If your Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) is out of date, you could be putting service users or tenants at risk. Having a faulty electrical system could result in serious injury or even death, and you may be fined. As a business or landlord, it is your responsibility to ensure that your EICR is up to date.
The EICR is a report which determines that the electrical system in a building is safe for use and is a legal requirement for any commercial building or landlord. From July 2020, it became a legal requirement that all landlords in the United Kingdom must have a valid EICR from a registered electrician.
At Care Projects we offer a fair and affordable price for our EICR testing service, during which we will test sockets, electrical circuits, the main fuse board, switches, fittings, plug sockets and earthing and bonding. We will also carry out further checks for higher risk areas such as the kitchen, where we will check ovens for any sign of damage, and also the bathroom where we will carry out an inspection on the shower.
In some cases, it may be necessary to carry out further checks and this will depend on the type of property and the needs of the business owner or landlord.
Once we have completed your EICR, we will return the paperwork to you with advice for the next steps. The EICR will contain a number of codes, which correspond with action which may need to be taken in inspected areas. If it is found that the property is electrically unsafe, then you will need to carry out the necessary work to rectify this. In other cases, these codes will simply offer advice for future work to maintain the safety of the building.
Should you need further work to maintain the safety of your property following an EICR, our team will be happy to help.
Please see the FAQ section below for any further questions you may have, or get in touch with a member of the team. If you are ready to book an EICR please contact our team today.
An EICR is a term used to describe an electrical inspection and stands for electrical installation condition report. Others may have heard these electrical safety checks referred to as a landlord electrical certificate, however they have the same meaning. Just as you may get your car serviced, it is also recommended that your electrical installation is inspected by a qualified electrician. Failing to maintain your electrical installation can be a hazard to both the property and the people within it. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) claim that 1000’s of incidents are reported to them each year, and there are probably 1000’s more which go unreported.
If you are a business owner or landlord, then it is your legal obligation to ensure that the electrical installation within your property is safe and fit for purpose. For a house of multiple occupancies (HMO), it is currently required by law that an EICR is carried out every 5 years. This requirement is expected to be passed on to all landlords by the 1st of July 2020. After this date, landlords are expected to have until the 1st of April 2021 in which to get an EICR carried out by a qualified electrician.
Good question and a bit of a tricky one! On many larger installations, it is acceptable to just test a sample of the final circuits such as lighting and sockets. This sample can go as low as 10%, obviously, this can give a misleading view of an installation and is not recommended.
Typically, this can lead to one contractor pricing for testing 10% of the circuits whilst another more thorough contractor may test 90-100% of the circuits. For this reason, it is important to check what percentage your chosen contractor will be testing when comparing prices. Another way in which some electricians price an EICR, is to price it very cheap and then make the price upon any remedial works. It is therefore crucial that you consider each price and do not instantly accept the first low quote that you get offered.
So, back to the original question, how much will an EICR cost?
At Care Projects, prices for a Domestic Electrical Condition Report start at £120 plus vat for up to six circuits with additional circuits charged at £15 plus vat per circuit. A typical three-bedroom property will take around four hours to complete. Call us today to discuss on 01752 214980.
When having an EICR carried out, there are a number of areas your electrician will want to check in order that an EICR can be carried out successfully. Below is a list of areas your electrician will likely want to inspect;
This list is by no means comprehensive and every property will inevitably be different from the next. However, it has been constructed to give some idea of what is involved and what an electrician will be looking for.
Observations are recorded on your Fixed Wiring Report, also known as an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). They are things that are wrong with your installation and need rectifying. They are coded according to their danger level, using the codes C1, C2, C3 and FI.
A (C1) observation means ‘ Danger present. Risk of injury. Immediate remedial action required.’
A C1 represents an immediate threat to the safety of your tenants, employees, customers or guests and should be rectified or made safe as soon as possible.
An example of a C1 defect would be accessible live conductors due to damage, poorly modified enclosures or removed maintenance panels.
Once a C1 threat is identified, your electrician will notify you or the responsible person immediately, of the risk of injury that exists. Depending on the problem identified, the electrician may have to isolate the circuit until the issue has been resolved.
A C2 code is not as severe as a C1 but is still a potentially dangerous defect. They may not pose an immediate threat but are likely to become a danger in the future. A C2 is described as ‘Potentially dangerous – urgent remedial action required.’
The phrase “potentially dangerous”, in the C2 code is designed to point towards a risk of injury from contact with live parts after a sequence of events. A sequence of events could mean that an individual may gain access to live parts through a day to day task that would not usually be expected to give access to live parts.
A C3 code is described as ‘Improvement recommended.’
This means something has been identified which does not comply with the latest regulations but isn’t actually dangerous. For example, the installation may not comply with the current version of the regulations or may have damaged fittings that do not have exposed live parts. A C3 code in itself, should not warrant an overall unsatisfactory report.
An FI observation code is described as ‘ Further investigation required without delay.‘ This means that your electrician has observed something whilst carrying out the testing. For example, insufficient test results that are outside the usual characteristics. This might not have been covered in the report so they have noted it separately as code FI.
You will need to address C1, C2 and FI faults on your report in order to achieve compliance with electrical safety regulations. However, it’s always good practice and usually well worthwhile considering rectifying all faults on the system. You aren’t obliged to use the same electrical contractor to test and to carry out remedial repairs and you do not need to have the whole installation re-tested after the repairs have been completed. You should however ensure you obtain a certificate for additional works carried out.
Call the Care Projects team today to discuss your EICR requirements on 01752 214980 or fill in the contact form below and one of our team will call you as soon as we can.
If you’re a private homeowner or landlord looking for a domestic electrician near me, Care Projects can help. From our offices in Plymouth, we offer a comprehensive range of domestic electrical services including installations, fault finding and repairs. Our domestic electrical services include:
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An EICR determines whether or not the electrical system within your home is up to date and safe to use. If you own your home, it is recommended you receive a valid EICR from a registered electrician to ensure you, your home and your family aren’t at risk.
If you have an issue with your lighting circuits or consumer unit, Care Projects can help. Our team of experienced electricians can identify and diagnose all kinds of electrical faults, and resolve the issue with efficiency and professionalism.
Are you in need of a professional electrician for your commercial property? Care Projects boast an exceptional team of experienced electricians with plenty of experience servicing commercial and industrial properties. Our commercial electrical services include:
Whatever fire detection system you require, Care Projects can provide a FREE survey of your property. Our team of professional electricians will design a system that meets your unique requirements as well as install, service and maintain it to the highest possible standard.
In the UK, it is a legal requirement that all commercial buildings including tenancies have a valid, up to date EICR from a registered electrician. At Care Projects, we offer a fair and affordable EICR testing service.
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