Why would any property owner or operator want to have an Electrical Installation Condition Report? An EICR, for short.

Well it is a fact that the wiring in a building deteriorates over time. Unfortunately, in one respect, it usually deteriorates very slowly. It is not like the oil in your car, for instance, which needs changing every so many thousand miles. No, electrical wiring deteriorates over very many years, and the process is so slow that we never think about it. 

It can be affected by the amount of use that it has and the environment in which it exists, but the process is still slow. This is why it very often goes unnoticed and not even considered. The other thing is that the electrical wiring itself cannot even be seen. It is hidden in the walls, under floors, and in ceilings, so we don’t even think about it. The old expression is "Out of sight, out of mind". Just as long as everything works, most people are happy enough.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t alter the fact that electrical wiring that has become faulty can be extremely dangerous and life-threatening. If you think about it, a home or building that was constructed in the 1960’s very probably has the original wiring in it. That is some 60 years ago. Furthermore, the electrical standards of the day were very different from what they are now. So you could be sitting there in a building which, by today’s standards has wiring which has become nothing short of dangerous. Furthermore, it will only get worse, not better.

An EICR will inspect all of the fixed wiring in a building, along with any fixed appliances. These could include hard-wired smoke alarms, heated towel rails, electric cookers, and more. Those do not come within the remit of portable appliance testing, for the simple reason that they are not portable, and to all extents and purposes have become part of the building itself.   

Chapter 63 of BS 7671 sets out the requirements for documenting the outcomes of inspections and tests. This chapter requires the outcomes to be recorded in an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) and if everything is in order, the engineer carrying out the inspection will issue an Electrical Installation Condition Report Certificate to confirm that this is the case.

The front page of the EICR requires entries to be made on the address of the premises, the reason for the inspection and test, the type of premises to be inspected and the estimated age of the installation. The form then requires the ‘extent’ of the installation that has been inspected and tested. This is of vital importance. For example, it may be that the engineer has only been asked to inspect and report upon a single floor in an office block. This could be because the company occupying that floor has no control over the rest of the building, which may be the responsibility of others, but the company wants to make certain, as far as possible, that the premises it occupies are safe and compliant.

Therefore the Electrical Installation Condition Report Certificate that is issued might record something along the lines of "The distribution boards and final circuits in the first floor office only, excluding portable appliances, telephone and data circuits, and the BMS control system" which shows exactly what has, and has not, been tested. 

If there is anything which is not compliant, the engineer will issue non-compliance codes as follows: FI means that it requires further inspection. This could be because the engineer cannot definitely conclude the safety or otherwise without obtaining further information or more detailed inspection. 

Code C3 means that an improvement is recommended. This could be something as simple as replacing missing warning labels. 

Code C2 shows that there is "potentially" dangerous situation, whereby the current situation is not a problem, but could become one if there was an additional event. 

Code C1 means that there is a dangerous condition which needs immediate rectification. This could be something such as an exposed live cable, for example. In this case, the engineer would immediately advise the client that urgent action is required in order to deal with it and make the premises safe.