Electrical paperwork comes in three main flavours, and they’re often mixed up, even by people who should know better. Which one you need depends on whether you’re checking an existing installation or having new work done.
EICR: Electrical Installation Condition Report
An EICR is a health check of an existing installation. Nothing new is being installed. The inspector tests and inspects what’s already there and reports on its condition, coding any problems (C1, C2, C3 or FI) and giving an overall result of satisfactory or unsatisfactory. This is what landlords, insurers and letting agents usually ask for, and what businesses need periodically.
EIC: Electrical Installation Certificate
An EIC is issued for new work: a new installation, a rewire, a new circuit, or a new consumer unit or distribution board. It confirms the work has been designed, installed and tested to BS 7671. It’s signed off for design, construction, and inspection and testing, and it should be handed over when the job’s done. If you’ve had new circuits put in and haven’t received one, ask for it.
Minor Works Certificate
A Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate covers small additions or alterations that don’t involve a new circuit, such as adding a socket to an existing circuit, moving a light switch or replacing an accessory. It’s a shorter form, but it still confirms the work was tested and is safe.
Quick guide: which one do you need?
- Checking an existing building is safe: EICR
- New circuits, rewires, new boards: EIC
- Small changes to an existing circuit: Minor Works Certificate
- Fixing faults from an EICR: usually a Minor Works Certificate or EIC for the remedial work, depending on what’s done
Do certificates expire?
An EIC or Minor Works Certificate doesn’t expire. It records that the work was right when it was done. An EICR is different: it’s a snapshot of condition, with a recommended date for the next inspection, typically every five years for commercial premises and rented homes.
Martin Cook Electrical Services has been carrying out EICRs and fixed wire testing since 1998, for offices, schools, warehouses, landlords and data centres across London, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. Request a free quote or call us on 01525 582582.
