An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is required at least every 5 years for privately rented homes in England, Scotland and Wales, and that is a legal duty. For owner-occupied homes there is no legal interval; IET Guidance Note 3 recommends 10 years or at change of occupancy. Commercial premises are recommended at 5 years, industrial at 3 years, and swimming pools, caravan parks and similar high-risk locations at 1 year. The inspector can always specify a shorter interval on the report, and that date then overrides the default.
- The only fixed legal interval for most people is the 5-year rule for rented homes.
- Everything else is a recommended maximum from IET GN3 and BS 7671 Chapter 65, backed by the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 for workplaces.
- The date on the last report wins. If the inspector wrote 3 years, it is 3 years.
- Change of occupancy, a new tenancy, flooding, fire or major alterations all justify an inspection sooner.
- New installations get an EIC, not an EICR; the first EICR is due at the interval on the EIC.
What is an EICR and who decides the interval?
An EICR is a formal report on the condition of an existing electrical installation, produced after inspection and testing against BS 7671 (the IET Wiring Regulations). It records observations with codes C1, C2, C3 or FI and gives an overall Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory result; see EICR codes explained.
BS 7671 Regulation 653.2 requires the person carrying out the inspection to recommend the interval to the next inspection, taking account of the type of installation, its use and operation, the frequency and quality of maintenance, and the external influences it is exposed to. The maximum intervals most electricians quote come from IET Guidance Note 3 (Inspection and Testing), which tabulates recommended maximum periods by premises type. Those figures are guidance, not law, but they are what NICEIC and NAPIT assessors, insurers and local authorities expect to see.
How often is an EICR required for each type of premises?
The table below follows the recommended maximum intervals in IET Guidance Note 3. "Legal" means a statutory duty names the interval; "recommended" means it is industry guidance the inspector applies through Regulation 653.2.
| Premises type | Recommended maximum interval | Legal or recommended | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic, owner-occupied | 10 years, or at change of occupancy | Recommended | GN3. Insurers may ask for it. |
| Domestic, privately rented (England, Scotland, Wales) | 5 years | Legal | Or sooner if the report says so. |
| Social housing (England) | 5 years | Being extended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025 | See landlord guide. |
| HMO (house in multiple occupation) | 5 years | Legal (licensing conditions and 2020 Regs) | Councils may require on licence application. |
| Commercial (offices, shops) | 5 years | Recommended; EAWR 1989 duty to maintain | Insurers often require. |
| Industrial | 3 years | Recommended; EAWR 1989 | Harsher environment. |
| Educational establishments | 5 years | Recommended | Often with annual visual checks. |
| Hospitals and medical locations | 5 years (general); 1 year for some medical areas | Recommended | Section 710 revised in Amendment 4. |
| Hotels, restaurants, public houses | 5 years | Recommended | Licensing bodies may inspect. |
| Cinemas, theatres, places of public entertainment | 1 to 3 years | Recommended; licensing | Local licensing authority sets terms. |
| Churches and places of worship | 5 years | Recommended | |
| Leisure complexes (excluding pools) | 3 years | Recommended | |
| Swimming pools | 1 year | Recommended | Wet, corrosive environment. |
| Caravan parks (site installation) | 1 year | Recommended | Caravans themselves: 3 years. |
| Marinas | 1 year | Recommended | |
| Agricultural and horticultural | 3 years | Recommended | |
| Petrol filling stations | 1 year | Recommended; licensing | |
| Construction site installations | 3 months | Recommended | BS 7671 Section 704. |
| Fire alarm and emergency lighting systems | Governed by BS 5839 / BS 5266 | Separate regime | Not an EICR. |
| Laundrettes | 1 year | Recommended | |
| Fish farms | 1 year | Recommended |
Intervals for specialised premises can vary between editions of GN3 and with local licensing conditions, so check the current edition and any licence terms before quoting a client.
Which intervals are legally required?
Private rented homes in England
The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 require every private landlord to have the fixed electrical installation inspected and tested by a qualified and competent person at intervals of no more than five years, or more often if the previous report says so. The landlord must give a copy to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection, to new tenants before they move in, and to the local authority within 7 days if asked. Local authorities can impose a civil penalty of up to £30,000 for a breach. The rules are set out in full in EICR landlord requirements 2026.
Scotland
Private landlords in Scotland have needed an EICR every five years since December 2015, under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 and the Repairing Standard. The requirement includes a PAT-style check of any appliances supplied by the landlord. Tenants can take a landlord who fails to comply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber).
Wales
The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, in force from 1 December 2022, requires landlords to have an EICR carried out at least every five years and to give a copy to contract-holders within 14 days of the occupation date, or within 14 days of a new inspection. The Welsh rules use the term "contract-holder" rather than tenant, and the fitness-for-human-habitation requirements sit alongside the electrical duty.
Social housing
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 provides for the electrical safety duties currently applied to private landlords in England to be extended to social landlords, including the five-year inspection requirement. The extension is being implemented; social landlords should plan on the same five-year cycle rather than waiting for a commencement date.
Workplaces
There is no regulation that says "commercial premises need an EICR every five years". What the law says, in Regulation 4 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, is that all systems must be maintained so as to prevent danger, so far as is reasonably practicable. The HSE accepts periodic inspection and testing to BS 7671 as the standard way to show that duty has been met, and the GN3 intervals are what a court or insurer would measure a business against. In practice, then, the 5-year commercial and 3-year industrial figures function as the expected standard even though they are not written into statute.
When is an EICR needed sooner than the standard interval?
The date on the report is a maximum, not a promise that nothing needs checking before then. GN3 and BS 7671 both point to circumstances that justify an earlier inspection:
- Change of occupancy of a domestic property, whether sale or new tenancy.
- Change of use, for example a house converted to an HMO or offices converted to flats.
- After flooding, fire or storm damage to the building.
- After significant alterations or additions where the rest of the installation was not assessed.
- Where the previous report was Unsatisfactory and the remedial work was piecemeal.
- Where the installation shows signs of deterioration noticed during other work.
For landlords in England, "change of occupancy" does not restart the five-year clock; the existing report continues to apply to a new tenant as long as it is still in date. But it is common for letting agents to insist on a fresh EICR at each new tenancy where the existing one is more than a few years old, simply to reduce the risk of inheriting problems.
Does a new installation need an EICR?
No. A new installation, a rewire or a new consumer unit is certificated on an Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC), and the designer records the recommended interval to the first periodic inspection on that certificate. For a new-build rental in England, the 2020 regulations allow the EIC to stand in place of an EICR for five years from its date. Small alterations to an existing circuit are recorded on a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate and do not affect the EICR date. The distinction is explained in EICR vs EIC: what's the difference.
How is the next inspection date recorded?
Every EICR has a field for "I/We recommend that this installation is further inspected and tested after an interval of not more than ___ years/months" (the wording varies slightly between forms). The inspector fills this in based on the condition found. On a rental property, a common approach is:
- Satisfactory, good condition, modern installation: 5 years (the legal maximum).
- Satisfactory but with several C3 items and an ageing installation: 3 years, or 5 years with a note that a change of tenancy should trigger a visual check.
- Unsatisfactory: the report should still state an interval for after the remedial work; some inspectors put a short interval (for example 1 year) pending re-inspection.
The interval is a professional judgement and should be defensible. A five-year recommendation on a 1970s installation with rewireable fuses and no RCDs is within the rules but should come with an honest explanation of the C3 items.
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.