Summer is the busiest season for tenant changeovers across Leigh and Wigan, and it is also the smartest time to get your electrical paperwork in order. An empty property between tenancies is far easier to test, and booking now means you are not scrambling for an electrician during the autumn rush, when every other landlord has left it to the last minute.
If you let out property, an EICR is not optional. Since 2020 it has been a legal requirement, and the penalties for getting it wrong are steep. The good news is that staying compliant is straightforward once you know what the rules ask of you. This mid-year checklist walks you through the regulations, when your certificate is actually due, how to read the results, what an inspection covers and costs, and the local issues we see most often, so there are no surprises.
The 2020 landlord regulations in plain English
The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 apply to almost every private tenancy in England, including most assured shorthold and licence arrangements. In short, they require you to:
- Have the fixed electrical installation inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years.
- Obtain an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) confirming the installation is safe.
- Give a copy of that report to your existing tenant within 28 days of the inspection, and to any new tenant before they move in.
- Supply a copy to the local authority within seven days if they request one.
- Carry out any remedial work the report flags within 28 days, or sooner if the report specifies it.
The rules cover the fixed wiring, sockets, consumer unit and light fittings. They do not cover a tenant’s own appliances, though PAT testing those remains good practice. If you want the full detail, the government publishes clear guidance on the Electrical Safety Standards for the rented sector.
When your EICR is actually due
The five-year cycle is the headline, but a few things can bring the date forward:
- The report itself may recommend a shorter interval. If your electrician notes “next inspection within three years” on the certificate, that shorter period becomes your legal deadline, not the default five.
- A new installation or a rewire resets the clock from the date of that work.
- A change of tenancy is a natural checkpoint. Even if your current certificate is still valid, a void period is the ideal, lowest-disruption window to test.
If you have lost track of when your last EICR was carried out, dig out the certificate or ask your previous electrician for the date. Missing paperwork is one of the most common reasons landlords fall behind, so it is worth keeping every certificate in one place. Our EICR testing team can also assess the age of your installation during a visit and tell you exactly where you stand.
C1, C2, C3 and FI codes explained
When the report lands, the outcome hangs on a handful of codes. Knowing what they mean saves a lot of worry:
- C1 – Danger present. Something poses an immediate risk of injury and needs putting right straight away. Any C1 makes the report unsatisfactory.
- C2 – Potentially dangerous. Not an immediate risk, but it could become one. This also makes the report unsatisfactory and must be corrected within 28 days.
- C3 – Improvement recommended. Advisory only. A C3 does not fail the report, though it is worth addressing when convenient.
- FI – Further investigation required. The inspector found something that needs a closer look before it can be coded properly. An FI also makes the report unsatisfactory.
An EICR is marked “satisfactory” only when there are no C1, C2 or FI codes. If yours comes back unsatisfactory, the remedial work is what brings you back into compliance, and you will need written confirmation from the electrician that it has been completed. Keep that confirmation with your certificate, as it forms part of the evidence that you have met your duties.
What gets tested, and what it costs
A proper EICR is a hands-on inspection, not a quick look round. Over a few hours the electrician will:
- Test the consumer unit and check for RCD protection.
- Inspect a sample of sockets, switches and fixed connections for damage, wear and correct wiring.
- Check earthing and bonding, which are critical for safety.
- Measure the condition and integrity of the fixed cabling.
- Identify anything that no longer meets the current edition of the wiring regulations.
Cost depends on the size of the property and the number of circuits. A one or two-bedroom flat sits at the lower end, while a larger house with more circuits takes longer and costs a little more. We give a fixed quote up front for every EICR, so you know the figure before we book the visit, and there is no charge for the quote itself. If remedial work is needed, that is quoted separately and clearly, with no pressure to proceed on the day.
Common EICR findings in older Leigh and Wigan homes
Much of the rental stock around Leigh and Wigan is solid Victorian terracing and mid-century semis, and the electrics inside have often been extended piecemeal over the decades. A handful of issues come up again and again on inspections of older local properties: consumer units with no RCD protection, a mix of old and newer cable where circuits were added over time, undersized or missing earth bonding to gas and water pipes, and worn or cracked accessories in kitchens and bathrooms. None of these findings are unusual, and none are cause for panic. They are exactly the sort of thing a five-yearly EICR is designed to catch before they become dangerous, and most are quick and inexpensive to put right once they have been identified.
The penalties for getting it wrong
This is the part that focuses the mind. If a local authority believes you are in breach of the regulations, it must serve a remedial notice. Ignore it, and the council can arrange the work itself and recover the cost from you, as well as issue a financial penalty of up to £30,000 per breach. Because each property counts as a separate breach, a portfolio landlord who lets compliance slip is exposed on every door.
Beyond the fine, an out-of-date or unsatisfactory EICR can complicate your insurance and, in the event of an electrical fire, leave you badly placed. Staying on top of the five-year cycle is far cheaper, and far less stressful, than dealing with any of that.
How PW Electrical works around your tenancies
We know the hardest part of an EICR for most landlords is not the test, it is the logistics of getting into an occupied property. We schedule around your tenancies, offer same-week bookings where we can, and work efficiently to keep tenant disruption to a minimum. For portfolios, we can plan a rolling programme so your certificates never all fall due at once, which spreads both the cost and the admin across the year.
As NICEIC-approved contractors covering Leigh, Wigan and the surrounding towns, we handle everything from the EICR itself to any remedial work that follows, all under one roof. If a report throws up issues, our commercial and domestic electrics team can quote and complete the fixes without you having to line up a second trade. And if you need a local electrician in Leigh for anything beyond testing, we are the same team you would call.
Request a landlord EICR quote
If your EICR is due this year, or you simply are not sure when it was last done, now is the time to get it booked, before the autumn rush and well ahead of any deadline.
Call PW Electrical on 01257 402 004, email info@pwelec.co.uk, or send a message through our contact page for a fixed-price landlord EICR quote across Leigh, Wigan and the surrounding areas. Same-week bookings are usually available.
