How long does an EICR last? 5 years, 10 years or sooner (2026)

How long does an EICR last? For a rented home in England, five years at most, and less if the inspector writes an earlier date on the report. For a home you own and live in, there’s no legal expiry, only Electrical Safety First’s recommendation of an inspection at least every ten years.

We’re electricians based in Christchurch. Here’s the law for landlords, the guidance for homeowners, and what should bring an inspection forward.

How long does an EICR last? The short answer

An Electrical Installation Condition Report records the condition of the fixed electrics on the day they’re tested: wiring, sockets, light fittings, the consumer unit and fixed equipment such as showers. Rooms with a bath or shower get their own section on the IET’s inspection schedule, from 30 mA RCD protection on every low-voltage circuit to whether accessories suit their zone, which is where the electrical zones in a bathroom come in.

People often ask for an EICR certificate, but Electrical Safety First’s guide for inspectors is plain that “this is a report and not a certificate”, and that a satisfactory result “does not extend beyond the recommended date for re-inspection stated in the report”. On the IET’s model form, that date sits in Section F, with the inspector’s reasons.

Property	How long an EICR lasts	Law or recommendation
Privately rented home	5 years, or the report’s earlier date	Law in England
Social housing, tenancy granted on or after 1 December 2025	5 years, or the report’s earlier date	Law in England
Social housing, tenancy granted before 1 December 2025	First inspection before 1 November 2026, then 5 years	Law in England
House in multiple occupation (HMO)	5 years, or the report’s earlier date	Law in England
Home you own and live in	At least every 10 years	Recommendation
Business premises	At least every 5 years	Recommendation
Caravan	Every 3 years	Recommendation
Swimming pool	Every year	Recommendation

The recommendations are Electrical Safety First’s. Some lets sit outside the law, including a lodger in your own home, leases of seven years or more, student halls, hostels, care homes, and caravans and boats.

Rented homes in England: five years at most

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 have covered new tenancies since 1 July 2020 and existing ones since 1 April 2021. Landlords must have the installation inspected and tested “at intervals of no more than 5 years” by a qualified person, someone competent to do the inspection and testing. The report goes to:

• existing tenants, within 28 days of the inspection,
• a new tenant, before they move in,
• a prospective tenant, within 28 days of a written request,
• the local council, within 7 days of a written request,
• whoever does the next inspection.

A new tenancy doesn’t restart the clock: if the last report is under five years old and needs no further work, GOV.UK says no fresh test is needed, though it recommends a visual check, and Electrical Safety First says one should always be done.

Councils can fine a landlord up to £40,000 for a breach, a cap the 2025 amendment raised from £30,000.

When the inspector sets a shorter interval

Five years is a ceiling, not a guarantee. Electrical Safety First’s landlord guide says the person compiling the report “may recommend a shorter interval before the next inspection based on the findings of the inspection and testing”. The IET’s notes for inspectors say the interval should take account of Regulation 652.1 of BS 7671 and “the overall condition of the installation”, with the reason recorded.

For a landlord, an earlier date is binding: the regulations require the next inspection “no later than that date”. The date also assumes faults get fixed: Electrical Safety First’s guide says the recommended interval should be conditional on C1 faults being put right immediately and C2 faults as a matter of urgency. GOV.UK adds that a landlord with concerns can arrange a full inspection before five years are up.

Good to know When the report gives a date sooner than five years away, that earlier date becomes the landlord’s deadline.

Social housing: first inspections due before 1 November 2026

A 2025 amendment extended the rules to social landlords from 1 November 2025, for social tenancies granted on or after 1 December 2025. For tenancies granted before then, the rules came into force on 1 May 2026: the first inspection and test is due before 1 November 2026, then at least every five years.

Social landlords must also have the electrical equipment they provide, such as a cooker or fridge, checked at least every five years.

Good to know A social tenancy granted before 1 December 2025 needs its first inspection before 1 November 2026.

HMOs and shared houses

Houses in multiple occupation, such as a home shared by more than three people from different households, come under the same regulations. They replaced a five-year rule in the 2006 HMO management regulations.

The regulations don’t cover communal areas such as stairwells and corridors, but councils can still act on unsafe communal electrics under laws such as the Housing Act 2004, and GOV.UK says those systems should be checked regularly. Electrical Safety First recommends five-yearly inspections of an HMO’s communal areas.

