Our aim and commitment.
At Metcalfe Electrical (FM & ES) we are dedicated to delivering expert Electrical Inspection and Testing Services that prioritize safety, compliance, and reliability.
The aim for our clients is simply and straightforward.
Mitigate Risk & Enhance Safety
Ensure that the electrical installation doesn’t pose a threat to life or property.
Life – People, Pets or Livestock – Prevention of Electric Shock:
Ensuring the correct electrical system has been installed and the correct distribution and circuit protection is applied. Checking the system throughout, to prove that no access to live parts, is possible without a deliberate act to do so.
Property – Identification of Fire Hazards :
Inspecting & testing the electrical systems for evidence of overloaded circuits, Incorrect circuit protection, loose connections or “run-hot” equipment that could pose a fire risk.
Degradation and Damage –
Identifying general wear / tear caused by environmental factors and use, pests (rodent damage) or simply ageing.
We pride ourselves on working long term with clients. This is to not only highlight issues that have arisen over time, but also to advise on the direction of electrical systems and how up and coming changes are likely to affect your premises going forward. Electrical systems do evolve over time, and correct electrical planning of changes can avoid costly assumptions.
A little background of how the Requirements for Electrical Installation were legislated in 1993 and why Inspection & testing has become so important
Electrical Installation Condition Report was originally called a “Periodic Inspection Report” this with no title reference to electrical, was often referred to as an “Electrical Inspection & Test Report”. This term is still often used to date, and means the same process and procedure.
For many years now, it has been the responsibility of owners and operators of buildings both Private and Public, to ensure that they are safe for Workers, Users and Visitors. Incorporated into this responsibility is the legal requirement placed upon management to ensure that the building is electrically safe at all time. This means in short that the electrical system should pose the minimal risk to persons or animals, by avoidance of direct electric shock or fire ignition.
In industrial & commercial settings these requirements are legislated in the first, by the Electricity at Works regulations 1989. This act requires that persons undertaking electrical works within premises, have the correct knowledge and understanding, to ensure that the electrical system is safe throughout alteration, and after completion into service. In 1993 the 16th edition of “Requirements for Electrical Installations” was adopted under the British Standards umbrella, becoming known as BS 7671.
The following is a quote from The Electricity at Work regulations, Item 9.
BS 7671 is a code of practice which is widely recognised and accepted in the UK, and compliance with it is likely to achieve compliance with relevant aspects of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
We can see that by bringing these requirements under a British Standard it has added some further legal basis, so that if you can show compliance to BS 7671 as best possible, you are showing good intent to comply with the 1989 regulations. It should be noted that it is not a full get out clause, and other safety factors may be required on specialist / complex equipment.
The way to manage this risk and help keep electrical systems up to date, is to have an Electrical Installation Condition Report carried out. This report will detail the electrical distribution and its type of protection afforded, along with any testing carried out to prove the system is constructed, maintained and safe for continued use. The ideal goal is to have an Electrical Installation Condition Report with a satisfactory status. This would show that the installation is maintained and has been upgraded to modern standards and requirements.
Periodic Inspection Report, Periodic Test & Inspection, Building fixed wiring test, Electrical Inspection & Test.
Many terms are used for the process of carrying out an inspection and test on a building’s electrical system. The intent of this process is for a qualified, experienced person to check over the system and highlight any damage, degradation, or safety issues that may have arisen over time. The same principle as any bridge’s structural survey or a lift/escalator’s service check.
Is it safe for continuing use? Yes or No with given advice.
This is done by
- Visual checks to the distribution board, sockets, switches, cabling and containment. Checking for any obvious damage, serious degradation or signs of overheating.
- The next stage is to assess the type of supply system, its age, alterations over time and plan the testing process against this initial inspection.
- After gaining an understanding of the system, we can then move to isolating & dead testing the system with intended minimal disruption. This will involve further in-depth visual checks of fixed equipment, continuity checks and resistance testing to the isolated circuits.
