EICR for landlords: the rules, the 5-year cycle, and costs
What an Electrical Installation Condition Report is, the law that requires it, the five-year cycle, what C1, C2, C3, and FI codes mean, the 28-day remedial rule, and the penalties for getting it wrong.
Electrical safety is one of the few areas of landlord compliance where the duty is unambiguous: every let property in England must have a satisfactory electrical inspection on a fixed cycle, and the penalties for skipping it are among the steepest in the sector. The document that proves it is the Electrical Installation Condition Report, or EICR.
This guide covers what an EICR is, the law behind it, the five-year cycle, the classification codes you will see on a report, what to do when one comes back unsatisfactory, and how to stay on the right side of enforcement.
What an EICR is
An Electrical Installation Condition Report is a formal assessment of the fixed electrical installation in a property: the wiring, the consumer unit (fuse board), the sockets, switches, and other fixed parts. It is carried out by a qualified and competent electrician who tests the installation and records its condition.
An EICR is not a portable appliance test. PAT testing covers plug-in appliances; the EICR covers the fixed wiring. The report states whether the installation is satisfactory or unsatisfactory and lists any defects with a classification code against each one.
The law: the Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020
The duty comes from the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. They applied to new tenancies from 1 July 2020 and to all existing tenancies from 1 April 2021, so every private let in England is now within scope.
The core obligations are:
- Have the electrical installation inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years.
- Ensure the installation meets the standards in the current edition of the IET Wiring Regulations (BS 7671).
- Obtain a report (the EICR) setting out the results and the date of the next inspection.
- Supply a copy of the report to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection, and to new tenants before they move in.
- Supply a copy to the local authority within seven days of a request.
- Where the report requires remedial or further work, carry it out within the deadline and provide written confirmation.
These regulations apply to England. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own electrical safety regimes, so check the local rules if you let outside England.
The five-year cycle
The headline rule is a maximum interval of five years between inspections. There is an important caveat: five years is the maximum, not a default. An EICR can specify an earlier re-test date if the inspector judges the installation warrants it, and that earlier date then becomes your deadline. Always read the next-inspection date on the report rather than assuming five years from the test.
Some properties need more frequent inspection regardless. Houses in multiple occupation have stricter electrical safety expectations, which we cover in the HMO licensing checklist. When a tenancy ends and a new one begins, you do not need a fresh EICR if the existing one is still in date, but the report must be given to the incoming tenant before they move in.
The classification codes: C1, C2, C3, and FI
Every defect on an EICR is given a code. These determine whether the report passes and how urgently you must act.
- C1, danger present. There is an immediate risk of injury. The electrician should make the situation safe at the time of inspection, but the underlying fault still needs fixing. A C1 makes the report unsatisfactory.
- C2, potentially dangerous. A defect that could become dangerous. It is not an immediate risk but must be put right. A C2 also makes the report unsatisfactory.
- FI, further investigation required. The inspector found something that needs more detailed checking before it can be classified, often because access was limited or a result was ambiguous. An FI makes the report unsatisfactory and must be followed up.
- C3, improvement recommended. A recommendation rather than a defect. A C3 does not make the report unsatisfactory and does not legally require action, though addressing it is sensible.
The single thing to remember: any C1, C2, or FI means the report is unsatisfactory, and an unsatisfactory report triggers a legal duty to act. A report with only C3 entries is satisfactory.
Remedial works and the 28-day rule
When an EICR is unsatisfactory, the regulations require you to carry out the remedial or further investigative work within 28 days of the inspection, or sooner if the report specifies a shorter period. A C1 in particular should be addressed without delay given the immediate risk.
Once the work is done you must obtain written confirmation from the electrician that the installation now meets the standard. Acceptable confirmation includes a fresh satisfactory EICR, an Electrical Installation Certificate, or a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate, depending on the scope of the work. You then supply that confirmation to the tenant, and to the local authority if it requested the original report, within 28 days of completing the work.
Keep the original unsatisfactory report, the remedial paperwork, and proof you sent both to the tenant. If enforcement ever questions the property, that paper trail is your defence.
Supplying the report to tenants
The supply duties are easy to overlook but are part of the legal requirement, not an optional courtesy:
- Existing tenants get a copy within 28 days of the inspection.
- New tenants get a copy before they occupy the property.
- Any prospective tenant who requests it gets a copy within 28 days of asking.
- The local authority gets a copy within seven days of a request.
A satisfactory EICR sitting in a drawer that the tenant never received does not fully meet the regulations. Delivery is part of compliance.
Penalties
Local authorities enforce the regulations and can require remedial action where a landlord has not acted. Where a landlord breaches the duties, the authority can impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000. Penalties can be applied per breach, so a portfolio with several lapsed inspections is a serious exposure rather than a single fine.
What an EICR costs
For a typical flat or small house, an EICR usually costs in the low hundreds of pounds, with larger properties and HMOs costing more because there is more installation to test. Remedial works are separate and depend entirely on what the report finds, from a minor fix to a full rewire. Budget for both the inspection and a contingency for remedial work, especially on older properties.
Staying on the cycle
The risk with EICRs is not usually the inspection itself, it is losing track of when each property is due and missing the 28-day window when a report comes back unsatisfactory. Electrical safety sits alongside gas safety as the two recurring obligations most likely to lapse quietly across a portfolio. Our gas safety tracking and the wider compliance picture in the Renters' Rights Act 2026 guide show how these duties stack up.
DwellBridge tracks EICRs as one of the six core UK certificate types, holding each report's expiry and next-inspection date in compliant, at-risk, and breached states, and using AI agents to chase the electrician and the tenant across WhatsApp, SMS, and email so the re-test gets booked and the report actually reaches the tenant on time. See EICR tracking software for how it works.
