An inspection is not a look. Half of it is a physical examination of the installation and half is instrument testing, some of it with the power off and some with it on, and the report's verdict comes out of the second half. That is why the cheapest quotes are worth a question: a visual report with no testing is a different and much shorter job that cannot find most of what the regulations are worried about. This page sets out what the test actually consists of and what to ask the person doing it.
What is eicr testing, circuit by circuit
The dead tests come first, with the installation isolated: continuity of protective conductors and bonding, continuity of ring final circuit conductors, insulation resistance between live conductors and to earth, and polarity. Then the live tests with the supply restored: earth fault loop impedance at the origin and at points on each circuit, prospective fault current, and the operation of every residual current device at its rated current and at five times it. Around those sit the inspection items, which are visual and just as important: the condition of the consumer unit, the presence of the right protective devices, signs of overheating, and whether the installation matches its own schedule.
An eicr test checklist is the inspector's, not the customer's
The schedules attached to the report are the checklist, and they are prescribed: a schedule of inspections with each item marked, and a schedule of test results with a line for every circuit and a column for every measurement. A report with no schedule of test results has not evidenced any testing, whatever the front page says. What a customer's own checklist is useful for is the things the inspector cannot know: where the consumer unit is, which circuits serve what, where the outbuilding supply runs, and which rooms cannot be isolated during working hours. Handing that over shortens the visit and improves the report.
Sampling, and why a report can be thorough without testing every socket
On a large installation the standard allows testing to a sample, with the extent recorded on the report and the sample increased if faults are found. That is legitimate and it is also where two quotes diverge without either being wrong: a fifty percent sample and a ten percent sample are different amounts of work. Ask what sample is being priced and what happens if the first faults appear, because the honest answer is that the sample widens and the price with it. A report that does not state its extent and limitations is incomplete on its own terms.
An electrical landlord certificate, and which report a letting agent means
There is no document with that name, and the confusion costs landlords real money. When an agent asks for an electrical landlord certificate they almost always mean a satisfactory condition report on the fixed installation, on a five year cycle, which is the statutory document in England, Scotland and Wales. What they sometimes mean instead, in a furnished let or a licensable shared house, is the appliance testing register for the items the landlord supplies, which is a different job with different paperwork. And what they occasionally mean, on a property that has just been rewired, is the installation certificate for that work, which covers the new work only and says nothing about the rest of the house. Ask which of the three is wanted before booking anything, because a tester sent to do one of them will not produce the other two.
Questions people ask about EICR testing near me
Is an eicr test near me worth choosing by distance?
Only for the practical part. The report is the same document everywhere and the competence is personal to the inspector, so distance buys you somebody who will come back for the remedial work and to re inspect, which matters because that second visit is often where the real cost sits. Ask whether remedial work is quoted separately, whether re inspection after remedial work is charged again, and how quickly the report is issued, since a report that arrives three weeks later is no use to a letting that starts next week.
What should I ask an electrician eicr quotes are coming from?
Three things. Which qualification they hold for inspection and testing, because installing and inspecting are different competences. Which registration scheme they belong to, and then check the number on that scheme's register rather than taking the logo on the van. And what the quote includes: the extent of the sample, whether the schedule of test results is provided, whether remedial work is inside the price, and whether they will issue the report if the installation is unsatisfactory, which they should, since an unsatisfactory report is a valid report.
Is an eicr checklist enough to check my own installation?
It will find some things and it cannot give you a verdict. A householder or a facilities manager can usefully look for a consumer unit with no residual current protection, scorch marks, broken accessories, extension leads doing permanent work, and an outbuilding fed by something that was never meant to be buried. None of that needs an instrument. What does need one is insulation resistance, loop impedance and device operation, which is where the faults that start fires actually show up, and those are the reason the inspection exists.
What is an eicr test called on the report itself?
An electrical installation condition report, and the phrase test is a shorthand that hides the split: the document reports an inspection AND test, and the schedules evidence both halves. The front page carries the assessment of the installation, the extent and limitations, any departures, the observations with their classification codes and the recommended date of the next inspection. If somebody hands you a single page with a tick and no schedules, ask for the schedules, because those are the report and the front page is its summary.
EICR what do they check, and how long does an EICR take?
They check the installation rather than the appliances: the consumer unit and its protective devices, the earthing and bonding, each circuit's continuity and insulation resistance, polarity, loop impedance, the operation of residual current devices, and the visible condition of accessories and cabling. Time follows the circuit count and the access. A small flat with six circuits and an accessible board is a couple of hours; a house with an extension, an outbuilding and a loft conversion is half a day; a commercial unit with three phase distribution is longer and often priced on a sample. A visit that takes forty minutes on a full installation has not tested it.
Sources
- Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, regulation 4
- Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, regulation 16 (persons to be competent)
- Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, regulation 3 (duties)
- GOV.UK: electrical safety standards in the private and social rented sectors, guidance