Just like taking your car to the garage for an MOT, or getting a heating engineer to service your boiler, we all need to get an approved registered contractor to check our electrics are safe. An EICR is the safety certificate and report that an electrician supplies following an inspection of your property.

Campaigning charity Electrical Safety First recommends that an EICR should be done every 10 years in a private property, and Landlords are encouraged to get a new EICR each time they change their tenants, or every five years, whichever is sooner.

If you fail to check and maintain your electrical systems, insurance companies can use this as a reason to refuse claims if they’re a result of electrical faults. But not enough people are aware of these checks. It's essential to stay safe when using electricity, which is why Electrical Safety First always recommend employing a professional registered electrician to work on your installation.

The EICR is a comprehensive check of the fixed wiring of your electrical installation. It’s a snapshot of your electrics to establish whether they're safe and compliant with the regulations, and to identify any potential safety issues. It’s about checking the underlying electrical system – the wiring, the fuse board, earth bonding and all the other bits you can’t see that could be a risk – rather than whether your lights come on or not.

We will visit your property, make a visual assessment, and then carry out a series of checks on your electrical systems. If we find any ‘code 1’ problems, ie problems that are immediately dangerous, we will need to arrange to fix those there and then or at least make them safe. We’ll note any other ‘code 2’ problems that are potentially dangerous, and will provide a quote to fix them at the end of the process, along with any ‘code 3’, which are recommendations not deemed unsafe.

During the visit, we will complete a seven-page report. A qualified supervisor will then sign off the report to make sure it’s correct. We will then provide you with a copy via the NICEIC Website, & provide you with a quote for any further remedial works recommended in order to bring your system up to standard. It can take a couple of days to process the paperwork.

What should be checked during an EICR?

We will check that your fuse board is safe and compliant with the current regulations – this means whether it has the necessary circuit breakers and RCD protection. (Residual current devices are designed to prevent you from getting a fatal electric shock if you touch something live.) Other checks designed to prevent fatal electric shocks include ensuring that everything is correctly earthed. We will check this on the services that would need earthed.

We will also check a sample (at least 40%) of your sockets, lights, switches and accessories to see that the wiring is installed correctly.

Portable appliance testing (PAT) is the term used to describe the examination of electrical appliances and equipment to ensure they are safe to use. Most electrical safety defects can be found by visual examination but some types of defect can only be found by testing. However, it is essential to understand that visual examination is an essential part of the process because some types of electrical safety defect can't be detected by testing alone.

The purpose to which the equipment is being used will determine the frequency of testing - a drill on a Construction site will need a differing frequency of testing to the office printer. We can advise on that.