Everything you need to know about EICR's.
What is an EICR?
An EICR is an inspection carried out on the fixed wiring within your property or premises. During this inspection we are carrying out a number of thing, we are testing the condition of all the fixed wiring buried within the building, making sure that nothing is damaged or broken, making sure that everything is in a safe working order and suitable for the environment its installed.
At the end you are issued a comprehensive report detailing everything found, our overall assessment and recommendations for remedial work if required.
Observations
This section will detail all non compliances found within the property and give them a code depending on their severity. These codes are as follows
C1 – Immediate danger to occupants, issues such as exposed live conductors
C2 – Potentially dangerous, these are issue which under the right circumstance could be dangerous to occupants such as, Missing earths and bonding, lack of RCD, unsuitable accessories.
C3 – Not potentially dangerous but does not meet the most current regulations. This is where regulations move forward leaving some installations not up to current standards but at the same time, they are still safe. Things such as plastic consumer units, no surge protection
F/I – Further investigation required. Sometimes more work is required to dig into whether a situation is compliant or not. The purpose of an EICR is to report and not to fault find or start lifting floor boards to try and locate a main bond under the floor for example.
If your report has any C1, C2 or F/I items then these will need rectification before the installation can be classed as satisfactory.
C3 items can be left but are still listed on the observations.
Time scale
To properly ensure a detailed and thorough report a good amount of time is required. On larger scale buildings we must work in teams of 2 or more.
Too many compliance companies are charging peanuts and putting a single engineer on site for a single day where they barely have time to fill out the paperwork, let alone carry out in depth inspection and testing
Here at ALM we always ensure that enough time is allowed to carryout a full and detailed inspection in order to give our clients the best possible overview of their systems inline with our company ethos.
Do I need an EICR on my property?
In most situations yes, it will be a requirement one way or another.
Domestic – if your property is rented then it is a requirement by law that there is a satisfactory EICR in place which should be renewed a maximum of every 5 years or at a change of occupancy. If you own your home, then there is no legal requirement however it would be advised as regulations and safety equipment change quickly.
Commercial – There is no legal requirement for an EICR, however as a business owner you have a duty of care to your staff and the public to ensure your systems are safe. On top of this its very likely that your commercial business insurance policy will stipulate that an in date satisfactory EICR must be held, or you risk voiding your insurance cover.
How much is an EICR?
This can vary between properties and depends on factors including the age and size of the building, the buildings use, if there are electric heater circuits and the quality of labelling and previous paperwork available.
Pricing on domestic installations starts from £165.00 +VAT for a 2 bed flat and will increase with size.
Pricing on a commercial system start from £25.00 +VAT per circuit, we would need to carryout a survey to supply an accurate quote.
If your business or property needs an EICR carried out then you can use the attached form to request a free site survey and quotation.
