EICR customer summary & coding guide

What you need to know

The plain-English guidance that comes with this document.

• The EICR itself is the legal document — this is the human translation. The formal Electrical Installation Condition Report (issued through your scheme's system) is what the customer, their landlord duty or their solicitor needs. But customers rarely understand it: "C2" and "Zs" mean nothing to a worried homeowner. This cover note turns the report into plain English, which builds trust, reduces panicked phone calls, and — done well — wins you the remedial work.
• Get the codes right, because they carry real consequences. C1 means danger now; C2 means potentially dangerous and urgent; C3 is advisory; FI means further investigation. Crucially, an EICR is Unsatisfactory if there's any C1, C2 or FI — C3s on their own don't fail it. Miscoding is the most common and most serious EICR error: over-code and you alarm customers and generate needless work; under-code and you leave real danger uncorrected and your name on it. Code to BS 7671 and the current best-practice guidance, not to win the remedial.
• A C1 needs action before you leave. If you find danger present, you make it safe there and then (isolate, warn) and tell the customer immediately — you don't just write it up. This note reflects that; your professional duty comes first.
• This is where landlord and sale work comes from. Rented homes in England need a satisfactory EICR at least every five years, and buyers' solicitors increasingly ask for one. A clear summary that flags the recommended next inspection date, and offers a remedial quote, turns one job into a relationship — and reminds landlord customers of a duty they may not know they have.
• Don't reproduce or replace the official report with this. This accompanies the EICR; it never stands in for it. The formal schedules of test results and the coded observations belong on the certificate from your scheme. Always issue that.
• Adapt the recommended interval to the installation. "Up to 5 years" is a common domestic maximum, but a poor installation, a commercial premises, or a change of occupancy can mean sooner. State what you recommend for this property, and why.