Landlord Electrical Safety Certificate: The 2026 Legal Requirements

If you let a property in England, the law says you must have its fixed electrical installation inspected and tested at least every 5 years by a qualified person, and you must be able to prove it. That proof is an Electrical Installation Condition Report, an EICR, and it is what most people mean when they say a landlord electrical safety certificate. Get it wrong and your local council can now fine you up to £40,000. That figure went up from £30,000 in 2026, and a lot of guidance online still quotes the old number, so this matters.

We are NICEIC registered electricians working across every London borough, and we carry out and certify EICRs for landlords all the time. This guide is the law and the requirements explained plainly: what you must do, by when, and what happens if you do not. If it is the price you are after, we have a separate guide to EICR costs for landlords, so we will not repeat the numbers here.

What does the law actually require?

The rules come from The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. They are not optional and they apply to almost every standard private tenancy.

In short, as a landlord in England you must:

• Ensure the fixed wiring meets BS 7671. That is the 18th Edition of the Wiring Regulations, the UK standard all our work is carried out to.
• Have the installation inspected and tested at least every 5 years by a qualified person, or sooner if the report tells you to.
• Get a written report setting out the results and the date of the next inspection.
• Give the report to your tenants and, when asked, your council within set deadlines (more on those below).
• Put right any problems the report flags within 28 days and prove you have done so.

The official GOV.UK guidance spells all of this out, and it is worth a read if you want the source rather than someone's summary of it.

When did this come in?

The regulations came into force on 1 June 2020. They applied to new tenancies from 1 July 2020 and to all existing tenancies from 1 April 2021. So if you have been letting a property since before 2020 and have never had an EICR done, you are already overdue. That is the most common gap we see when we get called out.

What is an EICR, and what does it actually cover?

An EICR is a formal inspection and test of the fixed electrical installation in the property. That means the consumer unit (the fuse board), the wiring, the sockets, the switches, the light fittings and anything hard-wired in. A qualified electrician checks it for damage, wear, overloading, dangerous DIY work and anything that does not meet the current standard, then records the findings and gives the installation an overall pass or fail.

What it does not cover is your plug-in appliances. Testing kettles, washing machines, fridges and the like is PAT testing, and that is a separate job. The 2020 Regulations only legally require the fixed installation to be inspected, although the guidance encourages landlords to keep appliances safe too. If you supply a furnished property, getting your supplied appliances checked is sensible practice, just do not assume the EICR has covered them, because it has not.

How the result is coded

If your report comes back marked "unsatisfactory", it is because the electrician has flagged one or more issues using a standard coding system. You will see these codes, so it helps to know what they mean:

• C1, danger present: there is a real risk of injury. This needs putting right immediately.
• C2, potentially dangerous: not an immediate danger but it could become one. Must be fixed.
• FI, further investigation required: something needs a closer look without delay.
• C3, improvement recommended: advisory only. Worth doing, but it does not make the report fail and you are not legally forced to act on it.

Any C1, C2 or FI result means the report is unsatisfactory and you have work to do. A report with only C3 observations is still a pass.

The deadlines you have to hit

This is where landlords trip up, because the law puts specific clocks on each step. Miss them and you are in breach even if the property itself is perfectly safe.

1. New tenant: you must give them a copy of the current EICR before they move in.
2. Existing tenants: they must get a copy of a new report within 28 days of the inspection.
3. Local council: if your council asks to see the report, you must supply it within 7 days of the request.
4. Remedial work: if the report flags C1, C2 or FI issues, the work must be done within 28 days (or sooner if the report says so).
5. Written confirmation: once the work is done, you must get written confirmation from the electrician that it has been completed and the installation now meets the standard, then send that confirmation to your tenant and the council within 28 days.

That last point catches people out. Fixing the fault is not the end of it. You have to be able to evidence the fix in writing, which is why we always issue the right certificate after remedial work, whether that is a fresh satisfactory EICR, an Electrical Installation Certificate or a Minor Works Certificate.

Who has to do the inspection?

