The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 make a landlord get the fixed wiring inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years and act on the report within 28 days. Since 1 November 2025 the same rules cover social housing, the maximum penalty is £40,000, and the title now reads "Private Rented and Social Rented Sector". None of that changes how you test a circuit, but it does change what your report has to say, when the landlord's clock starts and what they will come back to you for. This guide covers the regulations from the electrician's side.
- Private tenancies in England have needed a valid EICR since 1 July 2020 (new lets) and 1 April 2021 (existing lets); social tenancies since 1 December 2025 (new) and 1 May 2026 (existing), with the first inspection of existing social homes due before 1 November 2026.
- The standard the regulations point to is BS 7671:2018, the 18th Edition. An installation built to an older edition is not unsafe just because it predates the current book.
- Your report must give the results and the date of the next inspection and test. Five years is the maximum interval, not a default you have to use.
- C1 and C2 make the report unsatisfactory and start a 28-day clock for the landlord, counted from your inspection date, not from the day you email the PDF.
- A written FI also sets the 28-day clock under the regulations, because they refer to "further investigative or remedial work". Use it only where it is justified.
- C3 creates no legal duty for the landlord. Write it anyway; it is evidence for the next inspector.
- Councils can fine up to £40,000 per breach and do the work themselves and bill the landlord.
Which regulations are we actually talking about?
The main instrument is SI 2020/312, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. It came into force on 1 June 2020, applied to new private tenancies from 1 July 2020 and caught every existing private tenancy from 1 April 2021.
In 2025 the government used powers in the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 to extend the same duties to registered providers of social housing. The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) (Amendment) (Extension to the Social Rented Sector) Regulations 2025 came into force on 1 November 2025. It renamed the 2020 regulations, added a duty on social landlords to have the electrical equipment they supply checked, and raised the penalty cap from £30,000 to £40,000. GOV.UK published fresh guidance for landlords, tenants and councils on 1 November 2025, and that guidance was updated again on 30 July 2026.
Scotland and Wales run different regimes. The short version is in the table near the end; the detail is in our guide to EICR Landlord Requirements in Scotland and Wales (vs England).
Which lets are covered and which are not?
The regulations apply where a tenant or licensee has the right to occupy the property as their only or main residence and pays rent. That includes houses in multiple occupation, whether or not the HMO is licensed; for the specifics of shared houses see EICR for HMOs: Rules, Scope and Common Findings in England.
Schedule 1 lists the tenancies that are excluded: a lodger who shares a kitchen, bathroom or living room with the landlord or the landlord's family; long leases and tenancies of seven years or more; student halls of residence; hostels and refuges; care homes, hospitals, hospices and some other healthcare accommodation; and mobile homes, caravans and boats. Communal areas of a block are outside these regulations as well. That does not make them optional to inspect, because the landlord still has duties under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and, for flats, the fire safety regime, so see EICR for Flats and Communal Areas: Who Is Responsible? before you quote for a block.
If a property is newly built or has been completely rewired and has an Electrical Installation Certificate, the landlord can rely on the EIC for five years from its date and does not need an EICR in that period. That is a common question from landlords with a two-year-old new build.
What the landlord has to do, and by when
| Duty on the landlord | Deadline in the regulations |
|---|---|
| Inspection and test of the fixed installation by a qualified person | Before the tenancy starts, then at intervals of no more than 5 years, or sooner if the report says so |
| Obtain a report giving the results and the date of the next inspection and test | From the person who did the inspection |
| Copy of the report to every existing tenant | Within 28 days of the inspection |
| Copy of the report to a new tenant | Before they occupy the property |
| Copy to a prospective tenant who asks in writing | Within 28 days of the request |
| Copy to the local housing authority on written request | Within 7 days of the request |
| Further investigative or remedial work the report requires | Within 28 days of the inspection, or the shorter period the report specifies |
| Written confirmation from a qualified person that the work is done, sent with the original report to tenants and the council | Within 28 days of the work being completed |
| Keep the report and give a copy to the next inspector | Until the next inspection is due and has been done |
Social landlords have the same table plus an equipment duty: any electrical equipment they provide as part of the tenancy must be checked by a qualified person before the tenancy starts and at regular intervals, kept safe for continued use, and repaired or replaced within 28 days if a check finds it unsafe. For existing social tenancies granted before 1 December 2025, both the installation inspection and the first equipment check must be done before 1 November 2026. If you are doing in-service inspection and testing for a housing association, PAT Testing Guide UK: Intervals, Tests and Records covers the classes and intervals.
