indemnity insurance.
- An EICR describes condition, not compliance with today's regulations; an older installation can still be Satisfactory.
Do you legally need an electrical certificate to sell a house?
No. The only mandatory document for a sale in England and Wales is an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). In Scotland the Home Report is required, and it does not include an EICR either. The periodic inspection duty under the 2020 Regulations (England), the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 and the Scottish Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 all attach to landlords letting property, not to owners selling it.
That said, "not legally required" is not the same as "not needed". The house-buying process runs on disclosure and due diligence. A buyer's RICS Level 2 or Level 3 survey will almost always contain a line recommending that the electrical installation is tested by a qualified electrician if there is no evidence of recent testing. That recommendation lands with the buyer's solicitor, who then raises an enquiry with the seller. A seller with a recent Satisfactory EICR answers that enquiry in one email. A seller without one either commissions a report, agrees a price reduction, or waits while the buyer arranges their own inspection.
If you are selling a property that is currently let, the position changes: you must already hold a valid EICR under the landlord regulations, and the buyer (and their solicitor) will expect to see it.
What does the TA6 form ask about electrics?
The Law Society's TA6 Property Information Form is completed by the seller in every standard conveyancing transaction in England and Wales. The electrical section asks, in substance:
| TA6 question | What the seller needs to provide |
|---|---|
| Has electrical work been carried out since 1 January 2005? | Yes or no, with dates where known |
| If yes, was a Part P compliance certificate issued? | The scheme certificate (NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA and similar) |
| Or a Building Regulations completion certificate? | The local authority building control certificate |
| Has the electrical installation been tested? | Any EICR or previous periodic inspection report |
| Are there guarantees or warranties for the work? | Installer or manufacturer warranties |
The 1 January 2005 date matters because that is when Part P of the Building Regulations came into force in England and Wales, making certain domestic electrical work notifiable. Since 6 April 2013 in England the notifiable list shrank to new circuits, consumer unit replacements and work in bathrooms and other special locations; Wales kept a wider list. Our guide to Part P notification: when and how electricians notify building work sets out what is and is not notifiable.
Answering "don't know" is permitted on the TA6, but a pattern of "don't know" answers alongside an obviously rewired kitchen or a new consumer unit will prompt further enquiries. Answering incorrectly can amount to misrepresentation, so sellers should check before they sign.
What happens if you cannot find the Part P certificate?
This is the most common electrical problem in a house sale. The consumer unit was changed in 2015, the electrician has retired, and the certificate is nowhere to be found. The options, roughly in order of cost and effort:
- Ask the scheme. NICEIC, NAPIT and the other competent person schemes hold records of notified work. Most can reissue a certificate to the property owner for a small fee if the job was notified. Local authority building control can also search for a completion certificate.
- Regularisation. For work that was never notified, the local authority can inspect and issue a regularisation certificate. This usually involves opening up parts of the installation and testing, and the fee is set locally.
- An EICR. This does not replace the Part P certificate, but a Satisfactory EICR demonstrates that the installation as it stands is safe to continue in service, which is what the buyer actually cares about.
- Indemnity insurance. The conveyancer arranges a one-off policy covering the buyer against local authority enforcement for the unnotified work. It is cheap and quick but insures a risk rather than fixing anything, and it becomes void if anyone contacts the council about the work.
Most sellers end up combining an EICR with indemnity insurance where the paperwork has gone missing. GOV.UK's guidance on building regulations approval confirms that enforcement action for unnotified work is time-limited to twelve months from completion, which is why indemnity cover is priced so low, but lenders still want the box ticked.
Should you get an EICR before putting the house on the market?
Usually yes, particularly if the installation is more than fifteen years old or you have no paperwork at all. The reasons are practical rather than legal.
First, timing. An EICR on a typical three-bedroom house takes two to four hours on site, and any remedial work it turns up takes longer to organise. Doing it before listing means C2 items are fixed before a buyer's survey finds them.
