How much does an EICR cost in London?

An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) costs £140 inc VAT for a 1-bed flat, £170 for a 2-bed, £200 for a 3-bed, and £250+ for 4-bed properties or licensed HMOs in London. F & A Electrical is NICEIC-approved and issues certificates the same day. Commercial EICRs are quoted per visit and typically £280–£600 inc VAT depending on circuit count.

How much does it cost to replace a fuse board in London?

A fuse board (consumer unit) replacement costs £550–£750 inc VAT for a straightforward swap to a modern 10-way dual-RCD board, £700–£900 inc VAT for an RCBO board with one breaker per circuit, and £800–£1,000 inc VAT for above-shop flats with shared supply or where supply tails need replacing. Every install includes the Electrical Installation Certificate, Part P notification and 6 years' NICEIC warranty.

How long does a house rewire take in London?

A 3-bed Victorian terrace rewire typically takes 2–3 weeks and costs £5,800–£7,500 inc VAT fixed quote. Larger 4-bed+ houses or heritage Georgian properties take 3–6 weeks and cost £10,000–£18,000+. F & A Electrical can stage rewires room-by-room so you don't have to move out, includes all new 18th-edition circuits, modern RCBO board, sockets, switches, bonding, hardwired smoke alarms, EIC, Part P notification and 6 years' NICEIC warranty.

How much does an EV charger installation cost in London?

A standard 7.4kW tethered EV charger install (Hypervolt, Ohme, EO, Wallbox, Tesla Gen 3) costs £950–£1,150 inc VAT fully fitted on off-street properties. Underground car park or sub-metered installs in flats run £1,400–£2,200 inc VAT depending on cable run. The OZEV/EVHS landlord grant of £350 is claimed where eligible. F & A Electrical installs all major brands across London.

Do I legally need an EICR for my rental property in London?

Yes. Under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, every private rented home in England requires a satisfactory EICR every 5 years (annually for HMOs), with a copy given to the tenant within 28 days of inspection. Hackney runs borough-wide selective licensing requiring this for every let. Tower Hamlets, Islington and Southwark have additional and mandatory HMO licensing zones.

Are F & A Electrical NICEIC approved?

Yes — F & A Electrical is an NICEIC Approved Contractor, the UK's top electrical accreditation. Every job is certified, registered and notified to Building Control under Part P. We carry £5m public liability insurance, work to BS 7671 18th edition standards, and offer a 6-year NICEIC warranty on installation work. We have a 9.32/10 rating across 242 Checkatrade reviews and are members of Checkatrade since December 2018.

Do you offer a 24-hour emergency electrician service in London?

Yes — F & A Electrical operates a 24-hour emergency electrician service across all our London service areas. Emergency rate is £60+VAT per half-hour outside 8am–8pm Monday to Friday and £45+VAT per half-hour during normal hours. No call-out fee if we resolve your issue on the phone. We aim to be on site within one hour for urgent work. Call 07407 627542 or 07500 721453.

What areas of London does F & A Electrical cover?

F & A Electrical is based in Tottenham N15 and covers all of inner London including Hackney (Stoke Newington, Dalston, Hackney Central, Clapton, Hackney Wick), Islington (Highbury, Holloway, Angel, Canonbury), Camden, Tower Hamlets (Whitechapel, Brick Lane), Southwark (Bermondsey), Haringey and surrounding boroughs.

Why does my fuse board keep tripping?

Common causes of fuse board tripping include: an overloaded ring final circuit (too many appliances on one socket ring), a faulty appliance with damaged insulation causing earth leakage, water ingress into a bathroom or outdoor circuit, a failing RCD or RCBO, or a damaged kitchen circuit cable. F & A Electrical diagnoses and fixes tripping faults on a 24-hour callout basis. If an RCD trips repeatedly across multiple circuits, the consumer unit itself may need upgrading.

What does C1, C2 or C3 mean on an EICR?

On an EICR, C1 means 'Danger present' — immediate risk of injury, work must be done before the report is satisfactory. C2 means 'Potentially dangerous' — urgent remedial work required, still fails the EICR. C3 means 'Improvement recommended' — does not cause an unsatisfactory result on its own. FI means 'Further investigation required' — also fails the EICR. F & A Electrical can attend the same day to remedy C1 or C2 items and reissue a satisfactory cert for property sales or letting compliance.

