What is an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR)?

An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) is a universally recognised way under the UK wiring regulations (BS7671) to record and communicate the current condition of an electrical installation, the report also highlights in an easy to understand format any dangers that may exist.

When should an EICR be carried out?

• Anytime to confirm that a residential, commercial or industrial electrical systems is safe;
• When purchasing or selling a property;
• For landlords providing electrical safety certificates;
• To prove electrical systems are safe and well maintained to insurance companies;
• To ensure that an electrical system is fit for purpose and compliant when changing the use of a building;
• To prepare a schedule of essential electrical works before carrying out refurbishment or extension projects;
• For employers to show compliance with Health & Safety and employment legislation in relation to safety in the workplace.

How often should an electrical installation be tested?

It is recommended that an electrical installation is inspected and tested at least every:

• 10 years for domestic/residential installations;
• 5 years for commercial & most public buildings;
• 5 years for schools & Hospitals;
• 3 years for industrial installations;
• 3 years for agricultural;
• 1 year for swimming pools, leisure centers;
• 1 year for hotels , restaurants.

What is involved with an EICR?

An EICR covers all of the hard wiring in a building and includes items such as main panels, distribution boards, consumer units (fuse boards), lighting, socket outlets, air conditioning and other fixed plant.

An EICR involves performing both a visual inspection and a sequence of electrical tests on all the electrical systems in the building.

Visual Inspection

This is where the electrician surveys the electrical installation before commencing with the electrical testing. The visual inspection is used to confirm that the installation is safe to test and is used to identify items such as the following:

• The adequacy of earthing and bonding;
• Suitability of the switchgear and controlgear;
• Serviceability of equipment;
• Type of wiring system and its condition;
• Provision of residual current devices;
• Presence of adequate identification and notices;
• Extent of any wear and tear, damage or other deterioration;

Dead Testing (Power 'off')

The mains power is switched off and the electrical and physical characteristics of the individual circuits are tested:

• Continuity Testing: This is a test to confirm that there is low resistance on an individual circuit i.e power flows with little resistance. A higher than expected resistance reading could indicate a poor connection somewhere in the circuit or a damaged or corroded cable.
• Continuity testing: Is also carried out on the earthing / bonding to confirm that protection devices such as RCDs will operate correctly in the event of a fault.
• Insulation resistance testing: A test to confirm the integrity of the insulation (the non metal sleeving around the individual conductors/wires). We are looking for high resistance, a low resistance reading would likely be an indication of damaged insulation which could lead to blown fuses, short circuits and potentially electric shocks or fires.
• Polarity: This test is to check that the conductors/wires have been installed in the right sequence (L-L, N-N, E-E). Incorrect polarity can exist unnoticed but this situation is dangerous as many switches, MCBs and other circuit protections are installed into the 'line/live' conductor only and will not work in a fault if circuits have been wired incorrectly.

Live Testing (Power 'on')

• Earth fault loop impedance testing: This test is to check that if a fault or accident did occur, that the system overall (circuit including earth path) would meet the conditions required to automatically disconnect the power supply to the faulty circuit or effected piece of electrical equipment within the time limit needed to avoid an electric shock.
• RCD testing: RCD’s and RCBO’s react to imbalances on an electrical circuit and disconnect the supply in such an event to avoid electric shocks. RCD and RCBO testing replicates such events, measuring the time taken for the RCDs and RCBOs to disconnect the supply in order to ensure that they are in working order and that they will react within the required timescale (milliseconds) to avoid injuries.

Results / Report Findings

The results of the electrical tests and visual inspection are detailed in the Electrical Installation Condition Report along with any observations. If faults are identified they are given codes C1, C2 and C3.

• Code C1 ‘Danger present’: There is a risk of injury, immediate remedial action is required to remove the dangerous condition.
• Code C2 ‘Potentially dangerous condition’: Urgent remedial action required.
• Code C3 ‘Improvement recommended’ The installation may not comply with the current set of regulations, but is however judged to be electrically safe. Improvements could be made to improve the overall safety of the installation.

All installations where faults have been identified should be retested once the remedial works have been completed.

Considerations

Loss of Power

When an EICR is being carried out the electrician will need to disconnect the installation from the mains electrical power supply. Depending on the size of the property this can be anywhere from an hour or two to a whole day.

Commercial and industrial installations can sometimes take several days or weeks to complete. We are aware that a loss of power can cause serious distruption so we are always happy to work out a flexible schedule including working out of hours when needed so a loss of power can be safely managed and distruption minimised.

Access to Equipment

EICRs are detailed and involve the inspection of socket outlets, switches and electrical equipment that may sometimes be in hard to access places. Please ensure that wherever possible that switches, sockets and electrical equipment is accessable and that there is room to work.

Please also ensure that we will have access to all rooms and locations where electrical equipment is located.