Who counts as a qualified person?
The regulations define a qualified person as someone competent to undertake the inspection and testing required, and any further investigative or remedial work, in accordance with the electrical safety standards. There is no register and no scheme card requirement in the regulations themselves.
The GOV.UK guide for landlords goes further and suggests what a landlord should check. If the electrician is a member of a competent person scheme, that is enough. If not, the guidance recommends confirming that the inspector holds a qualification covering the current version of the Wiring Regulations, holds a qualification covering periodic inspection, testing and certification of electrical installations, has at least two years' experience in periodic inspection and testing, and has adequate insurance. In practice that means an 18th Edition certificate, a Level 3 inspection and testing qualification such as City & Guilds 2391-52 or its EAL equivalent, and public liability cover. Expect landlords and letting agents to ask for copies; having them on your phone saves a week of chasing.
Registration with NICEIC or NAPIT is not a legal requirement for landlord EICRs, but agents often specify it. If you are weighing it up, NICEIC vs NAPIT: Which Scheme Should an Electrician Join? sets out the differences.
What your report has to say
Regulation 3(1)(b) requires the report to give the results of the inspection and test and the date of the next inspection and test. That second point is where a lot of reports are weak.
The date of the next inspection is your call. Five years is the outer limit the regulations allow, and IET Guidance Note 3 gives five years or change of occupancy as the maximum for domestic rented accommodation, but you are entitled to shorten it where the installation warrants it. An installation on a TT supply with a single front-end RCD, or one with a history of borrowed neutrals and DIY additions, may justify three years. Whatever you choose, the model form asks for your reasons, so write a sentence. "Age and condition of installation" is not a reason; "TT supply relying on a single RCD, no supplementary bonding in bathroom, several unlabelled additions" is.
The standard is BS 7671:2018, the 18th Edition, and the regulations do not name an amendment. That matters when a landlord's agent asks why a 2005 installation "fails the current regs". It doesn't. The report records where the installation departs from the current standard and whether that departure is dangerous, potentially dangerous or merely a recommended improvement. The first line of the EICR's introduction says exactly that and it is worth quoting to a landlord who thinks every C3 is a fail.
Cover your extent and limitations properly. A landlord report with "100% of accessories inspected" that took 55 minutes in a four-bed HMO will not survive a council's scrutiny after an incident. EICR Sampling and Limitations Explained: Extent, LIM and N/V explains how to record sampling honestly.
How your codes set the landlord's clock running
| Code | Meaning on the form | Overall result | Landlord duty under the regulations |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Danger present | Unsatisfactory | Remedial work by a qualified person within 28 days of the inspection, or sooner if you specify |
| C2 | Potentially dangerous | Unsatisfactory | Remedial work within 28 days of the inspection, or sooner if you specify |
| FI | Further investigation required without delay | See below | Further investigation within 28 days of the inspection |
| C3 | Improvement recommended | Satisfactory (if no C1, C2 or FI) | None |
Three points catch people out.
First, the 28 days run from the date of the inspection, not from the date you issue the report. If you sit on a report for ten days the landlord has 18 left. Issue it on the day or the day after, and put the inspection date, not the typing date, in the date fields.
Second, you can shorten the period. Regulation 3(4) says 28 days "or the period specified in the report if less". If you have made a C1 safe on the day, say so on the report and tell whoever ordered it in writing before you leave site; the GOV.UK guidance expects exactly that. If a C2 needs sorting before the weekend, write seven days and the seven days is what the council will enforce.
Third, FI. The regulations were written in 2020, when an FI made the report unsatisfactory, and they refer to "further investigative or remedial work" as one thing. So on a landlord report a written FI sets the 28-day clock however the model form treats the overall result, as the government's guidance says. Use FI only where you cannot reach a conclusion without work that is outside the scope of the inspection, say precisely what needs investigating, and never as a way of dodging a decision between C2 and C3. Our guide to EICR Observation Codes Explained: C1, C2, C3 and FI covers where the line sits and how the A2 and A4 forms differ on FI.
