A landlord in England needs a valid EICR, no more than five years old, before a tenant moves in, and the tenant must have a copy before occupying. C1, C2 and written further-investigation items must be dealt with within 28 days of your inspection, and the maximum penalty is now £40,000. Scotland and Wales run different clocks. This is the pre-tenancy job from the electrician's side: what the landlord has to hold, what you need to hand over, and where the deadlines catch people out.
- England's copy deadline for a new tenant is before occupation. Wales allows 14 days from the occupation date. Scotland wants the latest EICR with the prospective tenant before the tenancy starts.
- The 28-day clock in England runs from your inspection date, not the day you send the PDF, and a shorter period on your report overrides it.
- The maximum penalty in England rose from £30,000 to £40,000 when the regulations were extended to social housing on 1 November 2025.
- An EIC can stand in for an EICR on a new build or full rewire in England, and for five years in Scotland if its next-inspection date has not lapsed.
- Scotland requires PAT records for landlord-supplied appliances. England requires equipment checks by law only from social landlords, at least every five years.
- Your EICR is not an alarm certificate. Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are a separate duty with their own rules in each nation.
What must a landlord hold before the tenant moves in?
This table is the short version, taken from the GOV.UK guidance on electrical safety standards in the private and social rented sectors (published 1 November 2025), the Welsh Fitness for Human Habitation Regulations 2022 and the Scottish Government's Repairing Standard statutory guidance (applying from 1 March 2024).
| Duty | England | Wales | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inspection interval | At most 5 years, or sooner if the report says | Report valid 5 years, or the earlier date on it | Before the tenancy, then at most 5 years |
| Copy to new tenant | Before occupation | Within 14 days of occupation date | Latest EICR before tenancy starts |
| Copy after a mid-tenancy inspection | Within 28 days of inspection | Within 14 days of inspection | Copy to the tenant |
| Copy to the council | Within 7 days of a request | — | — |
| Remedial work | Within 28 days of inspection, or shorter period stated | Written confirmation within 14 days (see below) | C1 and C2 items must be fixed |
| Report kept | Until the next inspection is due or done | Valid report held for each occupation | Six years |
| Landlord appliances | Equipment checks for social landlords only | No specific check in reg 6 | PAT with records |
The English regulations are SI 2020/312, renamed to cover the private and social rented sectors when the 2025 extension came in. Existing social tenancies had to have their inspection and first equipment check done before 1 November 2026, so expect housing associations and their contractors to be chasing the stragglers now.
When does the landlord's 28-day clock actually start?
It starts at the inspection, whether the tenancy has begun or not. Say you inspect on Tuesday 3 November 2026 and record two C2s. The landlord has until 1 December 2026 to get them done, and then 28 days from completion to send your written confirmation and the original report to the tenant, plus the council if it has asked for the report.
So if you inspect on a Tuesday and only issue the report the following Monday, you have used six of the landlord's 28 days. Issue it the same day where you can, and put any shorter timescale on the report itself, because a shorter period written on your report replaces the 28 days.
The regulations do not literally say the tenant cannot move in while a C2 is open, and the guidance protects a landlord who took all reasonable steps but could not finish within the deadline, provided they keep records. That is a defence for a contractor shortage, not a plan. A landlord who books you the week before handover is starting a tenancy with a known defect. Advise four to six weeks ahead of the tenant's move-in date, enough for the remedials, retest and paperwork without panic.
Wales works differently. Regulation 6 of the Welsh regulations sets a 14-day paper trail rather than a 28-day repair clock in that regulation: work done before the occupation date is confirmed in writing within 14 days of occupation, and work done afterwards within 14 days of the landlord receiving your confirmation.
Does an FI hold up the tenancy?
On the current A4 model forms, only C1 and C2 make the overall assessment unsatisfactory. An FI on its own is advisory in that sense, and C3 creates no legal duty. But the England regulations talk about "further investigative or remedial work", and GOV.UK says FI work is needed without delay. So a written FI still starts the landlord's clock.
Do not use FI as a polite way to avoid looking at something you ran out of time for. If a limitation stopped you, record it as a limitation; see EICR sampling and limitations. If you have a real reason to suspect a problem you could not trace, that is what FI is for. The observation codes guide goes through how to separate them.
Is the old report good enough, or do they need a new one?
Check four things on the landlord's existing report before quoting a new one:
- The next-inspection date, which is often earlier than five years. If it says three, three is the legal interval.
- The overall assessment, plus proof that any C1, C2 and FI items were closed out.
- The extent and limitations. A report with half the circuits excluded is valid paper but poor comfort, and you will probably find more.
- Whether it was done for a different occupancy. Guidance Note 3 gives five years or change of occupancy as the maximum for domestic rented accommodation, though a change of tenant does not by itself force a new report under the English regulations.
A void does not stop the clock. The five years runs from the inspection date, so a report that lapsed during a year's empty period needs replacing before the next let. An owner-occupied home going onto the rental market usually has no report at all, which makes the EICR the first job.
Where the home is a new build or has had a full rewire, GOV.UK accepts an EIC in place of a report for five years. Scotland accepts one too if it was issued in the last five years and its next-inspection date has not lapsed. Part rewires and consumer unit swaps do not get that treatment. They need the certificate for the work and a current EICR covering the rest, and the consumer unit guide covers that case.
What paperwork should you hand over?
