An EICR — Electrical Installation Condition Report — is a visual inspection plus a set of instrument tests on the fixed wiring of a property: the consumer unit, the cables in the walls, the sockets, switches, light fittings and earthing. It does not test the appliances plugged in, and it does not test gas, boilers or alarms beyond the circuit that feeds them. Below is exactly what a NICEIC electrician checks on a London EICR, what each test is looking for, and what the result codes mean. F & A Electrical, Tottenham N15, 9.32/10 from 242 reviews, EICRs from £140 labour-only across North and East London — call 07407 627542.
The short answer
An EICR checks nine things, in this order: the condition of the consumer unit and earthing; a visual inspection of every accessible socket, switch and fitting; continuity of the earth (protective) conductors; continuity of each ring circuit; insulation resistance of every circuit; polarity; earth fault loop impedance at the board and at the furthest point of each circuit; prospective fault current at the origin; and the trip time of every RCD. Anything found is coded C1, C2, C3 or FI, and the report is Satisfactory only if there are no C1, C2 or FI items. On a typical London flat this takes 1.5–2 hours; on a three-bed house 2–3 hours — see how long an EICR takes.
The nine checks, one by one
| # | Check | What it looks for | Typical fail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Consumer unit and earthing | Board type and condition, main switch, correct breaker sizes, main earth to the supply, bonding to gas and water pipes (10 mm² in most London homes) | No main bonding to gas — C2; plastic board under a wooden stair with no fire enclosure — C3 |
| 2 | Visual inspection | Every accessible socket, switch, light fitting, junction box, cable run and the meter position; signs of heat, damage, DIY work, missing covers | Browned socket faceplate — C2; exposed live in a broken pendant — C1 |
| 3 | Continuity of protective conductors | Every earth on every circuit is unbroken from the board to the furthest point (R1+R2 or R2 measured) | Lighting circuit with no earth (1960s two-core cable) — C2 if metal fittings or switches are used, C3 if all plastic |
| 4 | Ring final circuit continuity | Each socket ring is a complete loop — line, neutral and earth all read end-to-end (r1, rn, r2) with the “figure of eight” cross-connection at each socket | Broken ring = two overloaded radials on a 32 A breaker — C2; interconnected rings — C3 |
| 5 | Insulation resistance | 500 V DC applied between conductors and to earth on every circuit; the minimum acceptable reading is 1 MΩ, a healthy circuit reads over 200 MΩ | Below 1 MΩ — C2 (moisture, perished rubber, nail through a cable); below 0.5 MΩ we would also recommend the circuit is isolated |
| 6 | Polarity | Line and neutral are the right way round at the board, at every socket, and switches break the line conductor not the neutral | Reversed polarity at a socket — C2; switched neutral on a light — C2 |
| 7 | Earth fault loop impedance (Zs) | Measured live at the origin (Ze) and at the furthest point of each circuit; must be low enough for the breaker to trip in 0.4 s (final circuits) or 5 s (distribution). For a B32 MCB the 18th-edition maximum is 1.37 Ω | Zs above the maximum — C2; a high Ze on a TT (earth rod) supply is common in older East London terraces and needs RCD protection on every circuit |
| 8 | Prospective fault current (PFC / Ipf) | Measured at the origin; the breakers’ rated breaking capacity (usually 6 kA domestic) must exceed it | Rare in domestic London supplies; noted if a 3 kA-rated old board sits on a 6 kA-plus supply — C3 |
| 9 | RCD operation | Every 30 mA RCD or RCBO is tripped with the instrument: must trip within 300 ms at its rated current (1×IΔn) and within 40 ms at five times rated; the test button is also pressed | Fails to trip or trips slow — C2; no RCD on socket circuits or on cables buried in walls — C3 (C2 if bathroom or outdoor circuits are unprotected) |
Functional checks round it off: every switch, dimmer, isolator and the main switch is operated, and the results are entered on the schedule of test results — one line per circuit — that forms pages 3 onward of the report. A report with no schedule of test results, or with “N/A” down every column, is not a valid EICR whoever signed it; see who can carry out an EICR.
What an EICR does not check
Appliances. Kettles, washing machines, the landlord’s supplied fridge — anything on a plug is PAT testing, which is a separate job (£5 per appliance, £108 minimum) and a separate licence condition in most London HMO schemes. Hidden cable runs. The inspector does not lift floorboards or chase walls; the insulation resistance test is what tells you about the cable you cannot see. Gas, boilers, cookers’ gas side, and the fabric of the building. Smoke and heat alarms are checked only for the circuit that feeds them and whether they are present where the regulations require — their function is a separate landlord duty. Solar, batteries and EV chargers are inspected where they are part of the installation, but a full EV or PV report is an additional item, from £108. And an EICR is a snapshot on the day: it records the condition at the time of inspection, which is why it is valid for five years for a rental and not for ever.
How much of the installation is tested?
On a domestic EICR we test 100 % of circuits and inspect every accessible accessory — the sampling allowances in the guidance are for large commercial installations, not a flat. A “10 % sample” EICR on a house is a red flag on a cheap quote, and it is one reason a £140–£300 London EICR and a £59 one are not the same product. The number of circuits is what sets the price and the time: how many circuits an EICR covers explains the bands.
What the codes mean
C1 — danger present, made safe on the day (exposed live parts, a burnt-out connection). C2 — potentially dangerous, must be fixed for the report to be Satisfactory (no RCD on a bathroom circuit, no earth on metal light switches, insulation below 1 MΩ). C3 — improvement recommended, does not fail the report (no RCD on an upstairs socket ring, an old plastic board). FI — further investigation needed, which fails the report until resolved. The full guide is at what C1, C2 and C3 mean, with the most common C2 items at what is a C2 on an EICR. Remedial pricing is on the remedial cost guide: most C2s are £108–£250 each and a board change is from £550.
Frequently asked questions
Does an EICR check the fuse board?
Yes — it is the first and most detailed part of the inspection: the board is opened, every connection is checked for tightness and heat damage, the breaker ratings are matched to the cable sizes, and the RCDs are trip-tested. An old but sound rewireable Wylex board is usually a C3, not a fail; no RCD protection on bathroom, outdoor or buried-cable circuits is a C2.
Does an EICR check the sockets and lights?
Every accessible socket and light is visually inspected and the circuit it sits on is fully tested. Individual sockets are also checked for polarity and earth. A socket behind a fitted wardrobe or a kitchen unit is recorded as “limitation — not accessible” rather than skipped silently.
Will the power be off?
Yes, for most of the visit. Continuity and insulation tests need the circuits dead, and the board is opened. Expect the power off for around an hour on a flat and up to two on a house, circuit by circuit; we tell tenants in advance and get fridges and routers back on first.
Does an EICR check for asbestos, gas or damp?
No. It is an electrical report only. Damp is recorded only where it has affected the electrics — a low insulation reading, corroded terminals — and is coded on that basis.
What does the report look like when it’s done?
A 6–10 page PDF: the summary and overall assessment (Satisfactory / Unsatisfactory), the supply characteristics, the schedule of inspections (a tick-box list of what was looked at), the schedule of test results (one line per circuit with every reading above), any observations with their codes, and the NICEIC registration and signature. Landlords need to give the tenant a copy within 28 days and the council within 7 days of a request — see the landlord compliance checklist.
EICRs from £140 (flat), £180 (house), £300 (HMO), labour-only, same-week across Haringey, Hackney, Islington, Enfield, Waltham Forest, Camden, Barnet, Newham and Tower Hamlets — see EICRs in London and areas we cover. Call 07407 627542 or 07500 721453.