The cost of an EICR depends on the size of the property, the age and layout of the wiring, any extra consumer units, and how much of the installation is inspected. That is why we give every customer a free written estimate rather than a fixed price. An Electrical Installation Condition Report is the periodic safety inspection of a property’s fixed wiring against BS 7671, and rented homes in England must have one before a tenancy starts and at least every five years.
Key takeaways
- Cost depends on property size, wiring age, extra consumer units and the extent of inspection, so every EICR is estimated individually.
- A typical 2 to 3 bedroom home takes 2 to 4 hours on site. Most residents can stay in during the test.
- Only C1 and C2 observations produce an Unsatisfactory result. A C3 is “improvement recommended” and still passes.
- Landlords in England face a maximum penalty of £40,000 per offence, raised from £30,000 on 1 November 2025.
- An EICR is not legally required when selling a home, but a Satisfactory report reassures buyers and can prevent price chips.
An Electrical Installation Condition Report, or EICR, is the periodic safety check your electrical installation is meant to have every so often. It is the electrical equivalent of a car MOT, and it exists so that faults that would otherwise be invisible get found before they cause a fire, a shock, or a failed rental inspection.
For most domestic customers in Wiltshire the question is simple: what decides the cost of an EICR, and what do I get for the money?
What affects the cost of an EICR in Wiltshire?
There is no single price, because no two installations are the same. The biggest factor is time on site, which depends on the size of the property, the number of circuits, and how many sockets, switches and fittings are opened up and inspected. As a rough guide to time:
| Property type | What drives the estimate | Time on site |
|---|---|---|
| 1 bedroom flat | One consumer unit, few circuits | 1 to 2 hours |
| 2 to 3 bedroom house | Number of circuits and accessible fittings | 2 to 4 hours |
| 4 to 5 bedroom house | More circuits, often extensions or outbuildings | 4 to 6 hours |
| Barn conversion or HMO | Several boards and many rooms | Half to full day |
| Small commercial unit | Distribution boards and how the space is used | By inspection |
Times are typical. Every property gets its own free written estimate before we start.
A home with an accessible modern consumer unit and a dozen or so circuits sits at the shorter end. Older properties with rewired sections, a second consumer unit in an outbuilding, or fittings that need dismantling to test properly take longer.
How long does an EICR take, and can I stay in the house?
A typical 2 to 3 bedroom home takes 2 to 4 hours on site. Larger homes are usually half a day. Commercial premises are estimated individually.
Power is isolated one circuit at a time, not to the whole property, so most residents can stay put during the inspection. You will lose lighting or sockets on the circuit being tested for a short period, then power comes back on and the electrician moves to the next one. Anything sensitive to power interruption (a home office desktop, a freezer that has recently been restocked, a working from home meeting) is worth planning around.
You do not need to turn off every appliance in advance, but clear access to the consumer unit, sockets, and light fittings speeds the job up considerably. If a socket is behind a wardrobe or a sofa, either move it or expect the electrician to skip that outlet and note the limited access on the report.
What happens during an EICR inspection?
An EICR is a mix of visual inspection and physical testing. The electrician isolates each circuit in turn, tests earth continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance, and RCD performance, and inspects accessories at every reasonable point of access. Every observation gets a code:
- C1: Danger present, risk of injury. The installation is unsatisfactory and needs immediate attention.
- C2: Potentially dangerous. Not immediate, but the installation still fails until the C2 is fixed.
- C3: Improvement recommended. Not a fail on its own. The installation still passes.
- FI: Further investigation advised. Under the current version of the standard an FI is advisory and does not on its own make a report unsatisfactory. Government guidance for rented property has not yet caught up with that change, so if you are a landlord it is worth asking your contractor how they are treating any FI observation.
The finished report is a legal document. It lists every circuit, every observation, every reading, and gives an overall verdict of Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. Testing is carried out against BS 7671:2018, currently incorporating Amendment 4:2026. The superseded version is withdrawn on 15 October 2026.