An invoice is not confirmation. Landlords and agents regularly send one to a council thinking it counts. GOV.UK lists acceptable written confirmation as a satisfactory EICR, an EIC, a Minor Works certificate or other appropriate certification from the qualified person.
| Job | What you issue | Other paperwork |
|---|---|---|
| Periodic inspection | EICR with schedules, next-inspection date and reason | Agent may ask for scheme and insurance evidence |
| Like-for-like repair or added RCD on a circuit | Minor Works certificate quoting the EICR observation numbers | None, as a rule |
| New circuit or consumer unit | EIC | Building Regulations notification (England: new circuit, board or special location; Wales wider) |
| New shower or bathroom circuit | EIC | Notification as above |
| Landlord-supplied portable appliances | In-service inspection and test record | Pass/fail labels if agreed |
| Mains smoke or heat alarms | Fire alarm certificate where you installed or altered the system | Alarm record for the tenancy file |
Quoting the observation numbers from the EICR on the remedial certificate saves a council officer, and the next inspector, working out what got fixed. Make a habit of it. Minor Works: when to use it and Part P notification cover the form and notification choices.
The landlord in England keeps your report until the next inspection is due or done and gives a copy to the next inspector. In Scotland they keep it for six years. How long you keep your own copy is a separate question, covered in certificate retention and GDPR.
Who is competent to do the inspection?
The English regulations define a qualified person as someone competent to undertake the inspection and testing. There is no statutory card, and GOV.UK points landlords to the Electrical Safety Roundtable guidance, the competent person register and Electrical Safety First's electrician finder. In practice agents will ask for an 18th Edition certificate, a Level 3 inspection and testing qualification and public liability insurance, so keep copies to hand.
Scotland's guidance asks for a "skilled person (electrically)" and treats SELECT, NICEIC and NAPIT membership as evidence. Wales defines the qualified person by competence against BS 7671:2018, with the regulations as made citing the A2:2022 edition. Our England and Scotland and Wales guides have the detail.
Are smoke and CO alarms part of the EICR?
No. They sit under separate legislation, and the GOV.UK electrical safety guidance does not mention smoke alarms at all. Scottish guidance does list hard-wired smoke, heat and CO detectors within the EICR's visual inspection, so note them there, but that is not the same as certifying the alarm system.
| Alarm rule | England | Wales | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke | One on each storey with living accommodation | One on each storey, mains-connected and linked | Living room and each circulation space, interlinked |
| Heat | Not specified | Not specified | Kitchen, interlinked |
| Carbon monoxide | Rooms with a fixed combustion appliance, not gas cookers | Rooms with gas, oil or solid-fuel appliances, excluding portable cylinder-fed | Rooms with a carbon-fuelled appliance |
England's rules are the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 as amended in 2022, with a civil penalty of up to £5,000. The landlord must also check the alarms work on the first day of a new tenancy. If a Welsh landlord still has battery alarms, that is your quote: a storey-by-storey mains and interlink install. See fire alarm grades under BS 5839-6 for the system choice.
What do landlords need on appliances?
The law splits three ways.
Private lets in England and Wales: no specific PAT requirement, but the landlord still has to supply safe equipment, and PAT with a record is the normal way to show it. The older checklists cite the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994, which were replaced by the 2016 regulations.
Social lets in England: the landlord's cookers, fridges, microwaves and so on must be checked by a qualified person before the tenancy starts and at least every five years, to the IET Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing, 5th Edition. Tenants' own equipment is outside it. If a check finds it unsafe, the landlord must be told immediately.
Scotland: the Repairing Standard requires in-service inspection and testing of landlord-provided equipment, with records. Items bought new in the year before the test are excluded; second-hand items are not. A trained landlord can do it, so you are not automatically the only option. Items that fail must be repaired or replaced immediately.
The PAT testing guide covers classes, tests and records.
What usually stops the tenancy starting on time?
From the codes, these are the items that turn up on pre-let inspections and need a booked return visit. Check common EICR fails and Electrical Safety First's Best Practice Guide 4 for coding detail.
| Finding | Typical code | Practical note |
|---|---|---|
| Accessible live parts at a damaged accessory | C1 | Make safe before you leave |
| No main protective bonding | C2 | Fixable same day if access is good |
| No cpc at a lighting point with Class I fittings | C2 | May mean a wider rewire question |
| No RCD on socket-outlets likely to supply equipment outdoors | C2 | Often the argument for a new board |
| Thermal damage at a board | C2 or C1 on what you find | An old board alone is not a code |
| Sound 6 mm² main bonding on PME | C3 | Do not overcode it; the landlord will query the bill |
Overcoding costs you the argument with the agent. Undercoding costs the tenant. Either way, the reason needs to read clearly on the form, as covered in writing EICR observations.
What is outside these rules?
England's regulations cover tenants and licensees occupying as their only or main home. They exclude lodgers sharing with the landlord or family, long leases and tenancies of seven years or more, student halls, hostels and refuges, care homes and healthcare accommodation, and mobile homes, caravans and boats. Communal areas are also outside them, though other duties apply; see EICRs for flats and communal areas. Shared houses are in, so check the HMO guide before pricing one.
Sources: GOV.UK electrical safety standards guidance; SI 2020/312; Welsh SI 2022/6; Scottish Repairing Standard statutory guidance Annex D3; BS 7671:2018+A4:2026; IET Guidance Note 3; Electrical Safety First Best Practice Guide 4.
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 £4.99 a month, charged when you sign up.