Plain-English guides to EICRs, landlord electrical safety and buying or selling a home in Manchester.
An EICR in Manchester costs from £120 for a studio or 1 bedroom home , rising to £195 for a 5 bedroom house. HMOs start at £210. These are total prices: the inspection, the testing and the written report, with nothing added at the end.
An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is a formal report on the condition of a property’s fixed wiring. A qualified electrician inspects and tests the installation and records whether it is safe to keep using, and what, if anything, needs attention.
Every problem found during an EICR is given a code. C1 means danger present, C2 means potentially dangerous, C3 means improvement recommended, and FI means further investigation is needed. Any C1, C2 or FI makes the report unsatisfactory.
You don’t legally need an EICR to buy a house, but it’s one of the most useful checks you can have before you exchange. A building survey notes what the surveyor can see; an EICR actually tests the wiring and tells you whether it’s safe and what it might cost to put right.
An EIC (Electrical Installation Certificate) is issued when new electrical work is installed, such as a new consumer unit, new circuit or rewire. An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is a report on the condition of an existing installation. One certifies new work; the other checks what’s already there.
An RCD (residual current device) is a safety switch that cuts the power in a fraction of a second if electricity starts leaking to earth, for example through a person. It’s one of the most important protections in a modern installation, and many older fuse boxes don’t have one.
The wiring in your walls doesn’t last for ever. Insulation ages, connections loosen and DIY changes build up over the years. If you notice any of the signs below, it’s worth having the installation inspected, even if everything still seems to work.
No. There’s no legal requirement to have an EICR to sell an owner-occupied home in England. But buyers, their solicitors and their surveyors often ask for one, and having a recent report ready can stop electrical questions holding up your sale.
The landlord pays. Under the electrical safety regulations for private rented homes in England, the landlord is responsible for having the installation inspected and for putting right anything the report says needs fixing. The cost can’t be passed to the tenant as a charge.
There’s no specific law that says landlords of ordinary rented homes in England must PAT test. But landlords must make sure any electrical appliances they supply are safe, and PAT testing is the simplest way to show you’ve checked them. HMO licence conditions often require it.
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