- Final stage is to live test and ensure the circuit protection afforded is both calculated and functioning correctly. Ensuring circuits are reinstated back into service safely.
During and upon completion the results and findings will be written up into a detailed report, that will give an end assessment of Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory.
These reports called an Electrical Installation Condition Report abbreviated to E.I.C.R are a British Standard document that should be retained and acted upon as recommended. They were until a number of years ago, called a Periodic Inspection Report (PIR).
The defects are classification coded into C1, C2, C3 and FI. Each code has a specific level of danger applied to it; these are as follows.
Code C1 – ‘Danger present’. Risk of injury. Immediate remedial action required.
Code C2 – ‘Potentially dangerous’. Urgent remedial action required
Code C3 – ‘Improvement recommended’.
Code FI – Further investigation required.
Quality guidance & information on this can be found at Electrical Safety First
https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/media/1626/best-practice-guide-4.pdf
Code C1 – Defects noted should be corrected or made as safe as possible without delay.
Most inspectors will be able to inform of the best way forward at the time of testing with immediate effect.
It is expected that a “Dangerous Condition Notification” will be issued if the defect cannot be fully and immediately rectified.
Code C2 – Defects under this classification have the potential to become immediately dangerous if certain conditions change.
The risk evaluation in this situation could run from high to low. But under this classification the expectation would be to eliminate the defect urgently at the earliest possible opportunity.
It is appreciated that this is not always an easy thing in commercial & industrial settings and may require some planning. The inspector should be in a position and challenged to advise of the assessed risk.
Code C3 – Items of non-conformity and minor defects not expected to pose an immediate or potential risk to users. It is advised that these defects and items are corrected to elevate the safety of the installation over time.
Code FI – Further investigation is used to indicate that at the time of testing, none of the codes above could be applied correctly to a noted issue or defect. It is therefore considered that further investigation is required or more information needs to be obtained to correctly evaluate the issue.
Notes – These are points of reference made to assist persons following on, that something has been given thought and evaluation and is therefore noted for any future consideration.
If an EICR has a defect under Code C1 or C2 then it is deemed under the British Standards as being in an Unsatisfactory Condition.
If an EICR contains defects & items of non-conformity under a Code C3 then the installation is deemed to be in a Satisfactory Condition.
Following changes to BS 7671 in amendment 4, April 2026. If a code classification of FI has been used, then it may now be deemed as a Satisfactory Status Report. This was a contentious issue previously and has now thankfully been clarified.
Frequently Asked Questions.
- Is it a legal requirement to have an Electrical Installation Condition Report carried out?
- What qualifications should a person carrying out Inspection & Testing hold.
- What does an Electrical Test & Inspection involve and what to expect.
- Are there any considerations that we should think about before Inspection & Testing is carried out.
- Why did Mr. Ohm marry Mrs. Ohm?
Question 1
Is it a legal requirement to have an Electrical Installation Condition Report an EICR carried out?
As of April 2026.
The answer to this question, is, it depends on the type of property.
For Tenanted Residential Properties throughout the United Kingdom the answer is yes – within a 5 year period. A change in the law over recent years has seen a requirement to have Tenanted Residential Premises inspected and tested at regular intervals by a qualified person.
The act governing each Jurisdiction of the UK is as follows
- England – The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020.
- Wales – The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.
- Northern Ireland – The Electrical Safety Standards for Private Tenancies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024.
- Scotland – Repairing Standard: statutory guidance for private landlords.
Slightly paraphrasing differing acts, but in essence they say the same thing.
Quoting from Part 2 – “Duties of private landlords” of the England Act.
Requires. “every electrical installation in the residential premises is inspected and tested at regular intervals by a qualified person”
It should be noted that the rental operations of a Private Landlord are commercial in nature and therefore also may be covered by Health and Safety legislation.
