There is no line in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework that says “you must have an EICR” — and that is exactly why nurseries and childminders in London keep getting asked for one. The EYFS safeguarding and welfare requirements make the provider responsible for premises being safe and for a written risk assessment; Ofsted inspectors, the local authority’s early-years team and, above all, your public-liability insurer treat a current Electrical Installation Condition Report as the evidence that the electrics are. In practice: a nursery, pre-school or after-school club in its own premises should hold an EICR no more than five years old (three if the insurer or the lease says so), and a childminder working from home should have a domestic EICR under five years old — which, if the home is rented, the landlord already has to provide by law. F & A Electrical is NICEIC registered, rated 9.32/10 from 242 reviews, based in Tottenham N15. Childminder home EICR from £140; nursery premises from £220, labour-only. Call 07407 627542 or 07500 721453.
Who asks for what — the four organisations and their actual requirement
| Who | What they require or expect | Where it comes from | What satisfies them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ofsted | Premises, furniture and equipment “safe and suitable”; a risk assessment that identifies electrical hazards and says how they are managed. Inspectors ask how you know the electrics are safe and may ask to see the certificate. | EYFS statutory framework, safeguarding and welfare requirements (premises and risk assessment sections) | A satisfactory EICR under 5 years old, plus PAT records for portable equipment, referenced in the risk assessment |
| Your insurer (public liability / employers’ liability / buildings) | Most early-years policies carry a condition that the fixed wiring is inspected at the interval recommended in BS 7671 / IET GN3 and that portable appliances are tested. A claim after an electrical fire or shock is the moment this is checked. | Policy conditions and the proposal form | EICR at 5 years (some insurers specify 3 for premises with kitchens or over a certain number of children) and annual PAT |
| Landlord or head lease (nurseries in church halls, community centres, converted shops, school annexes) | Commercial leases almost always require the tenant to keep the installation within the demise inspected; halls and centres you hire will ask for your PAT records and hold their own EICR | The lease or hire agreement | An EICR for your demise at lease start and every 5 years; the landlord’s EICR for shared areas |
| Local authority early-years / childcare team (registration and funded places) | Some London boroughs ask for evidence of electrical safety at registration or when awarding funded places; all will ask after an incident | Borough registration checklists; the Health and Safety at Work Act for any setting with staff | The same EICR + PAT; a copy in the setting’s H&S file |
| Childminder in a rented home | The landlord must hold a satisfactory EICR under 5 years old and give the tenant a copy — this is the law for every private let in England since 2021, with a penalty of up to £40,000 per breach since 1 May 2026 | Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020; Renters’ Rights Act 2025 | Ask the landlord for the report; it is the document Ofsted and your insurer want. If the landlord has none, say so — the obligation is theirs |
Recommended interval: five years, three in some settings
The IET’s Guidance Note 3 puts educational establishments — schools, colleges, nurseries — on a five-year maximum interval, the same as offices and shops. Two things shorten it. The first is the insurer: a number of early-years policies now specify three years for premises with a commercial kitchen, a laundry, or more than a certain number of registered places, because those settings have higher loads and wet areas. The second is a change of premises or a fit-out: any time a nursery moves into a new building, converts a shop or takes over a church hall, an EICR at the start dates the condition you inherit and is the document that stops you paying for the previous occupant’s wiring under the lease’s repairing clause. For a childminder’s own home the interval is the domestic one — five years, or on the landlord’s cycle if rented — and a report at the point of Ofsted registration is the sensible start date.
What the inspector looks for in an early-years setting
An EICR is the same test regardless of the building — every circuit is inspected, dead-tested and live-tested, and every observation is coded C1, C2, C3 or FI. In a nursery the inspector applies those codes with children in mind, and there are six findings that come up in London settings again and again.
| Finding | Code | Why it matters with children | Fix (labour-only, inc VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| No RCD protection on socket circuits (older board, or a hall that was never upgraded) | C2 | An RCD is the one device that limits a shock from a damaged lead or a poked object to a survivable one; it is the first thing an insurer’s engineer looks for | RCBO consumer unit from £550 — board replacement |
| Sockets at child height with damaged or loose faceplates, or with plastic “socket covers” fitted | C2 for damage; C3 note for covers | Damaged plates expose live parts. Socket covers are not recommended in the UK — a BS 1363 socket’s shutters already block the live holes, and a cover can be inserted upside-down to hold them open; the Department for Education advised schools and nurseries against them in 2016 | Replace damaged accessories from £108 per visit; remove covers (free advice) |
| Extension leads and multi-way adaptors daisy-chained for laptops, heaters, sterilisers and fridges | C3 with a note; C2 if overloaded or damaged | Trip hazard, overheating, and the commonest cause of nursery electrical fires | Additional sockets from £108 per point — usually 4–8 points sorts a room |
| Kitchen and laundry circuits without RCD, or with the wrong rating for a commercial dishwasher, washer or steriliser | C2 | Wet area, high load, staff working with children nearby | Dedicated circuit from £140 |
| Outdoor play area sockets or lighting without weatherproof (IP-rated) accessories or RCD | C2 | Water pistols, sand and rain; outdoor circuits have the highest shock risk of any | IP66 sockets and RCD from £150 — outdoor sockets |
| Fire alarm and emergency lighting not on a certificated system, or the EICR reveals they are wired off a lighting circuit with no separate supply | C3 / FI | Ofsted and the fire risk assessment both require an alarm; the electrical report is often where the wiring problem surfaces | Alarm circuit and BS 5839 certificate from £108 first point — alarm installation |
An unsatisfactory report does not close the setting. C1 items are made safe on the day, included in the fee; C2 items need a date, usually 28 days for insurers; C3 items are recommendations. We price every remedial item individually on the report so you can budget — see the remedial cost guide — and re-issue the report as satisfactory once the C2s are done.