Why do two similar homes get different estimates?
Two properties with the same number of bedrooms can produce very different EICR estimates. Factors that push the price up:
- Older wiring. Rubber, lead sheathed, or mixed vintage installations take longer to isolate and test safely.
- Second consumer units. Outbuildings, garages, EV chargers, and annexes all add circuits.
- Poor accessibility. Fitted furniture over sockets, sealed loft hatches, and inaccessible junction boxes all slow the inspection down.
- Extra tenants or bedrooms in HMOs. More sockets, more lighting circuits, more work.
What should never change is the honesty of the report. A cheap EICR that skips half the circuits is worth less than the paper it’s printed on, and our guide to how much of your home an EICR checks explains what a thorough inspection covers. Every EICR we issue is signed off under our NICEIC and ECA approvals, so the paperwork is defensible to a council inspector, a housing tribunal, a buyer’s solicitor or an insurer.
What happens if an EICR comes back unsatisfactory?
An Unsatisfactory result is not a disaster. It means at least one C1 or C2 was found, and remedial work is required. In practice the remedial work is often much smaller than owners fear: a faulty RCD, a set of missing bonding conductors, an unlabelled circuit. We itemise the work line by line in a written estimate, so you can see exactly what each item involves. Once it is complete you receive certification for the work and written confirmation that it has been done. Landlords must send that confirmation to their tenants and the council within 28 days.
Nulectrics carries the remedial work out on any EICR we complete ourselves, and we can act on an EICR issued by another contractor as well.
What is the penalty for a landlord without a valid EICR?
The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 require the electrical installation in a rented home to be inspected and tested before a tenancy starts and at least every five years, or sooner if the report says so. A valid copy must be given to any new tenant before they move in.
The maximum civil penalty is £40,000 per offence, raised from £30,000 on 1 November 2025 by the Electrical Safety Standards (Extension to the Social Rented Sector) Regulations 2025. On top of that, councils can issue banning orders, and tenants can claim Rent Repayment Orders. On the insurance side, be wary of the common claim that a missing EICR voids your policy. Home and landlord wordings generally do not make an EICR a condition of cover, and a fire caused by an electrical fault is still a fire claim. What policies do require is that you keep the property in good repair and condition, so a current EICR is useful as evidence that you met that duty rather than as a policy requirement in itself.
HMO and selective licence conditions often add their own electrical requirements, so check with the licensing team if you let HMOs in Bath, Bristol, Swindon or a Wiltshire market town.
Do you need an EICR when buying or selling a home?
An EICR is not required by law when you sell a home. A Satisfactory report is still useful evidence for buyers, solicitors, and mortgage valuers, and it can prevent last-minute price chips over unknown electrical condition. If you have made significant electrical changes since the last EICR, or you have simply never had one, booking an inspection before you list is a low-cost way to keep the sale clean.
How do EICR rules differ across the UK?
The ESSPRS 2020 rules cover England only. Scotland has run private rented sector EICRs since the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014. Wales operates under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016. Northern Ireland has no equivalent statutory scheme yet. Landlords with properties across the UK should ask their contractor to confirm which regime applies to each address.
Booking an EICR in Wiltshire
We carry out EICRs for homeowners and landlords across Chippenham, Corsham, Calne, Melksham, Devizes, Trowbridge, Warminster, Marlborough and the wider Wiltshire area, as well as Swindon, Bath and Bristol. See our EICR testing page for the full scope, or contact us for a free written estimate on your property.
Related guides: signs your house needs a rewire, what BS 7671 Amendment 4 means for your home, and our domestic electrician service across Chippenham and Wiltshire.
Service areas: Nulectrics is based in Chippenham, Wiltshire. We cover domestic work across Chippenham, Corsham, Calne, Melksham, Devizes, Trowbridge, Bath and the surrounding area, and commercial work UK-Nationwide.