What Landlords Should Ask an Electrician Before an EICR

Since 1 April 2021 every private rented home in England has needed an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) from a "qualified and competent person" at least every five years, with similar duties in Scotland and Wales. The regulations put the responsibility for choosing that person on the landlord, and a poorly done EICR is worse than none: it can pass an installation with real defects, or fail one with unnecessary C2 codes that cost hundreds in remedial work. Ten questions asked before the booking sort out most of that. This guide sets them out, with the answers a competent electrician should give.

Why does it matter who does the EICR?

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 do not name a specific qualification. Regulation 2 defines the person carrying out the inspection as "qualified and competent", and the government's landlord guidance points to the Electrical Safety Roundtable's competent person checklist as the benchmark. The practical result is that the landlord carries the risk of choosing badly. Local authorities can fine up to £30,000 for a breach of the regulations, and an EICR by someone who was not competent may not count as compliance at all.

There is also a quality problem in the market. Electrical Safety First and NAPIT have both raised concerns about "drive-by" EICRs where circuits are visually checked but not tested. Since every report has to include a schedule of test results for each circuit, an inspector who spent forty minutes on a four-bedroom house has either not tested or has invented the figures. Asking the questions below before booking filters most of that out.

Question 1: Are you registered with a competent person scheme?

Ask which scheme, and check the registration on the scheme's website before the visit. NICEIC (Approved Contractor or Domestic Installer), NAPIT, ELECSA and STROMA all run public registers. Registration means the firm has been assessed, has insurance, and is subject to a complaints procedure with the scheme, which gives the landlord somewhere to go if the report is wrong.

Registration is not legally mandatory for EICRs, and there are competent independent electricians who are not registered. If you use one, you will need to see their qualifications and insurance yourself. See NICEIC vs NAPIT: Which Scheme Should an Electrician Join? for what the schemes actually assess.

Question 2: What inspection and testing qualification do you hold?

An electrical installation qualification (Level 3 NVQ, AM2) proves someone can install. Inspecting and testing an existing installation and coding its defects is a separate skill with its own qualification. The industry standard is the Level 3 Award in the Periodic Inspection, Testing and Certification of Electrical Installations, usually City & Guilds 2391-52 (or the older 2391-10/2395) or the EAL equivalent. Alongside that, ask for the current BS 7671 qualification, the 18th Edition (City & Guilds 2382), updated for at least Amendment 2:2022.

An honest answer sounds like "2391-52 and 18th Edition Amendment 2, and I've been doing periodic inspections for eight years". A vague answer such as "I've been an electrician for twenty years" is not the same thing.

Question 3: What will the inspection actually cover?

The EICR must follow BS 7671 Chapter 65 and IET Guidance Note 3. It covers the fixed installation: the supply intake, earthing and bonding, consumer unit, circuit wiring, and accessories such as sockets, switches and light fittings. It does not cover portable appliances, the landlord's white goods, or the supplier's meter and cut-out.

Ask specifically about:

Sampling and limitations are explained in EICR Sampling and Limitations Explained: Extent, LIM and N/V. A report with a long list of limitations that were not agreed in advance is a common cause of dispute.

Question 4: How long will you be on site?

Realistic durations, for a competent inspector working alone:

Tenants need to know the power will be off for periods during testing. Ask the electrician what notice they give tenants and whether they can work around a tenant who works from home. How Long Does an EICR Take? Typical Times by Property Type breaks this down further.

Question 5: How do you price the EICR, and what is included?

Most electricians price an EICR by number of circuits or by property type. Ask whether the price includes the report, any minor adjustments made on the day (tightening a loose terminal, for example), and a follow-up certificate for remedial work. Cheap headline prices sometimes exclude the written report, which is the thing the regulations require.

Be wary of very low prices. A three-bedroom house cannot be inspected and tested properly in the time a very low price implies. The remedial work is often where a cut-price EICR is made profitable, which brings us to the next question.

Question 6: How is remedial work priced, and can I use someone else?

This is the question landlords most often forget. An Unsatisfactory report will list C1, C2 and FI items that must be addressed within 28 days under the England regulations, with written confirmation from a qualified person to the landlord and the local authority if they have requested the report.

Ask three things: whether remedial work is quoted separately after the inspection, whether the inspector will explain each observation and its code, and whether you are free to have another electrician carry out the work. A competent inspector should say yes to all three. An inspector who insists on doing the remedials, or who quotes a fixed remedial figure before seeing the installation, has a conflict of interest.

You are also entitled to ask why an item has been coded C2 rather than C3. The codes are defined in EICR observation codes explained: C1, C2, C3 and FI, and Electrical Safety First's Best Practice Guide 4 gives worked examples. An installation without RCD protection on socket circuits is a common example of a C3 that is sometimes wrongly coded C2.

Question 7: What will I receive, and when?

The regulations require the landlord to have a copy of the report to give to the tenant within 28 days and to the local authority within 7 days of a request, and to give the next tenant a copy before they move in. So the report itself is the compliance document, and you need the full thing.

A complete EICR to the BS 7671:2018 model form contains: details of the client, installation and purpose of the report; the extent and limitations; a summary of the condition and the overall Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory assessment; the observations with codes; the schedule of inspections; the schedule of test results for every circuit; details of the supply characteristics and earthing arrangement; and the inspector's and, if different, the reviewer's signature and details.

Ask for a PDF by email within a few days of the visit. Apps such as Certio produce the report on site, so the landlord often has it the same day. What to look for when it arrives is covered in this page.

Question 8: Are you insured?

Ask for public liability insurance and, ideally, professional indemnity. Scheme-registered firms are required to hold public liability cover as a condition of registration. Professional indemnity matters for an EICR because the product is the inspector's professional opinion; if that opinion is negligent and something goes wrong, indemnity cover is what responds.

Question 9: What do you need from me and the tenant?

A good inspector will ask for: access to every room including any loft or cellar; the consumer unit and meter position clear of stored items; the previous EICR or EIC if one exists; the tenant's contact details to arrange the visit; and confirmation that the power can be switched off. Providing the previous report helps the inspector compare like with like and identify anything that has changed. Our checklist at Landlord Electrical Checklist Before a New Tenancy covers what to have ready.

Question 10: What happens if there is a C1 on the day?

A C1 means danger is present, for example exposed live conductors. The inspector should make the situation safe immediately, usually by isolating the affected circuit, tell the tenant, and tell the landlord straight away rather than waiting for the report. Ask what their process is. "I'd isolate it, label it, phone you and put it on the report" is the right answer. Leaving a C1 live because "it's the landlord's decision" is not.

Questions for Scotland and Wales

In Scotland the duty comes from the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 and the guidance requires the inspector to be "employed by a firm that is a member of an accredited registration scheme" or otherwise able to demonstrate competence. Wales applies the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, with EICRs required for all occupation contracts since 1 December 2022. The questions above apply equally; see EICR Landlord Requirements in Scotland and Wales (vs England) for the differences in timing and enforcement.

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.

Written by the Certio team. Last checked 19 September 2026.