How Often Is an EICR Required? Intervals by Property Type

An EICR is legally required at least every five years for rented homes in England, Scotland and Wales, and since 1 December 2025 that duty in England covers social landlords too, with existing social tenancies to be inspected by 1 November 2026. 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, and swimming pools, caravan parks and marinas at 1 year. Whatever the default, the date the inspector writes on the last report is the one that counts, and under the A4:2026 model form that is now a date, not a number of years.

What is an EICR and who decides the interval?

An Electrical Installation Condition Report is the formal report on the condition of an existing installation, produced after inspection and testing against BS 7671. Observations are coded C1, C2, C3 or FI and the report is given an overall assessment of Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory; the codes are covered in EICR codes explained. Since Amendment 4 came in on 15 April 2026 only C1 and C2 drive an Unsatisfactory result; C3 and FI are advisory, and FI now reads "further investigation is advised".

The interval itself comes from Chapter 65. Regulation 652.1 says the frequency of periodic inspection and testing is determined by the type of installation and equipment, its use and operation, the frequency and quality of maintenance, and the external influences it is exposed to. Regulation 652.2 adds that the results and recommendations of previous reports are to be taken into account. BS 7671 does not print a table of years. The figures everyone quotes come from Table 3.2 of IET Guidance Note 3 (Inspection and Testing), now in its 10th Edition for A4:2026, which lists a recommended maximum initial interval and a routine-check interval for each type of premises. Those figures are guidance, not law, but they are what NICEIC and NAPIT assessors, insurers and local authorities measure a report against.

How often is an EICR required for each type of premises?

The table follows the recommended maximum intervals in IET Guidance Note 3 Table 3.2, with the legal position added. "Legal" means a statute names the interval; "recommended" means the inspector applies it through Regulation 652.1. Checked against the current edition on 14 October 2026; always confirm the live edition and any licence conditions before quoting a client.

Two things catch people out in that table. First, the GN3 figure is a maximum initial interval for an installation in good order; it is not a promise that every installation of that type gets that long. Second, the routine-check column matters as much as the full inspection: GN3 lists an annual routine check for most commercial premises and a monthly one for pools and petrol stations, and a client who has never done those will struggle to show they maintained the system under the Electricity at Work Regulations.

Which intervals are legally required?

Rented homes in England, private and social

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector and Social Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, as renamed by the 2025 amending regulations that came into force on 1 November 2025, require every landlord of a specified tenancy to have the fixed installation inspected and tested by a qualified person at intervals of no more than five years, or sooner 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, to a prospective tenant within 28 days of a written request, and to the local authority within 7 days of a request. The maximum civil penalty rose from £30,000 to £40,000 under the same amendment.

For social landlords (registered providers) the timetable is in two parts: any tenancy granted on or after 1 December 2025 needs an in-date EICR before it starts, and tenancies granted before that date must have their first inspection done by 1 November 2026. Social landlords also have a new duty to have any electrical equipment they supply checked by a qualified person before the tenancy and at least every five years after, with unsafe items repaired or replaced within 28 days. That equipment duty does not apply to private landlords in England, and tenant-owned equipment is outside it. The full rules are in EICR landlord requirements, and HMOs have their own guide at EICR for HMOs.

Scotland

Private landlords in Scotland have needed a five-yearly EICR under the Repairing Standard in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (as amended by the 2014 Act) since 1 December 2015 for new tenancies and 1 December 2016 for tenancies already running. The inspection must be done by a competent person, which in practice means someone registered with SELECT, NICEIC or NAPIT, and the landlord must also have any appliances they supply inspected and tested, with a copy of both reports given to the tenant before the tenancy starts. Enforcement is through the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber).

Wales

In Wales the duty sits in regulation 6 of the Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022, in force from 1 December 2022. A report is valid for five years from the day of the inspection, or less if it says so; the landlord must give the contract-holder a copy within 14 days of the occupation date, or within 14 days of any later inspection. Converted contracts had 12 months' grace, so every rented home in Wales should have been covered since 30 November 2023. The regulations still define the electrical safety standards by reference to BS 7671:2018+A2:2022, which has not yet caught up with Amendment 4. Scotland and Wales are compared in EICR requirements in Scotland and Wales.

Workplaces

No regulation 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 shall 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 measures a business against. In practice the five-year commercial and three-year industrial figures function as the expected standard even though they are not written into statute. Non-domestic reports are covered in EICR for commercial premises.

When is an EICR needed sooner than the standard interval?

The date on the report is a maximum, not a promise that nothing needs looking at before then. GN3 and BS 7671 both point to events that justify an earlier inspection:

• Change of occupancy of a domestic property, whether a sale or a new tenancy.
• Change of use, for example a house converted to an HMO or offices converted to flats.
• After flooding, fire, lightning or storm damage to the building.
• After significant additions, including heavy new loads such as an EV charger, heat pump or welding set, 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 a change of tenant does not restart the five-year clock: the existing report continues to apply to the new tenant as long as it is still in date. Letting agents still often insist on a fresh EICR at each tenancy where the current one is more than a few years old, simply to avoid inheriting someone else's problems. The same goes for a social landlord re-letting a void: the report must be in date before the tenancy starts, which is the regulation's wording, not merely "within five years".

Does a new installation need an EICR?

No. A new installation, a rewire or a consumer unit change is certificated on an Electrical Installation Certificate, and Regulation 134.2.2 has the designer record 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 go on a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate and do not affect the EICR date. The distinction is explained in EICR vs EIC.

How is the next inspection date recorded on the A4:2026 form?

This changed with Amendment 4. The model EICR published by the IET on 15 April 2026 has Section F, "Recommendation for next inspection", worded "I/We recommend that the installation is further inspected and tested before" followed by a date. Note 20 on the form says the interval is recorded as a date by which the next report is recommended. The older "not more than ___ years/months" wording has gone, which removes the argument about whether five years runs from the inspection date or the report date. Section C also asks whether installation records are available (Regulation 651.1) and for the date of the last inspection, so the previous report should be in your hand before you set the next date.

A common approach on a rented home:

• Satisfactory, modern installation in good order: five years from the inspection date, the legal maximum.
• Satisfactory but with several C3 items and an ageing installation: three years, or five years with a note that a change of tenancy should trigger a visual check.
• Unsatisfactory: still state a date for after the remedial work; many inspectors give one year pending re-inspection.

The date is a professional judgement and should be defensible. A five-year recommendation on a 1970s installation with rewireable fuses and no RCD protection is within the rules, but it should come with a plain explanation of the C3 items, and the sampling and limitations you agreed need to be on the report too (see EICR sampling and limitations). If the previous inspector set a shorter period and you are extending it, write down why.

How long does the report need to be kept?

A landlord in England must keep each report until the later of the next inspection due date or the date the next inspection happens, and must give a copy to the next inspector. For the inspector, NICEIC's scheme rules expect records for six years and the Defective Premises Act can bite for 15 years, so keep your own copy well past the five-year mark; the detail is in electrical certificate retention.

Sources

BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 Chapter 65 (Regulations 651.1, 652.1, 652.2) and Regulation 134.2.2; IET Model Forms for Certification and Reporting, EICR, 15 April 2026; IET Guidance Note 3 Inspection and Testing, Table 3.2; IET Wiring Matters issue 110 (July 2026) on FI; the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector and Social Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 and the 2025 amending regulations (legislation.gov.uk); the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006; Scottish Government guidance on electrical installations and appliances in private rented property (revised November 2016); the Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022; the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 (HSE); NICEIC and Electrical Safety First landlord guidance.

How Certio helps

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Written by the Certio team. Last checked 14 October 2026.