EICR Guide for Homeowners and Landlords in Blackpool and the Fylde

An Electrical Installation Condition Report, usually shortened to EICR, is a formal check of the fixed wiring in a building. If you own a home in Blackpool, Lytham, Poulton or anywhere else on the Fylde coast, or you let one out, you will almost certainly come across the term sooner or later. This guide explains what the report is, who needs one, how often, and what the findings actually mean, in plain English and without jargon.

The rules described here apply in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements, so if you own property outside England, check the rules for that nation.

What an EICR is

An EICR is a document produced by a competent electrician or inspector after a health check of the permanent electrical installation in a property. That means the consumer unit (fuse box), the circuits, the cables, the sockets, the switches and the lighting that are fixed in the building. You may also hear it called periodic inspection and testing, or fixed wire testing.

The report is designed to find age, wear and damage that could lead to an electric shock or a fire. It also checks that the installation is not overloaded and that the protective devices, such as the RCDs, will actually do their job.

It is worth being clear about what it does not cover. Portable items such as kettles, televisions and lamps are appliances, not part of the fixed installation. An EICR is also different from an Electrical Installation Certificate, which is issued when new work is completed, and from a Minor Works Certificate, which covers small additions or alterations.

What happens during an inspection

According to NICEIC, the inspection has two main parts. The first is a visual inspection. The inspector looks for damaged or overheating sockets and switches, outdated consumer units, missing covers, incorrect circuit labelling and DIY work that may not meet current standards.

The second part is testing. This covers things such as continuity of the circuits, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance and the operation of RCDs. Parts of the supply will need to be switched off while this is done, so expect some power cuts during the visit. Plan ahead if you work from home, have a freezer full of food or rely on any medical equipment, and tell the electrician about it before they start.

Each observation is given a classification code and the results are written up in a report that you keep. For a typical house the visit usually takes a few hours. Larger or more complex properties take longer, and your inspector can give you an estimate once they have seen the size of the job.

What the codes mean

The codes are the most important part of the report. They tell you how urgently something needs attention.

• C1: danger present. Immediate action is required. The electrician will normally make the situation safe on the day if they can.
• C2: potentially dangerous. Urgent remedial work is needed.
• C3: improvement recommended. The installation is not dangerous as it stands, but it would be better if it were improved.
• FI: further investigation required. The inspector could not tell from the inspection alone whether there is a problem, so something needs to be looked at more closely.

An EICR is either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Any C1 or C2 observation makes the report unsatisfactory. A C3 or an FI does not on its own make it unsatisfactory, although the electrician will usually recommend that you act on them.

How often do you need one?

For a home you live in, there is no general legal duty on an owner-occupier to have an EICR carried out. However, Electrical Safety First recommends that an owner-occupied home is inspected at least every 10 years, and sooner if you have just bought an older property, you can see signs of wear, or you have had a lot of DIY work done by previous owners. Buying a house is a particularly good moment for an inspection, because the survey you had for the mortgage will not have tested the wiring.

For rented homes the position is different, and we cover it in the next section. For businesses there is no single EICR law, but the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require electrical systems to be maintained so that they are safe, and regular inspection is the usual way of showing that this has been done. Commercial premises are often inspected every five years or more often, depending on the type of use. If you run a business, our commercial electrical page explains what we do for shops, offices and industrial units.

Landlords in England

Since 2020, private landlords in England have had a legal duty to arrange electrical inspections. The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/312) came into force on 1 June 2020. They applied to new tenancies from 1 July 2020 and to existing tenancies from 1 April 2021.

In summary, the regulations say that a landlord must:

• have the electrical installation inspected and tested by a qualified person, meaning someone competent to do the work, before a new tenancy starts and then at intervals of no more than five years, or sooner if the previous report says so;
• obtain a report that gives the results and the date of the next inspection;
• give a copy to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection, and to new tenants before they move in;
• give a copy to a prospective tenant who asks for it in writing within 28 days of the request, and to the local housing authority within 7 days of a written request;
• have any required remedial work completed within 28 days of the inspection, or sooner if the report says so, and then supply written confirmation that the work has been done to the tenant and the local authority within 28 days of completion.

NICEIC also notes that the rules for social rented housing in England have been extended, with new tenancies covered from November 2025 and existing tenancies from May 2026. Social landlords should check the current position with their own compliance team. We have a separate guide, electrical safety for landlords, that goes through the wider duties including smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

What to do if your EICR is unsatisfactory

An unsatisfactory report is not a disaster. It means the inspector found something that needs fixing, and it is much better to learn that from a controlled inspection than from a fault.

Start by reading the observations against their codes. For each C1 and C2, ask the electrician what the fault is, why it matters, and what the repair involves. Ask for the remedial work to be quoted in writing. Once the repairs are done, the work is documented and the report is updated or a further certificate is issued, so that you have a record showing the problems were resolved. If you are a landlord, remember the 28 day deadline in the regulations.

For FI items, ask what further investigation is needed and when it can be done. For C3 items, you can decide with the electrician whether to fix them now or schedule them for a later date, for example when you are redecorating or updating the consumer unit.

Common reasons for an unsatisfactory result include a consumer unit with no RCD protection, damaged or exposed cabling, overloaded circuits, missing earth bonding and unsafe DIY additions. Many of these can be dealt with in a single visit. For others, such as a very old consumer unit, you may be looking at a replacement. Our guide to consumer unit upgrades explains what is involved.

Choosing who carries out the inspection

An EICR should be done by someone who is qualified and experienced in inspection and testing, not simply by anyone who can wire a socket. NICEIC advises that you should not attempt an inspection yourself. Ask what qualifications the inspector holds, whether they are registered with a competent person scheme, and whether they carry insurance. Our guide on choosing a registered electrician has a checklist of questions to ask.

Be wary of a report that arrives remarkably quickly, for a very low charge, or that finds nothing at all in a property that is clearly old. A proper inspection takes time. You should also receive the full report with the observations and codes listed, not just a pass or fail certificate.

If you would like us to look at your home, you can read more about our EICR service or about domestic electrical work, then call 01253 364101 or use the enquiry form.