Electrical Safety Checks in the Home

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Electrical Safety Checks in the Home

What an EICR involves, the codes it reports, consumer units and warning signs

Electrical installations degrade slowly and invisibly, which is why periodic inspection exists. Understanding what the report says makes it far less alarming and far more useful.

What an inspection covers

An Electrical Installation Condition Report is a formal inspection and test of the fixed wiring — the consumer unit, circuits, sockets, switches and earthing. It does not cover appliances, which are tested separately.

Homeowners are commonly advised to have one every ten years, or five for rented property, and sooner when buying a house or after significant work.

The codes

C1 means danger present and requires immediate action. C2 means potentially dangerous and requires remedial work. C3 is an improvement recommendation and does not make a report unsatisfactory.

FI means further investigation is required. A report is satisfactory only with no C1, C2 or FI items.

A C3 is not a fault, and being told to replace an entire installation because of C3 items is worth a second opinion.

What frequently comes up

No residual current protection, which is the device that cuts power fast enough to prevent electrocution. Old rubber or fabric-insulated cable. No main protective bonding to gas and water pipes. Damaged sockets and undersized cable.

Consumer units

Older fuse boxes with rewirable fuses offer no protection against electric shock. Modern units combine circuit breakers with RCD protection, and current standards require a non-combustible enclosure.

Test RCDs using the test button every six months, which takes seconds and is the only check a householder can do.

Warning signs between inspections

Burning smells, scorch marks around sockets, warm switch plates, repeated breaker trips, flickering lights and shocks from appliances. Any of those needs an electrician promptly rather than at the next inspection.

Extension leads and adaptors

Most domestic electrical fires start with extension leads and multi-way adaptors. Never plug one into another, unwind a reel fully before drawing any load, and check the rating in amps against what you are plugging in.

High-power appliances such as heaters, kettles and washing machines should go straight into a wall socket.

Outdoor and bathroom work

Outdoor sockets, bathroom electrics and consumer unit work are notifiable in many jurisdictions and must be certified. Check what applies where you live before starting anything.

Keep a copy of every certificate with the property documents, since buyers and insurers ask for them.

Test the residual current device every six months using its own test button, which is the one check a householder can safely carry out.

Who does the work

Use someone registered with a recognised competent person scheme and check the registration on the scheme's own register.

WHERE TO BUY

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