The landlord EICR: what the electrical safety rules actually require

A landlord in England must have the electrical installation in a rented home inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years — sooner if the last report says so — and give each tenant a copy of the report. If the report finds dangerous or potentially dangerous faults, the work must be done within 28 days, and the tenant and the council told when it has been. The duties are in regulation 3 of the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector and Social Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, and a council can fine a landlord up to £40,000 for breaching them. The report is the Electrical Installation Condition Report — the EICR.

That £40,000 is newer than most of what you will read about this. The maximum was £30,000 until amending regulations took effect for private landlords on 1 November 2025, and plenty of guidance — including, until today, ours — still gives the old figure.

What the inspection covers

The duty is about the electrical installation: the fixed wiring, the consumer unit, sockets, switches and light fittings — everything built into the property on your side of the meter. It has three parts:

• keep the installation meeting the national wiring standard — British Standard 7671, the 18th edition of the Wiring Regulations — the whole time the property is let;
• have it inspected and tested by a qualified person at regular intervals;
• have it inspected and tested before a tenancy starts.

Appliances are not part of the EICR. The same 2025 amendments added a five-yearly check of landlord-supplied appliances, but for social landlords only — a private landlord has no equivalent duty under these regulations. A cooker or fridge you supply still has to be safe, and if the property is a licensed HMO, the licence itself carries a condition saying so.

Every five years, or sooner if the report says so

"At regular intervals" means no more than five years — or, where the most recent report requires the next inspection by an earlier date, no later than that date. That second half is easy to miss. An electrician who finds an older installation in fair condition may recommend a retest in three years, and from then on three years is your deadline, not five. The report is required to state the date, so read it off the report rather than counting from the visit.

A new tenancy does not need a fresh inspection if the current report is less than five years old and requires no further work. GOV.UK's guidance says so directly: give the new tenant a copy of that report before they move in. It does recommend at least a visual check between tenancies, and a full inspection early if anything looks wrong. A newly built or fully rewired property starts with an Electrical Installation Certificate instead, which covers the first five years.

When the report comes back with codes

The report grades what it finds, and the codes decide what you have to do:

• C1 — danger present. The electrician may make it safe before leaving. Remedial work is required.
• C2 — potentially dangerous. Remedial work is required.
• FI — further investigation required without delay. The investigation is required.
• C3 — improvement recommended. Not required; the report can still be satisfactory.

A C1, C2 or FI means the installation is unsatisfactory for continued use, and the regulations put a clock on it:

1. The remedial or investigative work must be done by a qualified person within 28 days of the inspection, or sooner if the report gives a shorter period.
2. You must get written confirmation that the work is done and the installation now meets the standard — or that more work is needed, in which case the steps repeat for that work. A satisfactory EICR, an Electrical Installation Certificate or a Minor Works Certificate all count.
3. You must send that confirmation, with the report that required it, to each tenant and to the council, within 28 days of the work being finished.

That third step is the one that surprises people. An unsatisfactory report creates a duty to tell the council when it has been put right, whether or not the council ever asked to see the original.

Who gets a copy, and when

• An existing tenant — within 28 days of the inspection.
• A new tenant — before they move in.
• A prospective tenant who asks for it in writing — within 28 days of the request.
• The council — within 7 days of a written request.
• The next electrician — so they can see what was found last time.

Keep each report until the next inspection is due or, if later, until it has been carried out.

Who counts as "qualified"

The regulations do not name a scheme. A qualified person is anyone competent to inspect and test to the national standard. GOV.UK points landlords to the industry's own registers for finding one, including the Registered Competent Person Electrical register — choosing a registered electrician is the easiest way to show competence if anyone ever asks.

If the tenant will not let the electrician in

Since the 2025 amendments the regulations say so outright: you are not in breach if you can show you took all reasonable steps to comply. Where a tenant stops you getting in, you are not treated as having failed just because you did not go to court to force entry. The same defence covers remedial work that genuinely cannot be finished in 28 days — waiting on the energy supplier to fit an isolator, say.

The regulations do not say what reasonable steps are. GOV.UK suggests keeping copies of every message sent trying to arrange access, along with the previous reports. As with gas, start that record at the first missed appointment, not the third.

The penalty

If a council has reasonable grounds to believe you are in breach, it must serve a remedial notice, and if you do not comply it can arrange the work itself and recover the cost. Separately, a council satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that you have breached these duties can impose a financial penalty of up to £40,000, and more than one for a continuing failure. The criminal standard of proof is worth noticing: a council has to be sure, which is one more reason the paper trail matters as much as the inspection.

Where Tenarize fits

The EICR is the second item on every tenancy's compliance checklist, and it cannot be ticked without the report attached. Record the report's expiry date — the next-inspection date the report gives you, not a date five years on — and Tenarize raises a notification before it lapses and, unless you have turned compliance emails off, an email as well, with anything still outstanding repeated in a Monday digest.

Sixty days before that date, an Arrange renewal button picks an electrician from your own suppliers, gives you their number and a drafted email, and tracks the visit as a job you can put the invoice on. Record a supplier's certification body, number and expiry date, and Tenarize warns you when it is about to run out or has lapsed — including at the moment you pick them for the job. When the new report goes on, the old one is archived rather than deleted, so the history of which report covered which period stays on the property.

What Tenarize does not do: it does not inspect anything, read the codes on a report, or track the 28 days for remedial work. It does not send the report to your tenant or to the council — your tenant can see it in their portal once it is uploaded, but nothing emails it to them. Uploading the new report is still your step, and if the report says retest sooner than five years, the expiry date you record is the one that keeps the reminder honest.

Where to check this yourself

• Electrical safety standards in the private and social rented sectors: guidance — GOV.UK, including the codes, the copy deadlines and what to do about access
• Regulation 3 (the duties) and regulation 11 (the £40,000 penalty) of the 2020 Regulations — legislation.gov.uk
• The 2025 amending regulations — regulation 1 sets out when each change took effect
• The compliance checklist for letting in England — where the EICR sits among everything else required before a tenancy starts
• Shelter and Citizens Advice — free, independent advice on a specific property

Tenarize starts at £15 a month for one to five properties, with the first month free. Read more about the free trial or browse the full help centre — it's free either way.