The work must be carried out by a "qualified person", which the regulations take to mean someone competent to inspect and test to BS 7671. In practice that means an electrician registered with a recognised scheme such as NICEIC. If whoever signs your report is not properly qualified and registered, the report may not be valid, and an invalid report is the same as no report in the eyes of the council.

It is a fair question to ask any electrician before they start. We are NICEIC registered and cover every London borough, and our EICRs are accepted by councils and letting agents without quibble. If you have several units, we can handle a portfolio in one go through our landlord electrical services.

What happens if you do not comply?

Your local council is the enforcer here, and the penalties are not trivial. If a council has reasonable grounds to think you are in breach, it can serve a remedial notice requiring you to put things right. Ignore that, and the council can arrange the work itself and recover the cost from you.

On top of that, the council can impose a financial penalty of up to £40,000 for being in breach of your duties. As we said at the top, that ceiling rose from £30,000 in 2026, so older articles quoting £30,000 are out of date. Treat £40,000 as the number that matters now.

How London boroughs actually enforce it

The thing to understand about London is that councils do not go door to door checking every rental. Enforcement is usually triggered by something: a tenant complaint, a licensing check on an HMO, a failed inspection, or an electrical incident at the property. Once that trigger happens, the council can formally request your EICR, and the 7-day clock starts. If you cannot produce a valid one, you are immediately on the back foot.

So the risk is not that an inspector turns up unannounced. The risk is that a dispute with a tenant, or a routine licensing matter, suddenly exposes the fact you never had a valid certificate. Having it sat ready in a folder is cheap insurance against a £40,000 problem.

What landlords should actually do, step by step

If you want a simple plan, here it is:

1. Check the date on your last EICR. No report, or one older than 5 years, means you act now. If the report set an earlier review date, that earlier date wins.
2. Book a registered electrician. Confirm they are NICEIC (or equivalent) before they attend.
3. Get the inspection done and read the result. A clean "satisfactory" report and you are sorted until the next due date.
4. If it is unsatisfactory, fix the C1, C2 and FI items within 28 days. A C1 should not wait at all. If there is a dangerous fault between inspections, do not wait for paperwork, isolate the circuit at the consumer unit and call us.
5. Collect your written confirmation of the remedial work.
6. Distribute the documents: new tenant before move-in, existing tenants within 28 days, council within 7 days of any request.
7. Diary the next inspection for 5 years out (or sooner if specified) so you never let it lapse.

If older C1 or C2 faults turn up, common ones in London stock are no RCD protection, undersized or borderline wiring, and crowded fuse boards. These often point to a board upgrade or, in older properties, partial rewiring. We will always tell you the minimum needed to make the report satisfactory rather than gold-plating it.

Frequently asked questions

Is an EICR the same as a landlord electrical safety certificate?

In practice, yes. There is no separate document literally called a "landlord electrical safety certificate". The EICR is the report that proves your fixed installation has been inspected and meets the standard, and it is what councils and letting agents ask to see.

Do I need a new EICR every time a tenant changes?

No, as long as your existing report is still within its validity period and remains satisfactory. The legal minimum is every 5 years (or sooner if the report specifies). You do, however, have to give each new tenant a copy of the current report before they move in.

Does PAT testing count towards the landlord requirement?

No. PAT testing checks plug-in appliances, while the 2020 Regulations require the fixed installation to be inspected via an EICR. They are different jobs. PAT testing your supplied appliances is good practice, but it does not satisfy the legal requirement on its own.

I am selling rather than letting, do these rules apply?

The landlord EICR rules are about letting, not selling, so they do not apply when you sell your home. The electrical position when selling is a different question, which we cover in our guide on whether you need an EICR to sell your house.

If you let property anywhere in London and you are not certain your EICR is current and valid, the simplest fix is to have a NICEIC registered electrician inspect it and issue the report properly. We do exactly that across every borough, and we will tell you straight if anything needs putting right. Call us on 020 3653 2600 or take a look at our landlord electrical services and we will get you compliant.