EICR. Until Tenant Changes

General Discussion

I know the EICR is valid for up to 5 years but on the last one we had, the electrician stated it was 5 years or until the tenant changed. When I queried that, he said that was the advice from NICEIC. I thought I’d simply get a different electrician this time (different property) but I’ve now spoken to another 2 who said they would also use that wording.

The NICEIC wording is:
“Periods between subsequent inspections will depend on the condition of the installation at the time of the preceding inspection, but it is recommended that periodic inspection and testing is carried out at least every five years or at the end of a tenancy, whichever comes first.”

Whilst I completely accept the need for an inspection, I really don’t want to get into a situation where we have to pay for new tests every time a tenant changes.

I thought I’d seen someone on here a few months ago mention some clarification on the wording but can’t find that post now, and googling doesn’t seem to produce anything useful.

The annoying thing is that on one of the NICEIC pages, they comment that if your electrician insists on using the change-of-tenant wording then you could look for a different electrician, even although that seems to be what they’re telling people to write!

Can anyone point me in the right direction for some sensible clarification of what timescales should be given?

Thanks