EICR Electrical Inspection Costs UK — Condition Report Pricing for Landlords and Homeowners (2026)

An Electrical Installation Condition Report — universally known as an EICR — is the formal document that tells you whether a property's fixed electrical installation is safe to use. For landlords in England it has been a legal requirement since 1 April 2021. For homeowners thinking about buying or selling, or simply wanting peace of mind, it is the most comprehensive check available. Costs in 2026 range from around £80 for a studio flat to £350 or more for a large house, and understanding what drives the price will help you get fair quotes and avoid being overcharged.

This guide covers what an EICR actually tests, what it costs by property type, what the condition codes mean, what happens when remedial work is needed, and — for electricians — how to build a profitable, recurring landlord inspection business.

What Is an EICR?

An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is an inspection and test of a property's fixed electrical installation — everything from the incoming supply and consumer unit through to the wiring, sockets, switches, and fixed appliances such as extractor fans and electric showers. It was previously known as a Periodic Inspection Report (PIR), and you may still hear older electricians use that term.

The inspection is carried out by a qualified electrician who works through a structured sequence of visual checks, dead tests (carried out with the supply isolated), and live tests (carried out with the supply energised). At the end of the inspection they issue the EICR document, which assigns a condition code to each observation and gives the installation an overall assessment of “Satisfactory” or “Unsatisfactory.”

An EICR is not the same as an Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC). An EIC certifies new electrical work — for example, a new consumer unit, a rewire, or a new circuit. An EICR tests an existing installation to determine its current condition. They are different documents with different purposes; if someone issues you an EIC when you asked for an EICR, something has gone wrong.

Legal Requirements for Landlords

Since 1 April 2021, all private rented properties in England must have a valid EICR. The rules under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 are clear:

• The electrical installation must be inspected and tested at least every 5 years, or at the start of a new tenancy if that falls sooner.
• The inspection must be carried out by a qualified and competent electrician.
• The landlord must provide a copy of the EICR to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection, and to new tenants before they move in.
• A copy must also be provided to the local authority on request within 7 days.
• Where the report is unsatisfactory, the landlord must arrange for any C1 or C2 remedial work to be completed and provide written confirmation of completion to the tenant within 28 days of the original inspection.

Local authorities can impose financial penalties of up to £30,000 on landlords who fail to comply. Scotland introduced similar requirements earlier, under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, and Scottish private landlords have been required to carry out periodic inspections since 2015. Wales and Northern Ireland have their own frameworks, with Wales introducing mandatory 5-yearly inspections from December 2022.

EICR Costs UK 2026 — Prices by Property Type

EICR costs depend primarily on the size of the property (which determines how many circuits need testing), the age and condition of the installation, and the regional labour market. The table below shows typical 2026 prices. These are indicative ranges — prices in London and the South East tend to sit at the upper end, while the North of England and Scotland often come in lower.

Block-of-flats pricing benefits from economies of scale. An electrician who can book a full day at one address, testing twelve flats back to back, can offer a significantly lower per-unit rate than they could for a single flat in isolation. If you manage a portfolio, always ask for a block rate.

Commercial premises vary considerably. A small unit with a straightforward single-phase supply and a handful of circuits might cost £200. A larger premises with three-phase supply, a complex distribution board, and many circuits — office lighting, data, HVAC, kitchen equipment — could run to £500 or more, especially if the electrician needs a second person on site for live testing safety.

What Does an EICR Cover?

The inspection follows a structured schedule set out in BS 7671 (the IET Wiring Regulations). In practice it covers:

• Consumer unit (fuse board): condition, type of protection (RCD, RCBO, MCB), labelling, suitability for the installation, fire-rated enclosure where required.
• Wiring: condition, age, type (PVC, rubber, aluminium), adequacy for current loading, concealed cables in walls.
• Earthing and bonding: main earthing terminal, main bonding to gas and water pipework, supplementary bonding in bathrooms and kitchens where required.
• Sockets and switches: visual inspection for damage, correct polarity, earth continuity.
• Fixed appliances: electric showers, extractor fans, cooker circuits, underfloor heating — visual check and circuit tests.
• Dead testing: insulation resistance, continuity of protective conductors, polarity checks (supply isolated).
• Live testing: earth fault loop impedance, prospective fault current, RCD operation (supply energised).

