What an EICR actually tells you
The codes on an electrical condition report look alarming. Here is what C1, C2 and C3 really mean — and which ones you have to act on today.
An Electrical Installation Condition Report — an EICR — is a survey of the fixed wiring in a property. Landlords in England need a satisfactory one every five years, and anyone buying an older house should ask to see one. The report itself can read like a telling-off, so here is how to read it calmly.
The three codes
Every observation carries a code, and only two of the three mean the report is unsatisfactory.
Danger present
Someone could get a shock or the installation could start a fire, now. A C1 is why a report fails, and a decent electrician will make it safe before they leave — even if that means isolating a circuit.
Potentially dangerous
Not live danger today, but it will be under the wrong conditions — no earth on a circuit, say. A C2 also fails the report and needs doing, but it can be booked in rather than fixed on the spot.
Improvement recommended. The installation is safe; it just is not to the latest standard. A C3 does not fail the report, and you are not obliged to act on it. A report that is all C3s is a pass.
Why two electricians can disagree
Coding is a judgement, and an honest one varies at the margins. What should not vary is a C1 — danger present is danger present. If one report is wall-to-wall C2s and the next on the same house finds none, ask both to point at the circuit and show you the reading. Numbers settle it; opinions do not.
Worth having ready
- The age of the property and roughly when it was last rewired
- Access to the consumer unit and the meter
- Somewhere to park within a cable’s reach of the board
- A list of anything that has tripped or buzzed recently
What we do with a fail
If we find a C1 or C2, the report tells you exactly which circuit and why, with a photograph. You get a fixed price to put it right, and once it is done the report is re-issued as satisfactory. No drama, no upsell — just the fault, the fix and the paperwork.
Need an EICR in Leicester?
We turn reports around in two working days and explain every code in plain English.