EICR stands for Electrical Installation Condition Report. It is a periodic inspection and test of the fixed wiring of a building: the consumer unit, the circuits, the accessories and the earthing, examined and measured against the current wiring standard and written up on a standard report. It is a snapshot of condition on the day, signed by the person who took it, and it is not a certificate that anything was installed.
What the report actually contains
Three things. A schedule of the circuits, so anyone reading it knows what was inspected. A schedule of test results, with the measured values for each circuit. And a list of observations, each carrying a classification code, followed by an overall assessment that says satisfactory or unsatisfactory. The assessment is the sentence most people read, and it is the one that depends entirely on the observations underneath it.
Why it is a condition report and not a certificate of installation
A certificate is issued by whoever did work: it says this installation was designed, built and tested to the standard. A condition report is issued by somebody inspecting work that already exists, often decades old, and says what condition it is in now. Confusing the two matters, because a buyer asking for the certificate for a rewire wants the installation certificate and will not accept a condition report instead.
What satisfactory means, and what it does not
Satisfactory means the inspector found nothing that makes the installation dangerous or potentially dangerous. It does not mean the installation meets the current standard in every respect, because an older installation legitimately does not, and it does not mean nothing will go wrong tomorrow. The report is a professional opinion on a date, with the evidence attached.
Who is entitled to issue one
A person competent to inspect and test to BS 7671, with the training, experience and calibrated instruments to do it. Where a report is being produced to meet the private rented sector duty in England, the regulations require it to be carried out by a qualified person, and the name on the report is what a local housing authority will look at.
How it differs from a gas safety record
People search for the two together because a landlord buys them together. They are different regimes. The gas record is an annual check of appliances and flues by a Gas Safe registered engineer. The EICR is a periodic inspection of the fixed electrical installation at intervals set by the last report, with no annual requirement behind it.
Questions people ask about what is an eicr
What does EICR stand for?
Electrical Installation Condition Report.
Is an EICR the same as an electrical safety certificate?
It is what people mean by that phrase. There is no document called an electrical safety certificate; the report a landlord or a buyer is asking for is the EICR.
Is an EICR the same as an EIC?
No. An Electrical Installation Certificate is issued by whoever carried out new work. An EICR reports the condition of an installation that already exists.
How long does an EICR take?
It depends on the number of circuits and access to them. A small flat is a few hours; a large house or a commercial unit with several boards takes considerably longer.