How often do landlords need an EICR?

Landlords in England must obtain an EICR at least every five years, and at the start of a new tenancy if the existing report is older. Some reports specify a shorter interval, such as three years, in which case you must follow the date stated on the report.

What do the EICR codes mean?

C1 means danger present and must be made safe at once; C2 is potentially dangerous; FI means further investigation is needed; and C3 is an advisory improvement. A report is only recorded as satisfactory if it contains no C1, C2 or FI items.

How long do I have to fix EICR faults?

Any C1, C2 or FI item must be remedied or investigated within 28 days of receiving the report, or sooner if the electrician specifies. You must then give written confirmation the work is complete to the tenant and the local authority within 28 days.

What is the penalty for not having an EICR?

Local authorities can impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000 per breach of the Electrical Safety Standards, and can carry out remedial work and recover the cost. A missing EICR also undermines a Section 21 notice and weakens the strengthened Section 8 grounds.

Who can carry out an EICR?

An EICR must be done by a qualified, competent electrician — ideally registered with a competent-person scheme such as NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA — who is assessed for periodic inspection and testing, not just installation work. Always check their registration before booking.

Landlord EICR Requirements: Electrical Safety Explained (2026)

12 June 2026 · AgentCheck Editorial · 6 min read

Part of our UK Landlord Legal Guide

An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) certifies that a rental property's electrics are safe. Under the Electrical Safety Standards 2020, landlords in England must obtain one at least every five years from a qualified electrician, fix any C1, C2 or FI faults within 28 days, and give the tenant a copy. Breaches can cost up to £30,000 per property.

Electrical safety is the newest of the major landlord duties and one of the most misunderstood. Since 2020 a five-yearly inspection has been mandatory for nearly all private tenancies in England, with a strict 28-day window to fix anything dangerous. This guide explains what an EICR is, how to read its codes, the deadlines that matter, and the penalties for getting it wrong. It covers England; it is general guidance, not legal advice.

What an EICR is and the 2020 regulations

An Electrical Installation Condition Report is a formal assessment of a property's fixed electrical installation — the wiring, consumer unit (fuse board), sockets, switches and permanently connected equipment — against the national safety standard, BS 7671. The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 made these inspections compulsory: they have applied to all private tenancies in England since 1 April 2021. The report tells you whether the installation is satisfactory and lists anything that needs attention.

Electrician testing electrical panel with multimeter — Photo: Unsplash

How often you need one

You must have a valid EICR carried out at least every five years, and at the start of a new tenancy if the existing report is older than that. Some installations are flagged by the inspector for a shorter interval — for example three years for an older system — in which case you must follow the date stated on the report rather than defaulting to five years. The inspection must be done by a qualified and competent electrician, ideally registered with a scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT.

EICR codes explained

Every observation on an EICR is given a code. Understanding them tells you instantly whether the report is a pass and what, if anything, you must act on.

Code	Meaning	Action
C1	Danger present — risk of injury	Make safe immediately; fix within 28 days
C2	Potentially dangerous	Remedy within 28 days
FI	Further investigation required	Investigate within 28 days
C3	Improvement recommended	Not legally required, but advisable

A report is recorded as satisfactory only if it contains no C1, C2 or FI items. A single C1 or C2 makes the installation unsatisfactory and triggers the remedial duty below — even though C3 items, which are advisory only, can appear on a satisfactory report.

A person in a neon yellow shirt using a screwdriver on an electrical panel — Photo: Unsplash

The 28-day remedial rule

Where the report flags a C1, C2 or FI, you must complete the remedial or investigative work within 28 days of receiving the report — or sooner if the electrician specifies a shorter period. You then have to obtain written confirmation from the electrician that the work has brought the installation up to standard, and supply that confirmation to the tenant and to the local authority within 28 days of completion. A C1 is an immediate danger, so a responsible electrician will usually make it safe on the spot.

Sharing the report

The EICR is not just for your file — you must distribute it:

Existing tenants: within 28 days of the inspection.
New tenants: before they move in.
Prospective tenants: within 28 days of a request.
The local authority: within 7 days if they ask for it.

As with gas and the EPC, keep dated proof that you served the report, because the burden of showing compliance falls on you.

What it costs and who can do it

An EICR typically costs between £125 and £300 depending on the size of the property and the number of circuits, with larger homes and HMOs at the upper end. Remedial work is extra and varies widely — a minor fix might be tens of pounds, while a full rewire runs into thousands. Use a qualified electrician registered with a competent-person scheme such as NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA, and check they are assessed for periodic inspection and testing, not just installation.

Penalties for non-compliance

Local authorities can impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000 per breach of the Electrical Safety Standards, and they can arrange remedial work themselves and recover the cost from you. As with other safety duties, an invalid or missing EICR also undermines a Section 21 notice and weakens your position under the strengthened Section 8 grounds being introduced by the Renters' Rights reforms. Given the inspection costs a fraction of the potential fine, it is among the cheapest risks to close off.

EICR and the wider compliance picture

Electrical safety sits alongside gas, alarms and the EPC as a core safety duty — and the documents increasingly travel together. Keeping your EICR, gas record and EPC current, and serving each correctly, is what keeps you on the right side of both possession law and the licensing regimes many councils run. Build the five-year EICR cycle into the same calendar as your annual gas check so neither slips.

EICR compliance checklist

Book a registered electrician — NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA, qualified for inspection and testing.
Read the result — a report is only satisfactory with no C1, C2 or FI items.
Fix dangers within 28 days — remedy any C1, C2 or FI and get written confirmation.
Serve the report — to tenants within 28 days, new tenants before move-in, the council within 7 days on request.
Diarise the renewal — five years, or sooner if the report specifies, alongside your annual gas check.

A common and costly mistake is treating a C3 as urgent or ignoring an FI: C3 is advisory, but an FI must be investigated within the 28-day window just like a C1 or C2. When in doubt, ask the electrician to explain each coded item before you sign off the work.

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