How Long Does an EICR Take? London Timings 2026

How long does an EICR take? Honest timings for London properties

Short answer: two to three hours for a one or two bedroom flat, three to four hours for a typical three bedroom house, and half a day or more for a larger house or a licensed HMO. The certificate is issued the same day.

The longer answer matters, because the time an EICR takes is driven almost entirely by circuit count — not floor area, and not the number of bedrooms. A compact two-bedroom flat with fourteen circuits takes longer than a three-bedroom house with eight.

Typical EICR timings by property type

Studio or one-bed flat (4–6 circuits) — 1.5 to 2 hours
Two-bed flat (6–8 circuits) — 2 to 3 hours
Three-bed house (8–10 circuits) — 3 to 4 hours
Four or five-bed house, or one with an extension and outbuildings (10–16 circuits) — 4 to 6 hours
Licensed HMO with multiple consumer units — 5 hours to a full day, priced on circuit count
Small commercial unit or shop — half a day upwards, depending on three-phase supply and distribution boards

All of the above assume reasonable access. Add time if the consumer unit is boxed in, if sockets are behind furniture, or if the loft hatch is painted shut.

Why the power has to go off — and for how long

An EICR is not a visual walk-round. It includes dead testing — continuity of protective conductors, insulation resistance, polarity — and that work can only be done with the installation isolated. In practice the power is off in blocks rather than for the whole visit.

For a two-bedroom flat, expect the supply to be off for roughly 45 minutes to 90 minutes in total, usually split into two or three periods. For a larger house it can be two to three hours. We can often work circuit by circuit to keep a fridge or a home office running, but that adds time to the overall visit, so it is worth saying up front if it matters to you.

If you work from home, the practical advice is to plan for a morning without power rather than assume you can carry on around us.

What makes an EICR take longer

No existing paperwork. If there is no previous certificate and no circuit schedule, the whole installation has to be mapped from scratch. This is the single biggest variable and can add an hour or more.
Multiple consumer units. Common in period houses that have been extended, and in converted flats. Each board needs its own set of tests.
Inaccessible cabling. Boarded lofts, boxed-in risers and buried junction boxes all slow things down.
Faults found during testing. A low insulation resistance reading has to be traced to the circuit and, ideally, to the section causing it. That is time well spent — it is the difference between a report saying “C2, investigate” and one that tells you exactly what to fix.
Old rewireable boards. Rewireable fuses take longer to isolate and reinstate safely than modern breakers.

How long until I get the certificate?

We issue the signed PDF the same day the inspection is completed, along with a plain-English summary of what each observation code means. There is no waiting for it to be typed up at the end of the week.

That matters for landlords: the regulations require you to supply the report to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection, to a new tenant before they occupy, and to the local authority within seven days of a written request. A same-day certificate removes any risk of missing those windows.

And how long is an EICR valid for?

Rented residential property — every 5 years, or at change of tenancy if the inspector recommends it
Owner-occupied house — recommended every 10 years
Owner-occupied flat — recommended every 10 years
Licensed HMO — every 5 years, and usually required as part of the licence
Commercial premises — every 5 years, or as specified by the previous report

An inspector can specify a shorter interval than the default, and that shorter date is the one that counts.

If the report comes back unsatisfactory

Any C1 (danger present) or C2 (potentially dangerous) code makes the report unsatisfactory. C1 items are made safe on the day as a matter of course. Everything else has to be remedied within 28 days, or sooner if the report specifies, with written confirmation to the tenant and to the council.

Since the Renters’ Rights Act took full effect on 1 May 2026, the maximum penalty for failing to hold a valid electrical safety certificate is £40,000 per offence, up from the old £30,000 cap. The 28-day clock is the part landlords most often miss — the inspection being booked is not the same as the property being compliant.

What it costs

Our EICR starts from £140 for a standard one or two bedroom flat, with larger properties and HMOs priced on circuit count and quoted before we attend. Minimum charge on any visit is £108 (£90 + VAT). All prices are labour only; materials are itemised separately.

We do not shorten the inspection to hit a headline price. A £69 EICR is generally either a limited sample of circuits or a loss-leader attached to a remedial quote — and a sampled inspection that takes an hour is not the same document as a full one that takes three.

Booking

Tell us the number of bedrooms, whether it is a house, flat or HMO, and roughly how many circuits are on the board if you can see it, and we will give you a fixed price and a realistic time slot on the phone. Call 07407 627542 or 07500 721453.