UK Landlord Forum / Life

If a landlord already has a valid domestic EIC in place, does he still need to have an EICR before April? Or are they the same thing?

EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) regulations legislated in July 2020. I have only just been informed about this by the estate agent handling my rental property with a view to finding a qualified electrician to carry out the rental electrical inspection, receive/read report, get quotes for any work needed if the EICR is unsatisfactory and have the work completed 28 days after I receive the report and certainly before April 2021.

All of a bit sudden, but I am one not wishing to endanger my tenants nor have any brushes with any authorities. Having found a qualified electrician to carry out the EICR I received an invoice for £210 but was not given the report. All I was given was a quote for works that needed doing. Most of the things listed are gobbly-gook to me. I obviously also felt that I was now tied to the electrician who did the report to carry out the work without having the chance/choice to shop around and getting other quotes.

So at this point I have tried to be responsible and get the property inspected by a qualified electrician. I have paid the inspection fee and then had to request my EICR findings. On looking at the report I see that the report is marked UNSATISFACTORY and since it has been published I now have 28 days to get the necessary works done to receive a satisfactory report/certificate which I have to make available to my tenants, estate agent and local housing authority.

I have rented this three bed family home for 24 years and along the way I have always used qualified electricians to carry out any repairs, or changes that have been introduced to provide family comforts. In this latest quotation I am now being informed that the house needs two consumer units rather than one.

Any comments referring to any part of my post will gladly help me and I appreciate any replies.

You should have received the EICR (inspection report) as soon as you paid the invoice and should not have to chase it.  The EICR will have a list of 'Observations' and each one will have a code Red, Amber, Green there is also an explanation of the codes, anything which is Red or Amber will need to be addressed without delay anything in Green is a recommended improvement.  Look through the EICR and discuss the items listed in the observations section with the engineer/company that undertook the inspection and agree which items you will be doing, get a price for the remedial work that you agree.  Once the remedial work has been carried out and you have paid the invoice you will receive another certificate which you should keep with the EICR as this will prove that you have carried out the necessary remedial work and will confirm that the electric installation is now in a Satisfactory state.

I would have thought that most older properties do not comply with the latest edition of electrical regulations so don't be too alarmed that remedial work is required.  I am not an electrician so cannot comment on how many consumer units you should have, however I would ask the reason for the recommendation for 2, Is it that the existing one is not large enough to allow for spare capacity? if so could you just upgrade the existing consumer unit to one that complies with the latest edition? or would that be more expensive than just adding another one?

You could show the EICR to another qualified electrician if you suspect that the initial engineer who did the inspection is trying to drum up more work than is necessary but that may just cause bad feeling and delays. I would speak to the engineer who did the test and ask him/her to explain the remedial works in lay terms.  Once you have done the remedial work and have a Satisfactory report instead of Unsatisfactory you can rest until you get a new tenant or the recommended date that the next inspection is due.

I have 2 properties (3 bed houses) and have recently carried out an EICR which were both Unsatisfactory on the report I received as soon as I paid the invoice for the inspection.  I discussed them with the engineer and decided to renew the consumer units in both properties as well as a couple of other repairs even though this would not have been necessary to achieve Satisfactory status.  But I now have confidence that I don't need to do anything for the next 5 years unless the tenants move out,  I paid £140 for each EICR, and just under £500 per property for a new consumer unit and Anti Surge Device.

Not sure if this will be of any help to you but it will give you an indication of what other people are paying.

I have commented in the past, on various threads, that this EICR introduction is a time that Electricians will look back on as the "great feeding frenzy"... my view is backed-up here. I have already heard of many people being foxed into the purchase of new consumer units to meet current regulations... when an EICR is not retrospective in nature. Should you ideally have a metal-clad consumer unit? Sure. If you have a plastic one from 1990 does it mean the property has suddenly become an immediate risk that needs remediation? No.

It's like Grenfell and cladding.

The ability for an Electrician to class the outcome as unsatisfactory does two things... it means you have a Sword of Damocles hanging over your head regarding more-or-less immediate action... and, by virtue of that, it effectively ties you into the same Electrician... not absolutely (you could throw money down the drain elsewhere of course)... but in practice (a Landlord probably wouldn't re-start the exercise). I bet Screwfix has had a massive rush on metal-clad consumer boards this year.  All those Landlords out there who have been frightened into taking remedial action that was not necessary (although possibly advisable).

That said, there's a comment here about not having to do anything for the next 5 years unless the Tenants move out... please clarify what you mean by this? The EICR has a lifetime... Tenant movements should not affect this, right? I don't get a new GSC if a Tenant move out when it's in the middle of its lifespan. We (Landlords) should all be careful on this.