Electrical Safety and the EICR: the 5-Year Rule Every Landlord Has to Follow

The short answer

If you let a home in England, the law requires the fixed electrical installation — the wiring, sockets, consumer unit and fixed appliances — to be inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every 5 years. You must give a copy of the resulting report (the EICR) to your tenants within 28 days, and if the report flags anything that needs fixing you must carry out that remedial work within 28 days (or sooner if the report says so). Ignore it and your council can impose a penalty of up to £30,000.

What the rules actually say

The duty comes from the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. They've applied to all tenancies since 1 April 2021, so there's no "old tenancy" exemption left. In plain terms, as a landlord you must:

• Ensure the electrical installation is inspected and tested at intervals not exceeding 5 years by a qualified and competent person;
• Obtain a report — an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) — setting out the results and any required work;
• Give a copy to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection, and to a new tenant before they move in;
• Supply a copy to the local authority within 7 days if it asks; and
• Keep the report to hand until the next inspection.

(Source: GOV.UK, "Electrical safety standards in the private and social rented sectors: guidance"; Regulations at legislation.gov.uk, SI 2020/312; verified July 2026.)

What "remedial work within 28 days" means

An EICR grades faults with codes. Anything marked C1 (danger present), C2 (potentially dangerous) or FI (further investigation required) means the installation is unsatisfactory and the work must be done. In that case you must:

• Complete the remedial or investigative work within 28 days — or within the shorter period the report specifies; and
• Get written confirmation from the electrician that the work is done and the installation now meets the standard, then supply that confirmation to your tenants and, if requested, the council within 28 days of completion.

A code of C3 ("improvement recommended") does not make the report unsatisfactory — it's advisory, not mandatory. It's still worth acting on, but it doesn't start the 28-day clock.

Rule of thumb: book the next EICR before the current one expires, not after. A lapsed report is a breach even if the wiring is perfectly safe — the offence is not having a valid, in-date inspection.

The penalty

Where a landlord breaches these duties, the local housing authority can serve a remedial notice and, for a breach, impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000. The council can also arrange for the work to be done itself and recover the cost. Because enforcement sits with the local authority rather than the courts, a penalty can arrive quickly once a breach is identified. (Source: GOV.UK, "Electrical safety standards in the private and social rented sectors: guidance"; verified July 2026.)

What an EICR actually involves

An EICR is a thorough inspection and test of the property's fixed electrical installation — the parts that are wired in, rather than plug-in appliances. A competent electrician will examine and test:

• The consumer unit (fuse board), including whether it provides adequate protection such as RCDs;
• The fixed wiring throughout the property and its condition;
• Accessories such as sockets, switches and light fittings; and
• Bonding and earthing arrangements.

The inspector should be genuinely qualified and competent — councils and guidance point landlords towards electricians who are members of a recognised competent-person scheme. It's your responsibility to make sure the person you use is up to the job; "I didn't know they weren't qualified" is not a defence.

Portable appliances and PAT testing — a common confusion

The five-yearly duty is about the fixed installation, not the kettle, toaster or washing machine. There is no separate legal requirement for annual "PAT testing" of portable appliances in a standard let. That said, if you provide electrical appliances as part of the tenancy, you have a broader duty to ensure they're safe — so many landlords still arrange periodic checks of anything they supply. Keep the two ideas separate: the EICR covers the wiring; appliance safety is a distinct, more general obligation.

Keep the paperwork

Because enforcement is document-driven, your records are your protection. Keep the EICR itself, any confirmation that remedial work was completed, and evidence of when and how you gave the report to tenants. If the council asks for the report, you have 7 days to supply it. A tidy folder — physical or digital — for each property turns a stressful request into a two-minute reply.

How the EICR fits with your other safety duties

Electrical safety is one of a small set of recurring safety obligations, and they run on different clocks — which is exactly why they're easy to miss:

• Gas safety — an annual check (every 12 months), with the record to tenants within 28 days.
• Electrical (EICR) — at least every 5 years, report within 28 days.
• Smoke and CO alarms — checked working at the start of each new tenancy.

If you run a shared house, remember the EICR is also a standard condition of an HMO licence, so a lapsed report there can put your licence at risk too.

What to do next

• Don't have an in-date EICR? Book a qualified electrician now — before the property is re-let.
• Just had one back with C1/C2/FI codes? Diarise the 28-day deadline for the fix and the confirmation.
• All satisfactory? Note the expiry date so the next inspection is booked in good time.

Information, not legal advice. Dates and figures verified July 2026 against GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk. England.