Landlord EICR requirements: the five-year rule and the 28-day clock

Published 29 April 2026 · updated 11 June 2026 · SparkCerts guides for UK electricians

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 turned the EICR from good practice into a legal duty, and the duties are specific enough that vagueness is what gets landlords fined. Here is the whole obligation, stated plainly.

The inspection duty

Every privately rented property in England needs an electrical installation condition report from a qualified and competent person at least every five years, or more often if the previous report sets a shorter interval. The five years runs from the date of the last inspection, not the start of each tenancy.

Who gets copies, and when

The landlord must give a copy of the report to each existing tenant within 28 days of the inspection, to a new tenant before occupation, to a prospective tenant within 28 days of a request, and to the local authority within 7 days if it asks. Losing the paperwork is not a defence; ask the electrician for a fresh copy, which is exactly why electricians should keep their certificates somewhere findable.

The 28-day remedial clock

If the report contains C1, C2 or FI codes it is unsatisfactory, and the landlord must complete the remedial or investigative work within 28 days, or sooner where the report says so. The job is not finished until the landlord holds written confirmation that the work is done and the standards are met, and that confirmation goes to the tenant and, on request, the council. What each code means is covered in our guide to EICR codes; C3 items carry no legal obligation.

Penalties

Local authorities can impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000 for each breach without going to court. In practice councils escalate from a remedial notice, but the power is there, and authorities with stretched housing teams use fines because they are simpler than prosecutions.

Scotland and Wales

Scotland has required five-yearly electrical inspections (EICR plus PAT of supplied appliances) under the repairing standard since before England moved. Wales brought equivalent duties in under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act, with electrical condition reports required at five-year intervals. The detail differs; the five-year rhythm does not.

What a well-run landlord file looks like

One folder per property: the current EICR, the written confirmation of any remedial work, and the date the next inspection falls due. Electricians who track retest dates and chase them turn this from the landlord's problem into their own repeat business, which is the quiet logic behind every safety certificate conversation.

The deadlines on one timeline

The regulations are mostly a set of clocks. Missing any of them is what turns a compliant landlord into a fined one.

How enforcement actually unfolds

Councils rarely jump straight to the maximum fine. The usual path: the authority becomes aware of a breach, often through a tenant complaint or a licensing check, and serves a remedial notice giving the landlord 28 days to act. Ignore it and the council can arrange the work itself and recover the cost, and impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000 per breach. Because the penalty is a civil power, there is no court case for the landlord to drag out; the cheapest and quietest route is simply to hold a current satisfactory EICR and the paperwork that goes with it before anyone asks.

Common questions

How often does a rental property need an EICR?

At least every five years in England under the Electrical Safety Standards regulations, or sooner if the previous report says so. A new tenancy does not reset the clock, but the report must be given to new tenants before they occupy.

What happens if an EICR is unsatisfactory on a rental?

Any C1, C2 or FI items must be put right within 28 days, or sooner if the report specifies. The landlord then needs written confirmation from the electrician that the work is done, and supplies it to the tenant and the local authority on request.

Can a landlord be fined for not having an EICR?

Yes. Local authorities can impose financial penalties of up to £30,000 per breach, and they do not need to prosecute through the courts to do it.

Does a new tenancy need a new EICR?

Not if a valid report is already in place. The five-year clock runs from the last inspection, not from each tenancy. A new tenant must be given the existing report before they move in, and a prospective tenant within 28 days of asking.

Who counts as qualified and competent to do a landlord EICR?

An electrician with the relevant qualifications and, in practice, registration with a competent person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT. The regulations require a qualified and competent person; scheme registration is how most landlords and councils satisfy themselves of that.

Do HMOs have different rules?

HMOs have required five-yearly electrical inspections for longer than single-household rentals, and licensing conditions can add their own electrical and fire requirements on top. If you let an HMO, treat the EICR as the floor, not the ceiling, and check the licence conditions.