What it costs — nursery premises and childminder homes
| Setting | Typical circuits | EICR (labour-only, inc VAT) | Time on site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Childminder’s own home — flat or 2-bed | up to 8 | from £140 | 1.5–2 hours |
| Childminder’s own home — 3-bed house | 9–12 | from £170 | 2–3 hours |
| Childminder’s own home — 4-bed or with a converted garage playroom | 13–16 | from £200 | 3 hours |
| Small pre-school or after-school club in a hall or single-storey unit, one board | 6–12 | from £220 | 2–3 hours |
| Day nursery in a converted house or shop — kitchen, laundry, 2–3 rooms | 13–24 | £15 per circuit (≈ £360 at 24) | 3–5 hours |
| Larger nursery, two floors, commercial kitchen, possibly three-phase | 24–40 | from £400 | 5–7 hours, usually split over two evenings |
| PAT testing of toys, sterilisers, laptops, kitchen appliances, extension leads | — | £5 per item, £108 minimum — PAT testing | added to the visit |
| Out-of-hours visit (after 6 pm or Saturday) so the setting stays open | — | +25% | — |
Every figure is labour-only, includes the report with schedule of test results, and mirrors our commercial EICR price list. The most useful thing you can do before booking is send a photo of the fuse board and tell us how many rooms and whether there is a kitchen; from that we quote a fixed price and a slot outside session hours.
Timing the visit around the children
An EICR needs the power off for part of the test — twenty to forty minutes at the board for the dead tests, then a few minutes per circuit — which is not something you do with twenty toddlers in the building. For nurseries we work after the last collection, on a Saturday, or during a training day, and we plan the fridge and freezer circuits to be off for the shortest time. For a childminder we come during school hours or after the children have gone, and a two-bed home is done inside two hours. PAT testing is done on the same visit while the fixed wiring is being tested, so you get both certificates with the same date for the Ofsted file.
Frequently asked questions
Does Ofsted require an EICR for a nursery?
Not by name. The EYFS requires premises to be safe and a written risk assessment; Ofsted inspectors ask how you know the electrics are safe, and a satisfactory EICR under five years old, with PAT records, is the accepted answer. Your insurer’s policy conditions usually do require it explicitly, which is the harder requirement.
Does a childminder need an EICR?
If you rent your home, your landlord is legally required to hold a satisfactory EICR under five years old and give you a copy — ask for it, and that is your evidence for Ofsted and your insurer. If you own your home there is no legal requirement, but a domestic EICR from £140 is the document both will accept, and it is the sensible baseline at registration. Either way, PAT-test the toys and appliances you use for minding — £5 per item.
Should I fit socket covers in a nursery or childminding home?
No. UK sockets to BS 1363 have built-in shutters that block the live and neutral holes until an earth pin enters; plastic socket covers are not required by any regulation and can be inserted upside-down to hold those shutters open. The Department for Education advised against them in schools and early-years settings in 2016, and RoSPA and the Electrical Safety First charity say the same. RCD protection on the socket circuits — a C2 on the EICR if it is missing — is the safety measure that actually works.
How often should a nursery have its electrics tested?
Every five years under IET Guidance Note 3 for educational premises, or three years where your insurer or lease says so — common for settings with a commercial kitchen or laundry. Portable appliances should be tested at least annually in a setting with children, and extension leads and sterilisers more often than that.
Who can carry out the EICR for our setting?
A competent electrician — in practice one registered with NICEIC, NAPIT or an equivalent scheme, whose report your insurer will accept. Certificate-only firms that send an inspector for forty minutes and issue a “satisfactory” report on a 25-circuit nursery are the reports insurers now query. More on who can carry out an EICR.
We rent a church hall for sessions — whose EICR is it?
The hall’s fixed wiring is the hall’s responsibility, and the management committee should hold its own EICR (usually on a five-year cycle); you are entitled to ask for a copy for your risk assessment. Your responsibility is the equipment you bring — PAT-tested and recorded. If you have your own room or annexe on a lease, the wiring inside that demise is normally yours to have inspected.
Nursery and pre-school EICRs from £220, childminder home EICRs from £140, PAT £5 per item, remedials from £108 — labour-only, NICEIC certified, across Haringey, Hackney, Islington, Enfield, Waltham Forest, Camden, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Barnet — see all areas we cover. Call 07407 627542 or 07500 721453, or WhatsApp a photo of the fuse board and we’ll quote a fixed price and an out-of-hours slot.