Written by Gary Williams · NAPIT registered · Updated 10 September 2026
Who legally needs one
Since the 2020 regulations came into force, every private landlord in England must have the fixed electrical installation inspected and tested at least every five years, hold a satisfactory report, give a copy to existing tenants within 28 days and to new tenants before they move in, and provide it to the local authority within seven days if asked. HMOs have had similar requirements for longer. Homeowners aren't legally required to have one, but ten-yearly testing is the recommendation — and most buyers' surveyors will now flag an installation with no recent EICR.
What the codes actually mean
Every finding gets a code. C1 means danger is present and immediate action is required — for example exposed live parts. C2 means potentially dangerous, needing urgent remedial work — a missing earth, or no RCD protection where the regulations require it. C3 means improvement recommended: not a failure, just below current best practice. FI means further investigation is required. Only C1, C2 and FI make a report unsatisfactory. A C3 on its own does not, which matters because plenty of landlords are told an old board means an automatic fail when in most cases an old board alone is a C3.
What makes a report fail most often
In the Kent properties we test, the recurring causes are: no RCD protection on circuits that now require it, particularly on pre-2008 consumer units; bathroom fittings or sockets in the wrong zone; DIY additions such as a socket spurred off an already-loaded ring, or a garden supply run in the wrong cable at the wrong depth; and in converted flats, circuits crossing between separately let units so a tenant can't safely isolate their own installation. That last one is very common in older Maidstone and Gillingham conversions.
What drives the cost
Circuits and boards, mainly. Every circuit has to be individually tested and its readings recorded, so a property with fourteen circuits takes appreciably longer than one with six. Extra consumer units — a garage board, an outbuilding board, a landlord supply to communal areas — each add a full set of tests. Access matters too: if the board is boxed in behind a fitted cupboard, or half the sockets are behind furniture, the inspection takes longer. Distance is a factor for smaller jobs, which is why clustering several properties in one visit is worth doing if you're a portfolio landlord.
Getting remedials done in the same visit
Where an unsatisfactory report is caused by minor items, we can often fix them on the same visit and issue the report as satisfactory rather than making you book a second appointment. That won't apply to a board change or a rewire, but it frequently covers the small stuff — a missing earth at a light fitting, a damaged accessory, an incorrectly protected spur. It's worth asking any electrician whether they do this, because two visits for a twenty-minute fix is a needless cost.
Communal areas: the bit landlords miss
If you let flats in a converted house, the landlord-controlled supply serving communal areas — landing lighting, entry systems, communal sockets, emergency lighting — is a separate installation and needs its own periodic inspection. It's the single most commonly overlooked item we come across, particularly in older Medway conversions where nobody has formally owned that supply since the property was split.
What it will cost at your property
We don’t publish blanket prices, because the factors above move the figure too much for a headline number to be honest. What we will do is come and look, then give you a written, itemised quote with nothing hidden in it — free, and with no obligation.