What Is an EIC? Electrical Installation Certificate for 2026

An EIC, or Electrical Installation Certificate, is the document BS 7671 Chapter 64 requires on completion of a new electrical installation, or of an addition or alteration to an existing one. It certifies that the work was designed, constructed, inspected and tested in accordance with the Wiring Regulations and it is issued to the person who ordered the work (Regulation 644.4). The current model form, published by the IET on 15 April 2026 with BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, runs to ten sections (A to J) and is only valid when its Schedule of Inspections, Schedule of Circuit Details and Schedule of Test Results are attached. A new circuit, a rewire or a consumer unit replacement always needs an EIC, never a Minor Works Certificate.

What is an EIC in practice?

Regulation 641.1 requires every installation to be inspected and tested during erection and on completion, before it is put into service, to verify that it meets BS 7671. Regulation 644.1 then requires an Electrical Installation Certificate to be issued on completion of that initial verification. The EIC is therefore the written record of three things: what was installed and where it stops, what the supply and earthing at the origin look like, and the test results that prove each circuit is safe to energise.

The certificate is not a stand-alone sheet. Section J of the A4 form states that the schedules and continuation sheets "are part of this document and this certificate is valid only when they are attached to it." An EIC handed over without a Schedule of Test Results is a form with signatures on it, and a scheme assessor will treat it as exactly that.

The IET publishes the model forms free of charge at electrical.theiet.org for use in your own contracting business. The A4 set is dated 15 April 2026 and replaced the BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 forms, which were withdrawn with Amendments 2 and 3 on 15 October 2026. Most electricians will use the forms from their certification software or their scheme's pads rather than the IET PDFs, but the IET layout is what everyone else copies. Our longer walkthrough of the form is at Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) explained.

When is an EIC required, and when will a Minor Works do?

The rule is simple to state and easy to get wrong on site. If the work introduces a new circuit, a new origin or a new distribution board, it is an EIC. If the work is confined to an existing circuit, a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate (MEIWC) is permitted under Regulation 644.4.201.

The A4 wording is worth reading closely because it settles a long-running argument. The 2018 notes said the EIC was "to be used only for" a new installation, an addition or alteration introducing new circuits, or a board replacement. The A4 notes add a fourth bullet: "certifying where there are multiple additions, or alterations or remedial works to the existing installation which do not extend to new circuits as an alternative to the issue of multiple Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificates." So if you have replaced three accessories, altered two lighting circuits and added a socket on a fourth circuit during the same visit, one EIC covering the lot is now explicitly sanctioned. The MEIWC remains a one-circuit document; NICEIC guidance has always been one Minor Works Certificate per circuit added or altered.

For the fuller treatment of the boundary, including the RCBO-swap and like-for-like cases, see Minor Works Certificate: when to use it and when you can't and EICR vs EIC: what's the difference.

Who signs an EIC, and can one person sign all of it?

Section C of the A4 form carries three separate declarations, each certifying that the relevant work is "in accordance with BS 7671:2018, amended to [date]" except for listed departures:

1. For design, signed by Designer No 1 and, where design responsibility is shared, Designer No 2.
2. For construction, signed by the constructor.
3. For inspection and testing, signed by the inspector.

Section E then records the name, company ("for/on behalf of") and address of each signatory, so a certificate can show a consulting engineer as designer, a contractor as constructor and a third party as inspector.

The old version of this page said that Appendix 6 "provides a short form" for single-signatory work. That is not quite right for the current edition. BS 7671:2018 Appendix 6, paragraph (v), says that where design, construction, inspection and testing are the responsibility of one person, "a Certificate with a single-signature declaration in the form shown below may replace the multiple signatures section of the model form", and it prints the combined wording: "I being the person responsible for the Design, Construction, Inspection & Testing of the electrical installation... hereby CERTIFY that the said work for which I have been responsible is to the best of my knowledge and belief in accordance with BS 7671:2018, amended to [date]". It is the same certificate with one declaration in place of three, not a different form. The 17th Edition did publish a separate "short form" EIC, which is where the habit comes from. Scheme pads and most software still offer a single-signature layout, and that is the version a sole trader will sign on a domestic job.

Every signatory certifies against "BS 7671:2018, amended to" a date. Since 15 October 2026 that date should reflect Amendment 4 for new design work, and Regulation 11.15 of the Electrotechnical Assessment Specification expects a Qualified Supervisor to hold a current-edition qualification within two years of a change. The departures box cites Regulations 120.3, 133.1.2, 133.1.3 and 133.5, and A4 adds a box for permitted exceptions under Regulation 411.3.3 (omitting additional RCD protection for a socket-outlet or a specific luminaire), which must be backed by an attached risk assessment.