——
If we comeback to Industrial & Commercial premises. There is to date, no definitive requirement to have an Electrical Installation Condition Report (E.I.C.R) carried out.
But there is a large “HOWEVER”. Under statutory legislation, a combination of The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 & The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. You would if challenged, have to prove that you have complied with these requirements. The easiest and most sensible way to do this, would be to follow the recognised, agreed and structured method of obtaining a satisfactory status E.I.C.R.
By obtaining a report to satisfactory status, you have shown intent under the law to maintain the electrical system to an acceptable standard.
Insurers have for a number of years, written clauses within policy documents, requiring the Policy-Holder to have obtained an Electrical Installation Condition Report to an agreed standard. Insurers have become much more aggressive in their requirement of late and often wish to be sent a copy of the report for their attention and records.
So in simple answer to the question. Do you legally have to get an E.I.C.R done? Landlords of tenanted properties. YES every 5 years.
Industrial & Commercial properties, Legally NO. BUT you would be wise to do so, and your insurers will be happier. The standard expected time between inspection report in these premises is between 3 and 5 years. This being dependant on the overall age and condition of the installation.
Question 2
What qualifications should a person carrying out Electrical Inspection & Testing hold.
The earlier statutory laws stated work should be carried out by a “competent person”. But in recent laws for Landlord residential testing, this has been changed to state “qualified person”.
This move towards “qualified person” will be further pushed later in 2026 by an expectation, to have achieved a required level of qualifications as a competent person in a given field, like Inspection & Testing. This is to be nudged on by the industry accreditation bodies.
To keep it simple it is expected that someone carrying out an Electrical Installation Condition Report will have a greater understanding, experience and knowledge of electrical systems than average, to be able to carry out this type of works correctly. They will require knowledge of older installation requirements & techniques to be able to gauge what has been done and why. This is straightforward time experience spent in the industry. The reason this is important, is that, because something is no longer correct under the current requirements. It may have been correct at the time of install and therefore does not need to be changed to conform to current standards. Please see our information on correcting older system.
To be defined as “qualified” to undertake Electrical Inspection & Testing the following would be expected to have been obtained.
The Person would be skilled in the electrical industry and hold the following educational qualifications.
- Level 3 – National Vocational Qualification Diploma in Electrical Installation, Electrical Maintenance or equivalent competences.
- 18th Edition BS 7671 certification. (This does not need to be updated at every minor amendment)
- City & Guilds: 2391 – Initial and Periodic Electrical Inspection & Testing. Or an equivalence like 600/4338/6 (Wales C00/0427/6) by EAL. (Scotland) Select – Periodic Inspection 214.
The reason why the industry is moving towards “qualified” rather than “competent”, is that it is difficult to legally define and pinpoint competent.
In the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 It states the following in Part 2 – Regulation 16.
No person shall be engaged in any work activity where technical knowledge or experience is necessary to prevent danger or, where appropriate, injury, unless he possesses such knowledge or experience, or is under such degree of supervision as may be appropriate having regard to the nature of the work.
The HSE in – Introduction to electrical safety. Work on electrical equipment, machinery or installation.
States under Competent the following.
People working on electrical equipment, machinery or installations must be competent to do so. The level of competence required to do a task depends on the complexity of that task and the amount of knowledge required. Assessing the suitability of an individual to do a task requires evidence of:
- training to an appropriate level in the area of work
- experience of achieving a suitable standard in similar work
- regular reassessment
People who cannot demonstrate competence should not be allowed to work unless they are supervised by someone who is.
We would suggest that the show of competence on Industrial & Commercial properties is by holding the same qualifications as detailed earlier along with experience of the type of premises being inspected & tested.
Metcalfe Electrical are registered with the NICEIC with approved contractor status this ensures that at assessment we are qualified and up to date with the required qualifications for all the work we carry out.