Second, negotiation. Buyers routinely use a survey's "electrical installation should be tested" line to seek a discount larger than the cost of the remedial work would be. A report already in hand removes the uncertainty they are pricing in.
Third, it protects the seller. A report dated before marketing shows the installation's condition at that time, which matters if a dispute arises after completion.
IET Guidance Note 3 recommends a maximum interval of ten years for an owner-occupied domestic installation, or an inspection on change of occupancy. A house sale is the textbook change of occupancy. A report in the last three to five years is generally accepted by buyers and their advisers without further comment.
What does the electrician actually check?
An EICR is a periodic inspection and test to BS 7671:2018 (the IET Wiring Regulations, currently at Amendment 4:2026). The inspector examines the consumer unit, earthing and bonding, a sample of accessories and the visible wiring, and carries out dead and live tests on the circuits: continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance and RCD operation. The results go on the schedule of test results and any defects are recorded as observations with a classification code:
| Code | Meaning | Effect on the report |
|---|---|---|
| C1 | Danger present | Unsatisfactory |
| C2 | Potentially dangerous | Unsatisfactory |
| C3 | Improvement recommended | Satisfactory (on its own) |
| FI | Further investigation required | Unsatisfactory |
The full coding guide is at EICR observation codes explained: C1, C2, C3 and FI. A crucial point for sellers: a C3 does not make the report Unsatisfactory. An installation without RCD protection on every circuit, or with an old plastic consumer unit, can still be Satisfactory if the inspector's judgement is that no danger exists. The EICR compares the installation against current BS 7671 to assess condition; it does not require the installation to be upgraded to meet current regulations.
What if the EICR comes back Unsatisfactory?
An Unsatisfactory report with C1 or C2 items does not stop a sale, but it will be seen by the buyer, and it should be. The seller has three routes:
- Fix it. Have the electrician carry out the remedial work and issue the appropriate certificate (a Minor Works Certificate or an EIC, depending on scope) confirming the observations are resolved. Electrical Safety First's guidance recommends obtaining written confirmation rather than a verbal assurance.
- Price it. Obtain a quotation for the work and offer it to the buyer as a reduction. Buyers often prefer this because they can choose their own contractor.
- Disclose and proceed. Provide the report to the buyer's solicitor and let them decide. This tends to slow things down, because the buyer will get their own quotes.
A C1, which is danger present, should be made safe on the day it is found, regardless of what the sale does next. Our guide Unsatisfactory EICR: What Happens Next (Landlords & Electricians) covers the process in more detail.
Selling a rented property with tenants in place
If you are selling a buy-to-let with tenants, the landlord regulations apply to you right up to completion. You must hold a valid EICR, give a copy to the tenant, and give a copy to the buyer as the incoming landlord. The buyer inherits the inspection date, so a report that is four years old will need renewing shortly after they take over, which they will price in. Sellers of let property should have the EICR in the sale pack from day one; see Landlord EICRs in England: what the 2020 regulations require for what the report has to contain.
Electrical certificates for a new-build or recently extended house
A house that was built or fully rewired within the last ten years should have an Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) rather than an EICR. The EIC is the certificate for new work; the EICR is the periodic report on existing work. Explaining the difference to a buyer's solicitor is a common job for the seller's electrician, and EICR vs EIC: What's the Difference? (and Minor Works) sets it out. An EIC plus the Part P or building control completion certificate is normally all a buyer needs for a new or rewired installation.
How Certio helps
Certio produces the EICR, EIC, Minor Works certificate and PAT records on the BS 7671 model forms and turns them into branded PDFs. Photograph the consumer unit and the circuit schedule drafts itself; point the phone camera at a Megger MFT-X1 and the reading goes straight into the schedule of test results, or dictate it while your hands stay on the probes. Suggested observation wording with the regulation reference is there for you to check and confirm. The judgement stays yours; the typing goes. Starter is free for 7 days, then £5 a month.