The electrician works through a schedule and records the results against each test point. The completed document runs to several pages and is a formal record that can be presented to tenants, letting agents, local authorities, or insurers.

EICR Condition Codes Explained

Every observation on the EICR is assigned a code. Understanding what each code means — and what it requires you to do — is essential for landlords.

How Long Does an EICR Take?

For an average two- or three-bedroom house, expect the EICR to take between 2 and 4 hours. Larger properties, or those with older wiring, complex installations, or many circuits, will take longer — typically 4 to 8 hours for a five-bedroom house or larger.

The time is affected by access. Electricians need to isolate circuits and test them individually, which means isolating one circuit at a time, walking through the property to confirm everything on that circuit, and then moving to the next. If certain areas of the property are inaccessible — locked rooms, blocked access to the consumer unit, built-in furniture over sockets — the inspection takes longer and may produce FI observations.

Commercial premises and HMOs take longer still. An HMO with shared circuits serving communal areas and individual rooms can easily run to a full day for a single electrician.

Who Can Carry Out an EICR?

The regulations require the inspection to be carried out by a “qualified and competent” electrician. In practice this means someone who holds a relevant electrical qualification and, ideally, is registered with an accredited scheme. The main routes to look for:

• NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting): the largest and most widely recognised approval body for electrical contractors in the UK.
• NAPIT (National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers): covers electrical, gas, plumbing, and other trades.
• ELECSA: a certification body for domestic and commercial electrical work, part of the NICEIC Group.
• Part P registered: for domestic electrical work in England, registration under Part P of the Building Regulations allows electricians to self-certify notifiable work.
• City & Guilds 2391 (or equivalent): the inspection and testing qualification specifically. An electrician who is otherwise qualified but does not hold a 2391 or equivalent should not be carrying out EICRs.

Always ask to see the electrician's registration before booking. Most accredited scheme websites have a public search tool to verify membership. An unqualified person carrying out an EICR is not just unprofessional — the resulting document would not be legally valid for landlord compliance purposes.

Remedial Work After an Unsatisfactory EICR

An “Unsatisfactory” EICR — one containing C1, C2, or FI observations — requires remedial work before the report can be closed out. For landlords, this is not optional: the regulations require written confirmation of remediation to be provided to the tenant within 28 days of the original inspection date.

Remedial costs vary enormously depending on what needs fixing:

• Minor repairs (replacing a damaged socket, correcting a bonding connection, re-labelling a consumer unit): £100 – £300
• Consumer unit replacement: £400 – £900, depending on size and specification
• Partial rewire (one or two circuits): £400 – £800
• Full rewire (older properties with rubber or aluminium wiring): £2,000 – £8,000+ depending on size
• Earthing upgrades and bonding works: £150 – £500

When the remedial work is complete, the electrician issues a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate (MEIWC) for small jobs, or a full Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) for major works such as a rewire or consumer unit replacement. The landlord must provide a copy of this completion document to the tenant, alongside the original EICR, within the 28-day window.

If the remedial work is substantial and takes longer than 28 days, the landlord should communicate proactively with the tenant and local authority. The regulations require the work to be completed “as soon as possible,” and a landlord who can demonstrate they have arranged the work and kept all parties informed is in a much stronger position than one who simply ignores the deadline.

EICR vs Electrical Installation Certificate: Know the Difference

These are two entirely different documents and it is worth being clear about the distinction:

• An EICR tests an existing installation and reports on its condition. It is issued after an inspection of work that already exists. It says: “We have checked what is here, and this is its current state.”
• An EIC (Electrical Installation Certificate) certifies new electrical work. It is issued when new work is completed — a new circuit, a consumer unit replacement, a full rewire. It says: “We have installed this work and it meets the required standard.”

