Hi All
So i will be taking on a new tenant, who will be using one of the bedrooms i have in an HMO. Usually the property has a high turn around, with Tenants coming and going. I wanted to ask, as a landlord with a licenced HMO, do i have to do this EACH time a tenant is renewed/new tenant?.
I’ve only just 3 weeks ago has a EICR done, and it came back fine.
no .its not the tenant being tested ,its the building, every 5 years
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New builds come with a new installation certificate (within 10 years of being built) a EICR is a separate certificate.
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Can anyone offer any clarity on a couple of ECIR I have had completed on 2 rentals. One has passed as ‘Satisfactory’, the other ‘Unsatisfactory’. However this is where it gets confusing as the electrician is saying the unsatisfactory one is due to the wiring in the house being original c1950/60’s, and complies with the standards in place then but not now. But he is not advising that I need to have any of the works done to comply, due to the age of the property and its instalation. Further no mention of the 28 day deadline to complete any works.
I have spoken to another electrician I use in another city who has viewed the report and he believes it wasn’t done fully or correctly due to some of the results, the lack of detail and time taken, and is suggesting a full, and expensive, total rewire.
I have asked the chap who did the report for a quote but nothing as yet forthcoming. Where do I stand and what should I be doing?
thanks
Dear Sam
I am a leaseholder and the existing electrical installation was completed by the freeholder of my building. My electrician has advised that it is not compliant with the 2020 regulations, and he needs access to the communal electrical intake cupboard to address this.
I am now entering a battle with the freeholder, which is a huge housing association, around this, as they state they are compliant with the 17th and 18th edition of the regulations.
Do you know where responsibility lies in this case?
Will they need to be compliant with the 2020 regulations come April 2021?
If I have tried to address compliance but have reached a brick wall with the housing association, will my attempts be sufficient to address the requirement?
Many thanks
Hannah
Hi Hannah, This sounds like a complex situation and I don’t have all the answers I’m afraid.
My best understanding is that all properties being let post 2021 will need an EICR. If the report makes recommendations, then those recommendations must be performed in the time frame outlined in the guide. If they are not, then the landlord will not be compliant with the new rules.
It seems that the EICR rules are principally about the safety of tenants. Therefore, it being hard/inconvenient/time consuming to get work recommended by the EICR performed should not be a valid excuse, since the idea is that properties which are not safe should not be let at all.
No one yet knows, however, how this new rule will be enforced in practice, and what rationales will be accepted as valid reasons for not having recommended work performed. There are some government requirements which landlords are able to give good reasons for not performing; for example if you are unable to arrange a gas safety check during the pandemic because the tenant is unable to allow people into their property. The advice there is to document your attempts at having the work performed so you can prove you weren’t neglecting you duties as a landlord.
Wishing you the best in resolving this situation,
Sam
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Good afternoon.
I am seeking a little help. My landlord had an ECIR performed at the property I rent 20/12/20. The electrician informed at the time it would be a fail due to exposed wiring of lights and sockets and an unexplained surging of current in the extension part of the property that would require investigation.
I have still not received a copy of the report and no contact has been made regards remedial work.
I appreciate that we are in a strange time, but tradesmen are able to enter the property and perform the work.
As a tenant what is my position? My tenancy is due to end 28/6/21 but if there is no remedial work performed and I havent received a copy of the report is my landlord in breech of our tenancy agreement? I’m a pretty laod back tenant, but I pay a significant amount for this property and electrical issues concern me.
Thanks
Gillian
Electrician would not issue a certificate until the recommend work is not completed and rechecked again.
So you could just ask your landlord about what is happening.
As there might be a reason that your landlord has not contacted you.
Hi there Sam
May I just check…we renew our contracts with our tenants every year and they’re happy and they sign new ones and we were convinced we would therefore now need new EICRs every time. But are you saying we wouldn’t need them if we still continued this, or should we let them become periodic tenancies.
We’ve just managed to swerve Selective Licensing for the time being, now we’re facing this! 
Regards
Shaz
Hi Shaz,
From 1st April 2021, every rented property will need an in-date EICR. They last five years, so no need to perform one every time you renew - just every five years.
Even if you allow your current tenancy to become periodic, you will need to have on 1st April 2021.
Hope this answers your question
Sam
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Thanks Sam.
Everywhere else says a renewal is regarded as a new tenancy - therefore a new EICR!
Confused.com.
Best regards
Shaz
Hi,
A renewal is indeed a new tenancy. But you don’t need a new EICR every new tenancy, just every 5 years.
Sam
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Many thanks and all the best.
Shaz
I would recommend you reconsider renewing every year. There is no need and it gives you more flexibility if you don’t. As Sam says, the default interval for EICR inspections is 5 years, but the Electrician has some discretion to make it more frequent, so check your report. I would check what the Electrician’s policy is before you commission them. Some say every new tenancy automatically. I would avoid such Electricians.
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Thank you David 
thanks Sam for clearing this up for us
This article and some of the comments are misleading.
The legislation does not say you need an EICR. It says ’ inspected and tested at regular intervals by a qualified person’.
You may have an EIC (Electrical Installation Certificate), from a new re-wire say, which will have been ‘inspected and tested’ by a ‘qualified person’.
An EIC does not look at all the electrics . It certifies new works thus an EICR is required as and EICR looks at the installation as a whole.
There are a few threads that go into this in detail.
There’s no where in the legislation that says ‘EICR’. An EIC can look at all electrics and would then satisfy the requirement described in the legislation.
" What about new build properties or new electrical installations?
If a property is newly built or has been completely rewired, it should have an Electrical Installation Certificate known as an EIC.
Landlords can provide a copy of the EIC to tenants and, if requested, the local authority. The landlord will then not be required to carry out further checks or provide a report for 5 years after the EIC has been issued, as long as they have complied with their duty or duties under the Regulations."