As a landlord, you must by law have the electrical installations in your property inspected at least every 5 years by a qualified electrician. You must also provide a copy of the landlord electrical safety certificate to your tenants, as well as the local authority if requested.

Even if you already check your installations regularly, it’s important that you fully understand your electrical safety obligations to keep your tenants safe and make sure any electrical hazards are dealt with swiftly.

• In this guide, you will find everything you need to know about landlords electrical certificates, including:
• Your obligations as a landlord
• Electrical Installation Condition Reports and how they work
• What to do if remedial work is required
• What happens if you don’t comply with the regulations

Your electrical safety obligations

According to the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, private landlords must ensure every electrical installation in their residential premises is inspected and tested at intervals of no more than 5 years by a qualified and competent person.

Following the inspection and testing, a private landlord must:

• Obtain a report known as an electrical installation condition report (EICR) from the person conducting that inspection and test, which gives the results of the inspection and test and the date the next inspection and test is due
• Supply a copy of that report to each existing tenant of the residential premises within 28 days of the inspection and test
• Supply a copy of that report to the local housing authority within 7 days of receiving a request in writing for it from that authority
• Retain a copy of that report until the next inspection and test is due and supply a copy to the person carrying out the next inspection and test
• Supply a copy of the most recent report to any new tenant of the specified tenancy to which the report relates before that tenant occupies those premises; and any prospective tenant within 28 days of receiving a request in writing for it from that prospective tenant.

What types of tenancy do the regulations apply to?

If a private tenant has a right to occupy a property as their only or main residence and pays rent then the regulations apply, subject to some excluded tenancies (set out in Schedule 1 of the Regulations). This includes assured shorthold tenancies and licences to occupy.

Do these regulations apply to fixed and portable electrical appliances as well as the electrical installation?

These regulations do not place any defined requirement on fixed or portable electrical appliances provided by the landlord. It is recommended that landlord-supplied electrical appliances should be regularly electrically inspected. See our guide on portable appliance testing for more information.

Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICRs) and how they work

The electrical inspector and tester must issue a report, or landlord electrical safety certificate, that includes:

• The results of the inspection and test (satisfactory or unsatisfactory)
• If applicable, a list of observations requiring remedial work or further investigation
• The date the next inspection and test is due by

This report is known as an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR).

An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) is carried out to assess the safety of the existing electrical installation within a property and is used to describe its condition. Parts of the system that are reported on include consumer units, protective bonding, lighting, switches and sockets, etc. Its purpose is to confirm as far as possible whether or not the electrical installation is in a safe condition for continued service.

The EICR will show whether the electrical installation is in a 'satisfactory' or 'unsatisfactory' condition and will detail a list of observations affecting the safety or requiring improvements.

These observations will be supported by codes.

Unsatisfactory Codes are:

• C1 – Danger present, risk of injury, immediate remedial action required
• C2 – Potentially Dangerous, urgent remedial action required
• FI – Further investigation required

A Satisfactory Code is:

• C3 – Improvement recommended

Action is required if the EICR issued is unsatisfactory. If an EICR contains a C1, C2 or FI code, it is unsatisfactory. If a C1 is discovered, the electrician will often take action using temporary measures to make the dangerous installation safe. Then, as is also the case with a C2 or FI code, it is the owner’s responsibility to organise a repair, replacement, or further investigation within 28 days.

A C3 code, 'improvement recommended', is given to aspects of the installation that do not present a danger but will result in an increased safety standard within the property. Occasionally a C3 code may be attributed to an item that does not comply with current regulations but did comply at the time it was installed. A C3 code does not mean the installation is unsafe and should not impose a requirement to have work carried out on the owner. Where there are only C3 observations listed, this will result in a satisfactory EICR being issued.

What to do if you receive an unsatisfactory report

Where an EICR identifies urgent remedial work or requires 'further investigation', the private landlord must ensure that the required work is carried out by a qualified and competent person within 28 days (or the period specified in the report if it is less than 28 days), starting from the date of the inspection and testing.

The landlord must then:

• Obtain written confirmation from a qualified person that further investigative or remedial work has been carried out and that the electrical safety standards are met or the further investigative or remedial work is required
• Supply that written confirmation, together with a copy of the report which required the further investigative or remedial work to each existing tenant of the residential premises within 28 days of completion of the further investigative or remedial work, and also to the local housing authority within 28 days of completion of the further investigative or remedial work.

Why do I need to send a copy of the report with proof of remedial work being completed to the local authority?

This requirement has been introduced to alert the Local Housing Authority to any properties which may have been sub-standard but are now safe.

You must submit the unsatisfactory report along with written confirmation to demonstrate you have had the required remedial and/or further investigative work done.

It is your responsibility as a private landlord to do this and failure to comply could result in enforcement action being taken against you.

What happens if you don’t comply with the regulations?

If the landlord fails to take action after receiving an unsatisfactory report, the local housing authority can arrange for an authorised person to undertake the required remedial work, subject to agreement by the tenant. The local housing authority can recover reasonable costs of the work from the landlord.

Local authorities may also impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000 if they find a landlord is in breach of their electrical safety duty.

Do I need to get a new electrical safety certificate every time a new tenant moves in?

The regulations specify that a landlord electrical safety certificate will be valid for 5 years, or a shorter time frame if the inspector deems it necessary. This means that generally you should only need to get one certificate every five years and this certificate can be supplied to any new tenants during that period.