Renting in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Private renting is more common here than across England:

Census 2021	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	England
Rented privately	25.4% (44,152 households)	20.5%
Rented from a social landlord	11.0% (19,102 households)	17.1%

For a private let anywhere in the area, the council that can ask to see the report, and fine a landlord who breaches the rules, is BCP Council. We carry out landlord EICRs across Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch.

Homes you own: no legal expiry

No law sets an interval for a home you own and live in, because the 2020 regulations apply to landlords. Electrical Safety First recommends an inspection at least every ten years, and suggests checking the consumer unit for a label showing when the last inspection and test took place.

An older installation isn’t automatically a failing one: the IET’s notes for inspectors say one designed to an earlier edition of the Wiring Regulations “is not necessarily unsafe for continued use, or require upgrading”. If it’s been more than ten years, or there’s no record, a periodic inspection of your home will show where things stand.

When to book an EICR sooner

Some events matter more than the date on an old report:

• Buying a home. A standard home survey doesn’t cover the electrics, so Electrical Safety First suggests asking whether they’ve been fully checked in the past ten years, and arranging an EICR if there’s no report.
• A change of occupancy. Electrical Safety First’s general advice for tenanted homes is a full inspection every five years or at each change of occupancy, whichever is sooner, which goes further than the law requires.
• A flood. Electrical Safety First advises asking an electrician for an EICR, and warns that major flood damage, or contaminated water, makes rewiring the property likely.
• A fire. Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service says supplies it has isolated mustn’t be reconnected until checked, which for the electrics means by an electrician.
• Warning signs. Burn marks on plugs or sockets, buzzing or crackling, fuses blowing, circuit breakers tripping or a socket that feels hot: Electrical Safety First’s advice is to have the electrics checked as soon as possible.

Don’t attempt repairs yourself. For a fault that can’t wait, we offer a 24/7 emergency response, and if someone has had an electric shock, don’t touch them while they’re still in contact with the supply, and if they’re unconscious, Electrical Safety First’s advice is to call 999 immediately.

What happens when an EICR is unsatisfactory

Each problem found gets a code:

Code	Meaning	Effect on the result	Landlord’s deadline in England
C1	Danger present: immediate remedial action	Unsatisfactory	28 days, or sooner if the report says so
C2	Potentially dangerous: urgent remedial action	Unsatisfactory	28 days, or sooner if the report says so
C3	Improvement recommended	Can still be satisfactory	No work required
FI	Further investigation	Advisory on the current IET form	28 days, or sooner if the report says so

On the IET’s form for Amendment 4, a C3 or FI observation doesn’t change the overall result on its own, but GOV.UK is clear that a landlord must still carry out any further investigation. The 28 days run from the date of the inspection. Within 28 days of finishing, the tenant and the council must each receive the report and written confirmation from the qualified person who did the work, such as an Electrical Installation Certificate or a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate. A second “clean” EICR isn’t needed once the repairs have their own certificates, Electrical Safety First’s landlord guide adds.

Some jobs genuinely take longer. GOV.UK’s example is waiting for the energy supplier to fit an isolator before a consumer unit upgrade; a landlord who has taken all reasonable steps, and kept records, isn’t in breach.

What changed in 2026: Amendment 4

BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 was issued on 15 April 2026, and the IET says the transition period for Amendment 2 ended on 15 October 2026, leaving Amendment 4 as the current edition. The IET’s inspection and testing handbook, Guidance Note 3, now has a 10th Edition to match.

None of that moves the five-year limit, which comes from the 2020 regulations, and Amendment 4 is still the 18th Edition that GOV.UK’s guidance names. But a report written today is measured against Amendment 4: Electrical Safety First’s guide says an EICR assesses an installation against the edition current at the time of inspection, whatever its age.

Good to know Amendment 4 changes what a new report is measured against, not the five-year limit for rented homes.

Between inspections

In between, the IET’s guidance for report recipients and Electrical Safety First suggest:

• press the “T” or “Test” button on each RCD every six months, and seek expert advice if it doesn’t switch off the supply,
• test any arc fault detection device with a manual test button every six months too,
• if you’re a landlord, carry out a visual inspection once a year and/or between tenancies.

The short version

So, how long does an EICR last? Up to five years for a rented home in England, or the earlier date on the report. For a home you own, ten years is a recommendation rather than a legal expiry, and a move, a flood, a fire or warning signs are reasons to go sooner.

We carry out EICRs with a full written report, including the recommended date for the next one. Ask us for a free quote and we’ll arrange a visit.