If you’ve booked an EICR, or you’re thinking about booking one, it’s completely natural to want to know what you’re letting yourself in for. Will you need to be there? How long will it take? Will the power go off? What exactly is the electrician looking at?
The good news is there’s nothing to be worried about. An electrical safety inspection is a routine, methodical process carried out by a qualified electrician using specialist equipment. Understanding what happens at each stage means you can prepare properly and know what to expect when you get your report back.
The Standards That Govern the Inspection
Before getting into the process itself, it’s worth knowing what framework the electrician is working to. Every EICR in the UK is carried out against the requirements of BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations, currently in its 18th Edition including Amendment 2 (BS 7671:2018+A2:2022). This is the national standard for electrical installations and sets out the safety requirements that every installation must be assessed against.
The detailed methodology for carrying out inspection and testing is set out in IET Guidance Note 3, Inspection and Testing, published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology. This is the document qualified electricians refer to when planning and conducting an EICR, covering everything from test sequences to the correct use of instruments. It sits alongside BS 7671 and gives practical, technical guidance on how to apply the regulations in the field.
For the classification of observations, qualified inspectors also follow Electrical Safety First’s Best Practice Guide 4, which provides standardised guidance on how to assign the correct classification codes to each observation found during a domestic EICR. This guide is supported by NAPIT, the IET, NICEIC, and most other major industry bodies, and helps ensure that reports are consistent and meaningful regardless of which electrician carries them out.
Before the Electrician Arrives
A little preparation goes a long way. If you have a previous EICR for the property, dig it out and hand it to the electrician when they arrive. It tells them how the installation has been wired, which circuits exist, and what observations were made last time, saving time and giving them a useful baseline.
Make sure the electrician has clear access to the consumer unit (your fuse box), which is usually located in a hallway, kitchen, or utility area. They’ll also need access to every room in the property, including any outbuildings, garages, or loft spaces that have electrical circuits running to them.
Let anyone else in the property know in advance that the power will be going off during parts of the inspection. For rental properties, landlords should give tenants proper notice before the visit. If anything in the property needs to stay on, such as medical equipment, a chest freezer with food in it, or anything time-sensitive, discuss this with the electrician before they start.
Stage 1: Visual Inspection
The electrician begins with a thorough visual inspection of the entire electrical installation. This doesn’t require any specialist equipment, just a trained eye and a systematic approach. They’re looking for anything that’s obviously damaged, deteriorated, incorrectly installed, or non-compliant with the current edition of BS 7671.
It’s worth noting here that, as BS 7671 itself acknowledges, installations wired to an earlier edition of the regulations may not comply with the current edition in every respect. That doesn’t automatically mean they’re unsafe for continued use. The inspector’s job is to assess the current condition of the installation and classify any issues appropriately, not simply to flag everything that doesn’t match today’s latest standard.
At the consumer unit, they’ll check the overall condition of the board, look for signs of overheating or burning, verify that the correct protective devices are in place, and confirm that circuits are clearly and accurately labelled. An unlabelled or poorly labelled consumer unit is a common observation on EICR reports.
From there they’ll work through the property checking sockets, switches, and light fittings for signs of damage, cracking, discolouration, or scorch marks. They’ll look at any visible wiring to check it’s properly clipped, protected, and not showing signs of wear or damage. They’ll check that earthing and bonding conductors are in place, particularly the bonding to metal water and gas pipework in kitchens and bathrooms. They’ll also verify that RCDs (residual current devices) are present and correctly positioned within the consumer unit.
Any outdoor electrical installations, such as garden sockets, external lighting, EV charger supplies, or outbuilding feeds, are also included. These need to be assessed to make sure they’re adequately protected against the weather and mechanical damage.
Stage 2: Dead Testing
Once the visual inspection is complete, the electrician moves on to electrical testing. The first phase is known as dead testing, carried out with the power switched off. This is why you’ll experience periods without electricity during the inspection.
Dead testing checks the physical integrity of the wiring and circuits using specialist equipment. The key tests carried out at this stage include:
Continuity of protective conductors. This confirms that the earth path throughout the installation is intact and connected correctly. The earth system is your protection against electric shock, and any break in that path creates a serious risk.
Continuity of ring final circuits. Most properties have ring main circuits serving the sockets. This test confirms that each ring is complete and unbroken. A broken ring can lead to cables being overloaded in ways that aren’t immediately obvious.
Insulation resistance testing. The electrician sends a test voltage through the wiring and measures how much stays within the cable. If the insulation on a cable has broken down through age, heat, or physical damage, current will leak out. Leaking current is a fire and shock hazard. This test catches deterioration that’s completely invisible to the naked eye, which is one of the most important reasons why a visual check alone is never sufficient. IET Guidance Note 3 sets out the minimum acceptable insulation resistance values that inspectors must work to.
