The Electrical Installation Condition Report is a safety report, more specifically, it is a recording of the condition of the electrical installation. It looks to make sure that all installations are done to the current revision of BS7671, the standard that electrical installations have to meet, and that any deviations or defects are reported using this document.
The EICR should be done by a competent electrician. They should be experienced in the type of installation that they are surveying. If you have any questions about who should be conducting the EICR then contact a qualified electrical contractor for their professional advice.
Whether or not you need an EICR depends on your situation, however all electrical installations are advised to be tested and inspected regularly by an electrician. If you are the owner of privately rented properties then depending on the area in which you live you may need to have an EICR undertaken for all of the properties under your control. If you are the management for a HMO (House of Multiple Occupancy) then you should know that is it now a statutory requirement that all fixed electricals are inspected and tested at least every 5 years. All commercial properties and any building that the general public have access to are required by law to have regular checks and a recently undertaken EICR. With these types of properties is it the function of the building that defines how often the checks must be done. Again if you have any questions make sure you speak to an accredited and certified electrician, and they will be have to answer any questions.
If you need an EICR then there are some things you should know; the device that is being inspected will need to be disconnected from its electricity supply, the length of time depends on a number of factors. For a single appliance this could just be for an hour or so, however for larger electrical installations this could be a day, a few days or in some cases weeks. The reasoning for this is the electrical device testing involves connecting a device in series to the power supply.
If your report comes back with no codes, this is a good thing, receiving a code on your report means that your electrical installation is not up to code. There are three different codes you could get; C1, C2 and C3. Of the three C3 is the least serious simply meaning that an improvement is recommended. More serious is a C2 it means that your installation is in a ‘potentially dangerous condition.’ This will need to be remedied urgently. Finally the most serious of codes is C1, which means that there is a ‘danger present’ and a risk of injury exists, in this case remedial action should be immediate.
So do you think you need an E.I.C.R? Talk to an electrician in Romford today and they will be happy to help you.
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