Whether you want to rent or buy a house or even sell a house you probably heard EICR inspection. It’s a certificate that approved your house has required electrical safety standards. In the UK, Landlords must have examined and certified all appliances and electrical conditions in their house by a registered, certified electrician. The EICR test will be conducted every 5 years under the new legalisations.

After completing the EICR test by an expert, a report will be issued for landlords. This report should be distributed to all tenants within 28 days after the inspection. After that, the landlord must keep it until five years later.

Why are electrical regulations always changing?

The government issued a response in 2020 that include some changes in landlord responsibilities. It is the landlord’s responsibility to carry out an electrical inspection test for their properties every five years. These periodic electrical inspections prevent any further dangers for tenants and homeowners. Every year we face a huge number of electrical accidents and fire hazards around the UK. In the other words, you save lives by repeating periodic electrical tests and checking up on the safety requirements for your house.

The main reason for changing electrical regulations is the pace of technology development. 20 years ago most people didn’t have daily electrical devices like smartphones! But today every single person in these 7 billion people have a smartphone. It is a huge number for an electrical product! All these mobiles consume electricity and other electrical devices too.

Inspections and tests

According to the regulations we talked about it before, landlords or homeowners should make sure about these factors in their house:

• Wiring and circuit breaker: old fuse box or tripping circuit breaker is not normal! You should check them out every year to make sure everything is fine in fuse boxes. Faulty wiring could lead to fire hazards. You can also may need rewiring if your house is older than 20 years.
• Devices and appliances: Anything that is consuming electricity in your house. All the appliances and devices in your home will be tested and inspected by a registered electrician in London. All the problems and safety tips should be mentioned in an electrical inspection report.

Distribution and retention of electrical reports

After you received the electrical inspection report, you should:

• Make sure every detail about the person who conducted the test and result is in the electrical reports. It includes the date and time of inspection and the next test in 5 years later.
• Submit a copy of the eic report to each existing tenant within 28 days of the inspection and testing.
• Also obtain a new copy of the most recent electrical report to new tenants in case of emergency. (this should be done before the tenants move in for any tenants request for it.)
• And a copy of the electrical report for the local housing authority one week after receiving the request.
• Keep another copy of the electrical report for nest inspection. The inspector wants a copy of the previous electrical inspection report.

What does EICR involve?

The purpose of the parodic inspection and electrical installation condition report is to:

• Find arch fault and any kinds of potential danger including fire hazards or electric shock risks
• Identify faulty wiring and replacement them with a better one
• Detect any lack of earthing or bonding in the circuit

The electrician who does the electrical inspection will detect any kind of issues and note them on the electrical condition report. If your property is unsafe and damaged in electrical wiring and device installations, it is declared as unsatisfactory in the electrical installation condition report. There is also some advice and remedial action that will be required after EICR within 28 days.

You must make sure that periodic inspection is carried out by a professional who knows local authorities certified by the government as a qualified person.

Do you need permission to enter the property for EICR?

If your tenants already live in your house, you should write a notice to inform them at least 24 hours before arranging the periodic inspection with a qualified electrician. No landlord or electrical contractor could enter the rental property without consent from tenants who are living there.

EICR inspection is a legal requirement for insurance and renting the properties, so your tenant shouldn’t have any problem with electrical checks, it improves their safety in the house.

Is there any exception? What types of tenancy are excluded from EICR inspections?

Electrical inspection should carry out by a person in most of the tenancies but there are few types of tenancy with the exclusive conditions that are excluded from the inspection.

• Where the landlord is a provider of private social housing.
• Anywhere with shared accommodation with the landlord or family member.
• A tenancy that grants the right of occupation for more than seven years.
• Student accommodation and dormitories
• Hostels
• Refuges camp
• Care homes
• Healthcare buildings (clinics and hospitals)

If you want to check your property for electrical safety, our London based company can help you out. you can easily make contact with our expert and make a visiting appointment whenever you are ready.

Electrical inspections for new builds

Most of the electrical works in the new building happened in the second fix. Nevertheless, it needs more inspection and exploration to find bugs and faulty wiring. Because no one lives there before it is kind of tricky.

New building and properties electrical conditions also need to approve by experts. For this purpose, you should get the electrical installation certificate known as EIC. If your apartment is a new build or you did rewiring right before, you don’t have to get an eicr test or Electrical Installation Condition Report. Five years after you have been issued an EIC certificate can get EICR or periodic inspection. There is a difference between EICR and EIC.