The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 require the electrical installation in a let property to be inspected and tested at least every five years, and before a new tenancy begins.
The report is an EICR — an Electrical Installation Condition Report. Unlike a gas certificate, it is not simply pass or fail: it comes back coded, and the codes decide what you must do and how quickly.
The codes
- C1 — danger present. Risk of injury, immediate action required. The inspector should make it safe before leaving.
- C2 — potentially dangerous. Urgent remedial action required.
- FI — further investigation required without delay.
- C3 — improvement recommended. Not a failure. The installation is safe; something could be better.
Any C1, C2 or FI makes the report unsatisfactory. C3 alone does not — and this is where landlords lose money, paying for remedial work on C3 items in the belief the report failed. It did not.
The 28-day clock
Where the report is unsatisfactory, you must complete the remedial or further investigative work within 28 days, or within any shorter period the report specifies.
Then, within 28 days of completion, you must supply written confirmation from the electrician to the tenant and the local authority. That second obligation is the one people miss: doing the work is not enough, and the authority has to be told.
The rest of the paperwork
- Copy of the report to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection.
- Copy to a new tenant before they occupy.
- Copy to any prospective tenant within 28 days of a written request.
- Copy to the local authority within 7 days of a request.
- Copy to the next inspector.
The penalty
A local housing authority may impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000 per breach. Note per breach: failing to have a valid EICR and failing to supply it on request are separate breaches, and a council can penalise both.
This is a civil penalty with a real statutory ceiling — unlike the gas offence, LASPO s.85 has nothing to do with it. The distinction is explained in why legislation.gov.uk shows the wrong fine.
Wales
The 2020 Regulations are England. In Wales the equivalent duty arrives through the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 fitness requirements, which oblige an EICR at least every five years for occupation contracts. The cycle is the same; the instrument and the enforcement route are not.
Practical points
- Read the codes before paying for work. A C3-only report is satisfactory.
- Diarise 28 days from the report date, not from when you got round to reading it.
- Send confirmation to the council, not just the tenant.
- Five years is a maximum — the report can specify sooner, and that shorter period governs.
Track the five-year date and the 28-day clock. Landlord HQ holds both per property. See what it costs.
Information tool, not legal advice.