What does the A4:2026 EIC form contain?

The A4 model form reorganised the 2018 certificate into lettered sections. If you have been filling in the 2018 version from memory, the content is familiar but the labels and several fields have moved.

Section F records the supply as found: nominal voltage and frequency by enquiry, external earth fault loop impedance Ze and prospective fault current Ipf by enquiry or measurement, and the supply protective device with its BS (EN), type, rated current and breaking capacity. Form note 7 is explicit that the Ipf recorded is the greater of the prospective short-circuit current and the prospective earth fault current, so on a single-phase TN-C-S supply you measure both L-N and L-E and write down the higher. The earthing arrangement now distinguishes PME from PNB, which matters for the rural single-transformer supplies where the neutral is earthed at one point only.

Section G covers the means of earthing, maximum demand in kVA or amps, the earth electrode where there is one (type, location, resistance), the earthing conductor and main protective bonding conductors with material and csa, the services bonded (water, gas, oil, structural steel, lightning protection, other), and the main switch with its location, BS (EN), poles, current and voltage rating. Where the main switch is an RCD, you record its type, rated residual current, rated time delay and measured operating time.

What goes on the schedules?

The biggest practical change in A4 is that the single 2018 "Generic Schedule of Test Results" has been split in two. The Schedule of Circuit Details (columns 1 to 16) records, for each circuit: description, type of wiring (codes A to H plus O for other), reference method per Table 4A2, number of points served, live and cpc csa, overcurrent device BS (EN), type, rating and breaking capacity, maximum permitted Zs, and RCD BS (EN), type, rating and IΔn. The board header asks for the distribution circuit OCPD and, new in A4, the SPD type fitted (T1, T2, T3 or N/A), with a note to tick two boxes for a combined T1+T2 device. If your maximum permitted Zs comes from a manufacturer's data rather than Chapter 41, the footnote tells you to say so in the Remarks column. Our maximum Zs tables cover the tabulated values and the 80 per cent rule.

The Schedule of Test Results (columns 17 to 31) carries the measured values: ring final circuit r1, rn and r2; (R1+R2) or R2; insulation resistance test voltage, live-live and live-earth in MΩ; polarity; maximum measured Zs; RCD disconnection time in ms and test-button operation; AFDD manual test-button operation; and remarks. Three footnotes change how you fill it in compared with the 2018 version. First, the RCD column is a single disconnection time, because "RCD effectiveness is verified using an alternating current test at rated residual operating current (IΔn)" (Regulation 643.8, in force since Amendment 2). Second, where the schedule forms part of an EIC the insulation resistance test must be at the Table 64 voltage, which for a normal 230 V circuit means 500 V d.c. and a minimum of 1 MΩ. Third, "an 'X', denoting incorrect polarity, cannot be entered on to this schedule when issued with an Electrical Installation Certificate." On new work polarity is correct or the circuit is not energised; there is no third option.

The board header on the test results schedule also moved from "Zs at DB" to Zdb, matching the Minor Works form, and asks you to confirm correct polarity, phase sequence where relevant, and SPD operational status (with a reminder that not all SPDs have a visible indicator). You also list the serial or asset numbers of the instruments used for continuity, insulation resistance, loop impedance, RCD and earth electrode tests. Our guides on filling in a schedule of test results, insulation resistance testing and RCD testing cover the method behind each column.

What is the "comments on existing installation" box for?

Section I exists because almost every EIC outside a new build is for an addition or alteration, and Regulation 132.16 forbids making one unless the existing equipment, including the distributor's, is adequate for the altered circumstances and the earthing and bonding are adequate. Regulation 644.1.2 then requires that defects found in the existing installation are recorded on the certificate.

NICEIC's reading of this (Voltimum, 2 May 2019, and its newsletter on Regulation 132.16 of 15 August 2024) is that you are not required to inspect unrelated parts of the installation, but any defect you do see that may give rise to danger goes in the comments box, and defects in circuits or equipment that the new work depends on must be corrected before the new work is put into service. NICEIC's practical test for an existing main bonding conductor is that it is at least 6 mm², has been in place a significant time, shows no thermal damage and is effectively connected at both ends. If the rest of the installation looks poor, the comments box is the place to recommend an EICR rather than to start coding observations, which belong on a condition report and not on a certificate.

Leaving Section I blank on an addition is one of the mistakes assessors raise most often, because it reads as though you did not look. "Existing installation inspected within the extent of this work; main protective bonding to gas and water present and verified at 10 mm²; no defects observed" is a perfectly good entry when that is the truth.