The observation text itself matters more on a landlord report than on any other, because it is going to be read by a tenant, an agent and possibly a council officer, none of whom know what a Zs is. State the location, what you found, the regulation, and why it matters in plain words. How to Write EICR Observations That Stand Up has a formula and examples, and EICR Fails: The Ten Most Common C1 and C2 Observations shows the observations that turn up most often in rented stock.
After an unsatisfactory report: closing it out
The landlord has to get a qualified person to do the remedial or investigative work and then obtain written confirmation that the electrical safety standards are met, or that further work is still needed. The GOV.UK guidance accepts a satisfactory EICR, an Electrical Installation Certificate or a Minor Works Certificate as that confirmation, or other appropriate certification from the person who did the work.
Match the paperwork to the job. A consumer unit change gets an EIC. Replacing a broken socket front and adding supplementary bonding gets a Minor Works Certificate for each circuit worked on; see Minor Works Certificate: When to Use It (and When Not To) if you are unsure. Where the work was purely investigative and you found nothing wrong, a short signed statement referencing the original report number and the FI item is enough, but a fresh EICR is cleaner if the landlord is about to re-let.
If the further investigation turns up more work, the 28-day process starts again from that finding. The landlord then sends the confirmation, together with the original report, to the tenants and to the council within 28 days of completion. Keep your own copies: Electrical Certificate Retention and GDPR for Electricians covers how long and how.
The practical sequence for a landlord who has just received an unsatisfactory report is in Unsatisfactory EICR: What Happens Next (Landlords & Electricians); it is a useful link to paste into the covering email so you are not the one explaining the regulations on the phone.
What happens to a landlord who ignores it
Local housing authorities enforce the regulations. Where a council has reasonable grounds to believe a landlord is in breach, it must serve a remedial notice within 21 days, giving the landlord 28 days to comply. If the landlord does not, the council can arrange the work itself, with the tenant's consent, and recover the cost. It can also impose a financial penalty of up to £40,000 for each breach, and a landlord can be in breach of several duties at once. Councils publish their own penalty matrices; several start in the low thousands for a first failure to obtain a report and rise steeply for repeat or deliberate non-compliance.
There is a defence. A landlord who can show they took all reasonable steps to comply, for example where a tenant repeatedly refused access, is not in breach. That is why agents ask you for a dated record of a failed visit. Provide it; a one-line email with the date, time and address is enough and it is good customer service.
Tenant access refusals also mean you should never book a landlord EICR as a "we'll get in somehow" job. Two failed visits and a no-access letter is normal.
England, Scotland and Wales at a glance
| England | Scotland | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Law | Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented and Social Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, as amended 2025 | Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, Repairing Standard, with statutory guidance | Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022 |
| Interval | Max 5 years, or sooner if the report says | At least every 5 years | Max 5 years, or less if the report says |
| Copy to occupier | Within 28 days of inspection; before a new tenant moves in | Before the tenancy starts | Within 14 days of the occupation date or a later inspection |
| Remedial work | Within 28 days of inspection | C1 and C2 must be put right | Written confirmation to the contract-holder within 14 days of the landlord receiving it |
| Social housing | Covered since 2025 | Separate tolerable standard regime | Covered by the same fitness regime |
| Penalty | Up to £40,000 per breach | Repairing Standard enforcement via the First-tier Tribunal | Home treated as unfit; rent may not be payable |
The Welsh regulations also require the report to be a valid electrical condition report and set the 14-day timings, which are tighter than England's, so if you work across the border keep the two sets straight.
Pricing and scheduling landlord work
Landlord EICRs are volume work. Agents want a fixed price, a fast turnaround and a PDF the same day. That is fine if your extent and limitations are honest and your price reflects the property. Rented stock tends to have more circuits altered by more people than owner-occupied homes, so budget time for tracing borrowed neutrals and unlabelled ways. How to Price an EICR: A Method for Electricians sets out how to build a price that survives a difficult board, and How Long Does an EICR Take? Typical Times by Property Type gives realistic durations by property size.
If you are taking on a portfolio, ask for the previous reports before you start. The landlord is obliged to give them to you, and they tell you what the last inspector coded and what has or has not been fixed since.
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 £4.99 a month.