Question 3
What does an Electrical Inspection and Test involve and what to expect. Industrial & Commercial premises
A concise description is that. Electrical inspection & testing follows a laid down standard and procedure, to carry out safety checks and function testing, which is then documented upon the Electrical Installation Condition Report.
The process is taken from industry requirements in BS 7671 and the accompanying Guidance Notes 3 – Inspection & Testing.
Earlier reports and certification should be obtained to gain a history of the installation if possible.
The first stage is to carry out a visual risk assessment of the existing electrical system. This should look at the distribution throughout the building/s and help build a map of the premises. From this we are looking to identify your daily operations and how the power supply is utilised.
The risk assessment is to locate and identify equipment or systems that need to be maintained under power until arrangements are made to power down.
From initial checks we can then devise and agree a plan to maintain critical equipment and power, whilst the testing is carried out on the rest of the distribution.
The second part is to carry out in depth inspection to ensure that testing is both safe to be done, and also the best way in which it is to be carried out.
The third stage is to carry out testing of the circuits – This is where the power to circuits shall be systematically isolated and made safe for final testing and inspection. Proving out the safety of the existing distribution.
On going measurements will be documented on the E.I.C.R for calculation and analysis.
After the testing stage has been completed and the operational / critical systems have been tested under control or as best possible. The system will be checked to ensure all circuits are safely re-instated and labelled accordingly to indicate the time of test.
Some testing is carried out with the power isolated and some with the power on. – To restrict access to live parts to qualified persons only, consideration to have the testing carried out during a period when it is least disruptive to your normal operations is always advised.
To correctly check the electrical distribution, it will require a total shutdown of the power supply at some point in the testing process.
Question 4.
Are there any considerations that we should think about before Inspection & Testing is carried out.
In a nutshell, yes quite a bit.
Yes, the power will go out.
Yes, the lighting will go out.
Yes, the Wi-Fi will go off.
Yes it is a disruption, but important.
Concise list of items that should be considered prior & during works.
- Lighting – Areas placed into darkness.
- Sockets – Anything critical, just plugged in.
- Data-links – Temporary disruption.
- Data servers – UPS back up systems.
- Lifts & Escalators – Position and shut down whilst testing.
- Fire detection – Back up power system, expected duration.
- Fire doors holders – Power outage releasing doors.
- Disability aids & alarm systems.
- Life assisting & monitoring systems – Back up power system, expected duration.
- Call assistance & Emergency alarm systems – Back up power system, expected duration.
- Electronic door access systems – Back up power system, expected duration
- Intruder Alarm – Back up power system, expected duration.
- Plant and machinery – Restart sequence.
- Computers controls – Systems running on old outdated operating systems – These can struggle to rebook or take time. This is more common than you may think.
It is worth noting that although an electrical distribution is labelled and looks like most circuits are known. The labelling can often be incorrect or badly defined. During testing it can be found that previous incorrect labelling or identification can sometimes lead to the isolation and unexpected disruption of equipment.
What previous electrical reports or certificates do you have that would help and assist in the testing process. It is best making these available to the person inspecting.
No matter how the testing sequence is carried, it would be expected that each circuit would at some point, be powered down for approximately 30 mins.
One of the issues during testing, is that wireless routers are often just plugged into a local socket outlet these are easily disrupted. If wireless connections are important, it is wise to give this consideration. Checking beforehand any equipment (you need to keep operating) where and how are its data-links.
In some area where there is no natural lighting. These areas will at some point be put into darkness, becoming reliant upon the emergency lighting. This will inevitably run down any batteries which will take time to recharge to full capacity. This could make some testing at night problematic.
Many modern building services are often interlinked and dependent upon the electrical system. With the intermittent shutting down of the power supplies during testing, this will inevitably have a knock effect onto your day-to-day business operations. Many critical systems have a back-up power system in the event of a power outage. If you have any UPS or similar system, it is a recommendation that these be given consideration to being tested prior, or become part of the testing process.
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