How Is An EICR Carried Out? Step-By-Step UK Inspection Guide

Most people book an EICR knowing they need one, whether it's a legal requirement as a landlord or a smart move before buying a property, but have no idea what actually happens when the electrician arrives. Understanding how an EICR is carried out removes the uncertainty and helps you prepare your property so the inspection runs smoothly and nothing gets missed.

An Electrical Installation Condition Report involves far more than a quick visual check. It's a structured process that combines inspection, live testing, and detailed reporting against BS 7671 (the UK Wiring Regulations). Each circuit in your property gets examined, tested, and graded, and the results determine whether your installation is safe to continue use or needs remedial work.

At Electrical Testing London, our engineers carry out EICRs across domestic and commercial properties every day. This guide walks you through exactly what happens during an inspection, from the moment we arrive to the final report, so you know what to expect at every stage.

What an EICR is and what it covers

An EICR is a formal document produced by a qualified electrician after a thorough inspection and test of the electrical installation in a property. It assesses whether the wiring, circuits, consumer unit, and connected accessories are in a safe and satisfactory condition relative to current UK safety standards. The report does not certify that the installation meets today's full design requirements, since older wiring installed legally at the time will not automatically fail simply because standards have moved on. What it confirms is whether the installation is safe for continued use and whether any deterioration or damage poses a genuine risk to the people inside the building.

An EICR is not a simple pass or fail certificate. It grades the condition of your electrical installation and flags every issue that needs attention, from urgent faults to observations worth monitoring.

What the inspection actually covers

When you understand how an EICR is carried out, it becomes clear that the scope goes well beyond a surface-level look at your sockets. The engineer examines the consumer unit (fuse board), all fixed wiring throughout the property, earthing and bonding arrangements, sockets, switches, light fittings, and every other accessory connected to the fixed installation. Portable appliances are not included in an EICR; those are assessed separately under PAT testing.

The inspection also evaluates the condition of the wiring insulation, whether protective devices like circuit breakers and RCDs (Residual Current Devices) operate correctly, and whether the installation provides adequate protection against electric shock and fire. Every circuit receives individual attention during the process, which is why a larger property with more circuits takes longer to inspect than a one-bedroom flat. Your electrician works through each circuit in a methodical sequence, and nothing gets skipped.

The standard it checks against

Every EICR in the UK is assessed against BS 7671, the national standard for electrical installations published by the IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology). This is commonly known as the Wiring Regulations, and the current version is the 18th Edition, which came into force in January 2019. Your electrician compares the installation's condition against the requirements set out in this document to determine whether any observed defect represents a real safety concern.

Older properties are not automatically penalised for having wiring installed under a previous edition of the regulations. The focus during an EICR is on whether the installation is safe to use now, not whether it matches the full design requirements of the latest edition. Any defect that creates a genuine risk, such as deteriorated insulation, missing earth connections, or an overloaded circuit, gets recorded regardless of the property's age. If your wiring is simply old but still functioning safely and within acceptable limits, it will not automatically attract a code that requires remedial work.

When you need an EICR and how often

The frequency of your EICR depends on who you are and how the property is used. Legal requirements apply to landlords and commercial premises, while homeowners face no statutory obligation but still benefit from regular checks. Knowing where you stand prevents you from falling behind on compliance or missing a safety issue before it causes real harm.

If you're a landlord

In England, The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 require private landlords to have an EICR carried out at least every five years, or at each change of tenancy if the existing report has expired. You must provide a copy of the current report to each tenant before they move in, and to your local authority within 28 days if they request one.

Failing to comply carries financial penalties of up to £30,000, and local authorities have the power to arrange remedial work and recover the cost from you directly. If you manage multiple properties, keeping track of each report's expiry date is essential so nothing slips through.

Scotland and Wales have similar but distinct rules under their own regulations, so always check the requirements that apply to the property's specific location.

If you own a commercial property

Commercial EICRs are typically required every five years, though the interval can drop to three years for higher-risk premises such as industrial sites, swimming pools, or locations with heavy public access. Your insurer may also specify a maximum inspection interval as a condition of your policy, so check your cover alongside any regulatory guidance.

Health and safety legislation places a general duty on employers and property owners to keep electrical installations safe. An EICR gives you documented evidence that you've met that duty, which matters if an incident or formal inspection occurs.

If you're a homeowner or buying a property

Homeowners face no legal obligation to obtain an EICR, but the IET recommends one every ten years for owner-occupied homes. Before exchanging contracts on a purchase, understanding how is an EICR carried out and commissioning one independently gives you an accurate picture of the installation's true condition and any costs that follow.

You should also consider booking an inspection if:

• Your property is more than 25 years old and has never been tested
• You've moved into a home with no existing report available
• You're planning significant renovation or rewiring work
• Your property suffered a flood, fire, or electrical fault that may have damaged circuits

How an EICR is carried out step by step

Understanding how is an EICR carried out in practice helps you prepare your property and set realistic expectations for how long the visit takes. The process follows a structured sequence that every qualified electrician must complete to produce a valid report, and it typically takes between one and four hours depending on the size of the property and the number of circuits involved.

