Call of the Month: EICR renewals

It is just over three years since the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 were introduced, and this month we helped a member with a question they had about renewing an EICR.

The law requires private landlords to ensure every electrical installation in their residential premises is inspected and tested at intervals of no more than five years by a qualified and competent person.

Our member's question related to the renewal of their EICR. Checks had been carried out in the year before the legislation changed, so it would soon be coming up for renewal.

After having the inspection and testing carried out, they were given an EICR. However, they noticed it was written to be valid until change of tenants, rather than for a time period of five years or sooner as it normally would be, and so they contacted us for advice.

Our advice

Our adviser began by saying that our landlord was absolutely right to question this as the EICR should be for a regular specified interval. Normally this is five years, but it can be for a lesser period if the inspector thinks further checks would be needed sooner than this.

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 apply in England to all new specified tenancies from 1 July 2020 and all existing specified tenancies from 1 April 2021.

The adviser also confirmed that a change of tenancy should not invalidate an EICR, and an EICR given for a length of time can continue to be valid across several tenancies, even where the tenants themselves have changed.

We advised our member to go back to their electrician and raise this with them and hopefully get the certificate changed.