An EIC does not satisfy the landlord's duty to have an EICR. Conversely, an EICR does not replace the requirement for an EIC when new work is carried out. Both documents serve distinct purposes and both should be kept on file.

For Electricians: Building a Recurring Landlord Client Base from EICR Work

EICR work is the electrical equivalent of gas safety certificates for heating engineers — predictable, recurring, and a gateway to remedial work and further jobs. A landlord with ten properties needs ten EICRs every five years. Win that landlord once and you have a client relationship worth £1,500–£2,500 in inspection fees alone, plus any remedials, plus any ongoing maintenance or upgrade work.

The volume play works through three channels: renewals, referrals, and letting agent relationships.

Renewals are automatic if you do the job properly and stay in touch. Set a reminder in your job management system five years from each EICR date. A quick message to the landlord two months before the expiry date — “Your EICR at [address] is due for renewal in March, would you like to book?” — converts at a very high rate because the landlord already trusts you, has your number, and legally needs the work done.

Referrals come naturally from the landlord world. Property investors talk to each other at landlord association meetings, on forums, in WhatsApp groups. A landlord who finds an electrician they can rely on — reliable, qualified, issues the paperwork promptly, straightforward on price — will recommend them readily. The best electrician client bases are built on a handful of highly connected landlords who generate a steady stream of introductions.

Letting agent relationships are the most scalable route. A letting agent managing 200 properties needs all of those EICRs carried out, and they need them done reliably, on time, with paperwork issued promptly. Most agents would rather use one or two trusted electricians than manage a different contractor for every property. Get in front of the compliance manager at two or three letting agencies in your area and pitch a block rate — you price the work slightly lower per unit in exchange for volume and guaranteed bookings. That relationship, once established, can generate 40–60 EICRs a year from a single agent.

Pricing Strategy: Per-Property vs Block Contracts

Most electricians price EICRs on a per-property basis, which is fine for one-off jobs. But if you are serious about building a landlord portfolio, think about two pricing structures:

Block contracts for letting agents: agree a fixed rate per unit (for example, £95 per flat or £140 per house) in exchange for a minimum volume commitment — say, 50 inspections per year. At that volume you can plan your diary efficiently, reduce travel time, and batch inspections by area. The lower per-unit rate is more than offset by the predictability and density of the work.

Portfolio rates for private landlords: a landlord with five properties should get a better rate than one with a single flat. Price it that way explicitly — “£160 per property, or £130 per property if you book all five together.” Most landlords respond well to transparent volume pricing, and it locks in the whole portfolio.

When pricing, factor in travel time honestly. Three EICRs in the same street is very different from three EICRs on opposite sides of the city. Your hourly rate on the road is zero, so tight geographic clustering is where the money is made. If a block of work pulls you too far out of your patch, price it to reflect that, or decline it.

How Trade2Base Helps Electricians Track EICR Marketing

Building a landlord EICR portfolio is a long game. It takes consistent marketing — Google Ads targeting “EICR [your town]”, a profile on landlord directories, direct outreach to letting agents, presence in local landlord associations — and most electricians spread their marketing budget across several channels without knowing which ones actually generate enquiries.

Trade2Base tracks where every lead comes from. When a new enquiry lands — whether via your website, Google Ads, a referral, a Checkatrade listing, or a direct letting agent call — it is logged against the source. Over time you can see exactly which channels are generating landlord inspection enquiries, what the cost per lead is from each, and which sources convert to recurring clients rather than one-off jobs.

That data changes how you spend your marketing budget. Instead of guessing that Google Ads is probably working, you know it generated 18 EICR enquiries last quarter at an average cost of £12 each, while the directory listing generated two enquiries at £45 each. You can double down on what works and cut what doesn't.

For electricians who are serious about EICR as a revenue stream, knowing your numbers is the difference between a growing portfolio and a stagnant one.