Before testing begins

When the engineer arrives, the first step is a brief conversation about the installation's history: how old the wiring is, whether any electrical work has been done recently, and whether you've noticed any faults or flickering lights. This context helps the electrician prioritise circuits and flag known issues before any physical work starts. Your consumer unit will then be located and the engineer will document its make, type, and overall condition before the inspection moves forward.

The inspection and testing sequence

The engineer works through the installation in a methodical order, starting with a visual inspection of accessible components before moving on to physical testing. Here is what that sequence looks like in practice:

1. Visual check of the consumer unit, wiring condition, earthing connections, and all accessible accessories such as sockets and light switches
2. Dead testing with circuits isolated, measuring insulation resistance to confirm wiring is intact and not degraded
3. Continuity testing to verify that earth conductors are connected correctly throughout each circuit
4. Polarity checks to confirm live, neutral, and earth conductors are wired correctly at every point
5. Live testing with circuits energised, including RCD trip-time tests to confirm protective devices operate within safe limits

The dead testing phase is where most faults in older properties are uncovered, since deteriorated insulation often shows no visible signs of damage.

Recording findings on the report

Throughout the inspection, the engineer records every observation directly onto the EICR form rather than relying on memory at the end. Each circuit gets its own row of results, and any defect is assigned a code at the moment it is identified. This live recording process ensures the final report accurately reflects what was found during the visit, with no gaps or assumptions filled in afterwards.

What electricians test and why it can fail

When you look at how is an EICR carried out, the testing phase is where the real detail sits. Your electrician checks specific electrical values against the limits set in BS 7671, and any reading that falls outside those limits gets recorded as a defect. This is not a subjective assessment; the results are measured, documented, and compared against defined thresholds.

The specific checks that matter most

Your engineer carries out a combination of insulation resistance tests, continuity tests, polarity checks, and RCD trip-time tests. Insulation resistance testing confirms that the protective coating around your wiring is still intact and not breaking down due to age, heat, or moisture ingress. Continuity testing checks that your earth conductors form an unbroken path from every socket, switch, and fitting back to the consumer unit, which is critical for protecting you if a live wire touches metalwork anywhere in the circuit.

RCD testing measures how quickly your Residual Current Device responds to a fault current. Under BS 7671, a 30mA RCD protecting socket outlets must trip within 40 milliseconds. If yours takes longer, it cannot protect you effectively from electric shock, and that circuit will receive a code on your report regardless of how old or new the device is.

Common reasons an installation fails

Deteriorated wiring insulation is the single most frequent cause of a failed inspection in older UK properties, particularly those with rubber-insulated cables from the 1960s and 1970s. Rubber becomes brittle over time and cracks, which reduces insulation resistance to unacceptable levels and creates a genuine fire risk. Your electrician will identify this through measured results rather than visual appearance alone, since degraded insulation often looks intact from the outside.

Missing or inadequate earthing and bonding is another major source of failed reports, and it is completely invisible during a visual check without testing.

Incorrectly wired accessories, outdated protective devices that no longer operate within safe limits, and circuits with no RCD protection where current regulations require one are also common findings. None of these issues mean your property is immediately dangerous in every case, but each one gets coded and explained in the report so you know exactly what needs attention.

After the inspection: results, codes, next steps

Once the engineer completes all testing, you receive a formal EICR document that records the condition of every circuit in the property. The report includes overall observations, individual circuit results, and a series of coded classifications that tell you exactly how serious each finding is. Reading those codes correctly is the most important part of understanding what happens after the visit, and what action, if any, you need to take.

Understanding the codes on your report

Every defect or observation recorded during how is an EICR carried out gets assigned one of four standard codes, each indicating a different level of urgency. These codes are defined in BS 7671 and used consistently across the industry, so any qualified electrician reading your report will interpret them in the same way.

A C1 finding means the installation poses an immediate risk and should not remain in use until the fault is resolved. A C2 is serious but not immediately dangerous, though you should arrange remedial work without delay. Your EICR is only classified as satisfactory if it contains no C1 or C2 codes; either of those results makes the report unsatisfactory.

A C3 code does not make your report unsatisfactory, but it identifies something worth addressing before your next scheduled inspection.

What to do after you receive the report

If your report is unsatisfactory, arrange remedial electrical work through a qualified electrician before the installation is used as normal, and certainly before a tenant occupies the property. Once the work is complete, your electrician issues a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate or equivalent certification covering the repaired areas, and you keep those documents alongside your EICR as a complete compliance record.

Your EICR also carries a recommended reinspection date set by the engineer based on the installation's condition and your property type. Record that date somewhere you will not miss it, so your next inspection is booked on time and your compliance record stays current.

Next steps to keep your electrics safe

Now you know how is an EICR carried out, from the initial visual check through to the coded findings on your final report, you are in a strong position to approach the process with confidence. Booking your inspection before your deadline arrives gives you time to arrange any remedial work without pressure, and keeping your certification records organised means you can produce them quickly when a tenant, insurer, or local authority asks.

Whether your property needs its first EICR or a renewal inspection, working with experienced engineers makes a real difference to the quality and accuracy of the report you receive. Electrical Testing London carries out domestic and commercial inspections across London and the South East, with engineers who have a minimum of ten years' experience on every job. Get a quote for your EICR today and get your electrical installation properly assessed by a team that knows exactly what to look for.