Polarity checks. This confirms that all wiring has been connected with the correct polarity, meaning live, neutral, and earth conductors are connected to the right terminals throughout. Reverse polarity is a surprisingly common fault, particularly in older properties or after DIY work, and can create shock risks even when everything appears to be working normally.
Stage 3: Live Testing
With the power restored, the electrician carries out live testing. This phase focuses on verifying that the protective devices in your consumer unit actually work correctly when needed.
The most important of these tests is RCD testing. An RCD is designed to cut the power within milliseconds if it detects a fault that could cause electric shock. During live testing, the electrician uses calibrated equipment to deliberately trigger the RCD and measure how quickly it responds. BS 7671 specifies the maximum trip times RCDs must achieve. If an RCD trips too slowly, it may not protect someone in time if a real fault occurs.
Earth fault loop impedance testing is also carried out during the live phase. This measures the total resistance of the earth fault path from the consumer unit out to the furthest point of each circuit and back. The result tells the electrician whether the protective devices will operate fast enough to disconnect the supply in the event of a fault. If the loop impedance is too high, the protective device may not trip quickly enough to prevent serious injury or fire.
How Long Does an EICR Take?
The time varies depending on the size and age of the property and the number of circuits involved. As a rough guide, a typical three-bedroom domestic property takes between two and four hours. Larger properties, or those with older or more complex wiring, take longer. The electrician will generally test a percentage of outlets on each circuit. If problems are found they may need to test more extensively, which adds time. As a general rule, allow around 30 minutes per circuit.
How Are Observations Classified?
This is where Best Practice Guide 4, produced by Electrical Safety First and supported by all the major industry bodies including NAPIT, becomes particularly important. It provides standardised guidance on how each observation should be classified, helping to ensure consistency across the industry.
Each issue found during the inspection is assigned one of four classification codes drawn from BS 7671 Regulation 653.2:
C1 (Danger present) means there is an immediate risk of injury. Where a C1 is identified, the inspector is required to advise the client immediately, not wait for the final report. In practice, the electrician will often take steps to make the hazard safe before leaving the premises, such as isolating the affected circuit. The report will be Unsatisfactory.
C2 (Potentially dangerous) means a fault that isn’t currently causing immediate danger but would become dangerous if a further fault or foreseeable event occurred. Remedial action is required as a matter of urgency. The report will be Unsatisfactory.
C3 (Improvement recommended) means the installation could be improved but isn’t dangerous. A C3 alone does not make a report Unsatisfactory. You can receive a Satisfactory report that contains C3 observations, though acting on them over time is sensible.
FI (Further investigation required) is used where something has been identified that cannot be fully assessed within the agreed scope of the inspection. This makes the report Unsatisfactory until the investigation is complete. In domestic properties, a good inspector should generally be able to attribute a definitive code to each observation; FI should not be used simply because an issue would be convenient to investigate further.
BPG4 also recognises two additional categories that don’t carry a classification code: Obs (observations worthy of note that don’t constitute a non-compliance) and NC only (non-conformities with BS 7671 that don’t give rise to danger and don’t warrant a code). It also lists common myths, things that inspectors sometimes flag unnecessarily, such as the absence of switches on socket-outlets or the use of rewireable fuses where they provide adequate protection. A well-qualified electrician will know the difference.
NAPIT also provides guidance to its registered members on correct coding practice, which is one of the reasons using a registered electrician matters when it comes to getting a report that accurately reflects the condition of your installation.
The Report
At the end of the process you receive the EICR document itself. This is a formal record that includes the details of the property and the installation, the date of the inspection, the name and qualifications of the inspecting electrician, a list of every observation made and its classification code, and the recommended date for the next inspection.
A good EICR will reference the specific regulation within BS 7671 that each observation relates to, so you can see exactly what standard has or hasn’t been met. If your report comes back Unsatisfactory, your electrician should be able to explain each observation clearly and give you a straightforward quote for the remedial work required.
Keep your EICR somewhere safe. Landlords are legally required to be able to produce a copy for the local authority within 7 days of a written request, and you’ll also need to hand it to the next electrician who carries out your inspection so they can compare against the previous findings.
Book Your EICR With Flodman Electrical
At Flodman Electrical we carry out thorough, fully compliant EICRs on domestic, landlord, and commercial properties across Farnborough, Hampshire, Surrey, and Berkshire. We’re NAPIT-approved, which means you can be confident that our inspection work meets the required standard and will stand up to scrutiny from tenants, local authorities, or insurers.
We’ll explain every stage of the process in plain English, walk you through any observations on your report, and provide a clear, competitive quote for any remedial work needed.
Contact Flodman Electrical to book your electrical safety inspection
Flodman Electrical Ltd, NAPIT Approved Contractor. Serving Farnborough, Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire.
