A domestic EICR is the Electrical Installation Condition Report for a house or flat. Homeowners aren't legally required to have one, but it is recommended every ten years, and whenever you buy a property, before major renovation work, or if you notice warning signs. It is the same full inspection and test that landlords have to arrange, and it gives you an independent written view of the installation.
When a homeowner EICR makes sense
- Buying a house. A survey only gives a visual impression of the electrics. An EICR tests every circuit. See do I need an EICR to buy a house?.
- Before renovating. If you are planning a kitchen, extension or loft conversion, the EICR shows whether the existing installation can take it or whether a consumer unit upgrade or rewire is needed first.
- Selling. It answers buyers' questions about the wiring before their survey does, and gives you time to fix anything on your terms.
- Warning signs. Breakers that trip regularly, scorch marks, warm sockets, flickering lights, or an old fuse box with rewirable fuses.
- It has been more than ten years, or you simply don't know when it was last tested.
What the EICR tells you
Each observation is coded C1 (danger present), C2 (potentially dangerous), C3 (improvement recommended) or FI (further investigation). C1, C2 and FI make the report unsatisfactory. C3s are advice, not a fail. The report explains each observation in plain English, so you can decide what to do and when. See EICR codes explained.
Typical findings in older homes
Many homes around Nottinghamshire were built before modern wiring standards. Common findings include lighting circuits without an earth, older consumer units without RCD protection, missing bonding to gas and water pipes, and additions that were never certificated. None of these means you need a full rewire. Often a consumer unit upgrade and some targeted remedial work bring everything up to standard, and we quote a fixed price for it.
On the day
Most houses take a few hours. The power is off for parts of the test, so plan around anything that can't lose supply, such as freezers, home offices or medical equipment, and tell us when you book. We need access to the consumer unit, sockets, switches and light fittings in every room, and to any loft, garage or outbuilding with electrics.