What is the purpose of an EICR? (Electrical Installation Condition Report)

EICR is a report on the status of an electrical installation. This is an official document that is drawn up after evaluating the electrical installation inside the facility. It must be carried out by an experienced qualified electrician or an approved contractor. Usually this means that they will take a course covering periodic inspections and tests and will be re-registered with a JIB or with a circuit supplier such as NICEIC plus, with good working knowledge and experience in electrical installations.

There are many reasons why a homeowner can request an EICR, and indeed, they are highly recommended when confirmation that the electrical installation is safe is required. One of the most common reasons why an EICR is requested is a rented room, where the EICR is the simplest and least time-consuming method of proving that an electrical installation is safe.

EICR is also recommended every 10 years in all homes to check the condition of the electrical system and to ensure that there is no damage, but there may be reasons why EICR should be carried out more often. Typical causes include:

• Age of installation (the older the installation, the more often it is necessary to carry out EICR)
• Type of property. For example, if the property has a swimming pool, the recommended interval between EICR is 1 year, however, only parts of the installation related to the swimming pool will need to be evaluated.
• Environmental conditions
• Improper use of the installation, such as vandalism
• Change in the use of domestic premises. This can be a change in the number of people employed in rented real estate, or property is being prepared for sale, or property is being acquired. It is highly recommended that EICR be carried out with every change in employment in the leased facilities to ensure that the facility remains electrically safe. Similarly, an EICR request for acquired property is the best way to find out if work is needed on an electrical system.
• Any concerns the landlord has about the state of their electrical installation.

Although there is no legal requirement to conduct an EICR in any situation, the EICR provides peace of mind that the house is electrically safe and they are not expensive to implement. Just as the boiler will be serviced every year, given that the EICR is carried out at recommended intervals, the annual cost of the EICR is extremely low compared to the cost of annual car maintenance or annual boiler maintenance, but it can still save a significant amount of money, since EICR will detect potential problem before it becomes a serious, costly problem.

During the EICR, an electrician can conduct a series of electrical observations and give everyone a recommendation code. Observations describe a defect or omission in an electrical installation. Electricians will encode each observation according to severity level. Observations will be written clearly and in no way are a sales tool. After that, the customer will be able to receive competitive offers on the recommended works, if he wishes.

For EICR to work most efficiently, Trade Skills 4U recommends having EICR at the recommended intervals, as described in the electrical installation rules of the 17th edition, and performing work in accordance with the recommendations so that the property remains electrically safe.

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