What happens if an EICR is unsatisfactory?

What “unsatisfactory” means

The first page of an electrical installation condition report gives an overall assessment: satisfactory or unsatisfactory. It is unsatisfactory when the report records at least one observation coded C1 or C2, or one that needs further investigation. A single coded item is enough, so an installation that is otherwise in good order can still be recorded as unsatisfactory.

That is why the observations matter more than the headline. One C2 against a damaged socket in a utility room and a dozen C2s across the board and the wiring are both unsatisfactory, but they are very different amounts of work. If you need the repairs priced, EICR testing and remedial work covers how that is done.

The codes, in order of urgency

C1: danger present

There is a risk of injury now. A C1 should not wait for a quote: the usual response is to make it safe straight away, by isolating the circuit or removing the hazard, with the owner told immediately, and then to arrange the permanent repair. Exposed live parts, such as a broken accessory with its terminals showing, are an example.

C2: potentially dangerous

Not an immediate risk, but a condition that could become dangerous if a fault occurred. Urgent remedial work is needed. Missing main protective bonding, or an accessory showing signs of overheating, are the kind of finding that may be coded C2.

FI: further investigation required

Something could not be fully assessed during the inspection and needs investigating without delay to find out whether danger exists. An example is a test result that points to a problem on a circuit whose route could not be traced. The investigation either clears the item or turns it into a coded observation that then needs putting right.

C3: improvement recommended

Part of the installation does not meet the current standard, but it is neither dangerous nor potentially dangerous. A C3 does not make a report unsatisfactory and is a recommendation rather than a requirement. It is still worth reading, because C3 items are often the improvements that make most sense while other work is already being done.

What happens next

1. Make anything dangerous safe. C1 items come first, on the day.
2. Carry out any further investigation. Its outcome can add or remove work, so it is worth doing before the repairs are finalised.
3. Get the remedial work priced. The inspection and the repairs are separate jobs, and a quote for the repairs should say which observations it deals with.
4. Have the work done and tested. The electrician tests what has been repaired or replaced.
5. Keep the paperwork with the report. The report and the documents for the repairs belong together.

You do not have to use the electrician who carried out the inspection for the repairs; another electrician can work from the report. If an observation seems to have been coded more severely than it deserves, it is reasonable to ask the inspector to explain the reasoning, or to ask another electrician for a view before paying for the work.

The paperwork after remedial work

Repairs are documented separately from the report. For small jobs, such as replacing an accessory or adding bonding, that is usually a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate. Larger work, such as a new circuit or a replacement consumer unit, gets an Electrical Installation Certificate.

In England, a new circuit and a consumer unit replacement are also notifiable under the Building Regulations, along with additions and alterations to circuits in a bathroom or shower area close to the bath or shower. That work must be notified to building control, or self-certified by an electrician registered with a competent person scheme.

The original report is not normally reissued. The report together with the certificates for the remedial work shows that the findings have been dealt with.

Landlords: the deadlines

For a rented home in England, work or investigation required by the report has to be finished within 28 days of the inspection, or sooner if the report sets a shorter period. Once it is done, the landlord needs written confirmation of the work from the electrician and must send it, with the report, to the tenants and the local housing authority within 28 days of completion. The full set of rules is in How often do landlords need an EICR?

Keeping it in proportion

An unsatisfactory result is a list of specific items to put right, and each can be judged on its own. The results that deserve a wider look are C1 observations, and C2s spread across much of the installation, which can point to a consumer unit or wiring nearing the end of its useful life. In that case it is worth reading when to replace a consumer unit or signs your house may need rewiring before agreeing a long list of separate repairs.

How Firefly handles remedial work

I can price remedial work from my own report or from one produced by another electrician, and I will tell you which observations genuinely need acting on and which are recommendations. For landlords, the landlord services page explains how access and paperwork are arranged.