EICR Electrical SafetyInspections in Winchester& Across Hampshire

C1 means danger is present and there is a risk of injury: immediate action is required, and we will make it safe before leaving where that is possible. C2 means potentially dangerous, no immediate danger under normal conditions, but urgent remedial action is needed, for example a missing earth or absent RCD protection where the regulations now require it. Either code makes the report unsatisfactory.

C3 means improvement recommended: the installation is safe but does not meet the current standard, for example an older board type that is functioning correctly. A C3 does not make a report unsatisfactory and does not have to be actioned, though it is often worth planning for. FI means further investigation is required, because something was found that could not be resolved within the scope of the inspection.

A report should also record its extent and limitations. Sample sizes, inaccessible areas and circuits not tested must be stated, because a report on a partly inspected installation says less than it appears to.

Dead tests happen with the supply isolated: continuity of protective conductors and ring final circuits, insulation resistance between conductors, and polarity throughout. Insulation resistance is the measurement that reveals ageing cable, damp ingress and damage inside walls: the faults you cannot see and cannot infer from behaviour.

Live tests follow: earth fault loop impedance, which confirms a fault would disconnect quickly enough, prospective fault current, and RCD or RCBO trip times measured against their rated performance. An RCD that operates but takes too long is not protecting anybody, and only a timed test finds it.

Results are recorded per circuit on the schedule of test results. Any report handed over without those figures is not an EICR in any meaningful sense, whatever the front page says.

For rented residential property in England, a satisfactory report is required and must be renewed at least every five years, with a copy provided to tenants and to the local authority on request. Where a report is unsatisfactory, remedial work must be completed and evidence retained.

Owner-occupied homes should be inspected around every ten years, and always when buying a property, after an extension or renovation, or when work has been carried out by a contractor who left no certification. Commercial premises are typically inspected on a shorter cycle depending on use and environment.

A pre-purchase EICR is one of the cheapest pieces of due diligence available on a house. Discovering that a property needs a board change and a partial rewire before you exchange is worth considerably more than the cost of the inspection.

The observations we record most often are absent or inadequate RCD protection, undersized or missing main bonding to gas and water, obsolete boards and enclosures, deteriorated cable in outbuildings and lofts, unsafe DIY alterations in kitchens and gardens, and accessories showing heat damage.

Most are straightforward to correct: a consumer unit upgrade addresses a large share of C2 observations in one visit, bonding upgrades are usually a half-day, and localised cable renewal is far cheaper than a full rewire. Where deterioration is widespread, full or partial rewiring is the honest recommendation, and we will say so rather than sell repeated patch repairs.

Remedial work is quoted as a fixed price separate from the inspection fee, and you are free to have another electrician carry it out. If we do it, you get certification to the 18th Edition under NAPIT, Part P notification where required, and our 2-year workmanship guarantee.