What about the next inspection date?

Section D asks the designer to recommend an interval, in years or months, before the installation is "further inspected and tested". Regulation 134.2.2 puts that recommendation on the designer, and the form notes say it should take account of the maintenance the installation can reasonably expect over its life and be agreed between designer, installer and other relevant parties. IET Guidance Note 3 Table 3.2 gives the usual starting points: 10 years or change of occupancy for a domestic installation, 5 years for commercial premises and 5 years for rented accommodation (which in England, Scotland and Wales is now also a statutory maximum). An EIC itself never expires; it records the installation on the day it was certified, and the periodic inspection that follows is an EICR. See how often is an EICR required for the statutory intervals.

How does the EIC relate to Part P and the schemes?

The EIC is a BS 7671 document. Part P of the Building Regulations in England and Wales is a separate legal requirement that certain work (installing a new consumer unit, adding a new circuit, and in England work in a room containing a bath or shower; in Wales the pre-2013 wider scope still applies) is notified to building control. A registered electrician notifies through a competent person scheme, which issues the client a Building Regulations compliance certificate; GOV.UK guidance says the client should receive it within 30 days of completion. The GOV.UK list of schemes authorised for electrical work in dwellings was updated on 17 September 2026 and names APHC, BESCA, Blue Flame, Certsure (NICEIC), NAPIT and OFTEC; Stroma and BSI, which older guidance still lists, are no longer on it. In Scotland the equivalent route is an approved certifier of construction under the Building (Scotland) Regulations, through SELECT or NICEIC.

So a consumer unit change in an English house generates two documents: the EIC with its schedules, and the Part P compliance certificate from the scheme. The client is entitled to both, and the EIC should never be withheld; NICEIC's position is that a certificate for energised work is not to be held back over payment. Our Part P notification guide covers the timescales and what to do if you are not registered.

Common mistakes with EICs

1. Using a Minor Works Certificate for a new circuit. Still the most frequent error assessors pick up. A new shower, cooker or EV circuit is an EIC, full stop.
2. Missing schedules. Section J says the certificate is only valid with its schedules attached. A certificate without test results is not a certificate.
3. Copying Ze and Ipf from the previous certificate. Both are "by enquiry or by measurement", and on a board change you have the tails off and the opportunity to measure; take it, and record the higher of L-N and L-E for Ipf.
4. Leaving Section I blank on an addition. Record what you saw of the existing installation, especially the state of the main bonding.
5. Recording an "X" for polarity. The form will not accept it on an EIC. Fix the fault, retest, record a tick.
6. Testing RCDs at 1×, 5× and ½× and writing three results. The A4 schedule has a single disconnection-time column for an a.c. test at IΔn under Regulation 643.8; the extra tests have not been required since Amendment 2.
7. Forgetting the SPD and AFDD boxes. The A4 form asks for the SPD type at each board and operational status, and for AFDD test-button operation where fitted. See surge protection requirements and what is an AFDD.
8. Forgetting Part P. The client is entitled to the Building Regulations compliance certificate as well as the EIC.

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.

Related terms

• EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report)
• Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate
• Schedule of test results
• Ze, external earth fault loop impedance
• Prospective fault current (PFC)
• Main protective bonding
• Consumer unit replacement: what certificate and what to check

Sources

• BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 Requirements for Electrical Installations, Chapter 64 (Regulations 641.1, 643.8, 644.1, 644.1.2, 644.4, 644.4.201), Regulations 132.16, 134.2.2, 411.3.3 and Table 64; Appendix 6 model forms.
• IET model forms for BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, Electrical Installation Certificate, Schedule of Circuit Details and Schedule of Test Results, dated 15 April 2026 (electrical.theiet.org); IET BS 7671:2018 model forms dated 2 July 2018 for comparison.
• IET Guidance Note 3: Inspection and Testing, Table 3.2 (recommended initial frequencies of inspection).
• NICEIC, "Additions or alterations" (Voltimum, 2 May 2019) and "Additions and alterations and the requirements of regulation 132.16" (NICEIC newsletter, 15 August 2024).
• GOV.UK, "Building work, replacements and repairs to your home" (competent person schemes and the 30-day compliance certificate) and the list of competent person scheme operators for electrical work in dwellings, updated 17 September 2026.
• Electrical Safety First, Best Practice Guide 4 Issue 7.4 (August 2026), for the distinction between certification of new work and coding on condition reports.

Written by the Certio team. Last checked 23 October 2026.