Published: 08/06/2020
On the 1st June 2020, the UK government released further guidance regarding the requirement of an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR).An EICR is a report carried out to assess the safety of the existing electrical installation within the property and will need to be carried out every five years by a qualified electrician.
It will be mandatory for all new tenancies and renewals entered into on or after 1st July 2020, to have a valid EICR. All existing tenancies will require a valid EICR from 1st April 2021.
Any items identified as C1 or C2 will mean that the report will have an unsatisfactory outcome and works will be required. A new ‘satisfactory’ certificate will not be issued as standard, and indeed couldn’t be without a full re-test (and associated cost) if a different engineer undertook the remedial works.
Items identified as C3 will not result in an unsatisfactory outcome as they are not considered to be unsafe although improvement is recommended. They will need to be reinspected in three years.
The penalty for non-compliance is a fine of up to £30,000, or in the case of personal injury, a criminal prosecution.
For more detailed FAQs please see information from the Electrical Safety Roundtable.