Electrics

What does a survey say about wiring, and what is an EICR?

A surveyor looks at wiring visually and does not write an Electrical Installation Condition Report. A condition rating is not an EICR code. In England, private and social landlords must have installations inspected every five years. Buying your own home is outside that duty, but a poor or unknown installation is a reason to get an EICR before exchange.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless a source says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the difference between a survey note and an EICR?

A RICS Home Survey inspects the building visually. On electrics, the surveyor looks at the consumer unit, the visible cable, earthing they can see, and any obviously amateur work. Level 1 does not include tests of the services. The standard inspection does not remove electrical fittings. The surveyor then either gives a condition rating or records a limit. That rating uses the RICS scale of 1, 2, 3 and NI. It is not an EICR code.

An Electrical Installation Condition Report is the document GOV.UK describes: a qualified person inspects and tests, writes down the results, and sets a date for the next inspection. The benchmark they are working to is BS 7671. If you want to know whether the installation is satisfactory, you commission that report. You do not stretch the surveyor’s paragraph until it pretends to be one.

What do C1, C2, C3 and FI mean?

GOV.UK’s landlord guidance, which explains the codes inspectors use, defines them as follows. C1: danger present, risk of injury. The inspector may make the hazard safe before they leave. C2: potentially dangerous. C3: improvement recommended. Further remedial work is not required for the report to be deemed satisfactory just because of a C3. FI: further investigation required without delay. A satisfactory EICR is one that does not leave you with C1, C2 or FI outstanding. Landlords must do the remedial work the regulations require. A buyer who is not a landlord is not that legal person, but the codes mean the same things physically.

Do not line the codes up with RICS ratings as if C3 were rating 2 and C2 were rating 3. They are different systems. A survey rating 3 on electrics means the surveyor thinks the issue is serious or urgent in building-survey terms. An EICR C2 means a qualified inspector found something potentially dangerous under BS 7671. Either one is a reason to get the installation properly reported before you exchange. Neither one is a quote for a rewire.

Do you have to have an EICR to buy a house?

Not as an owner-occupier under the England landlord regulations. Those regulations, guidance published 1 November 2025, apply where the occupier has the home as their only or main residence and pays rent, across private and social rented housing. Landlords must have the installation inspected at least every five years, keep the report, and give it to tenants. If you are buying a house to live in yourself, that duty does not land on you on completion day. If you are buying to let, it does, and you should ask for the current report before you exchange.

Buyers still commission EICRs because surveyors recommend them, because an old rewireable fuse board is a practical risk, and because lenders sometimes ask. “Not legally required” is not the same as “the surveyor was fussing”. If the report describes damaged accessories, signs of overheating, or a consumer unit that does not look fit, treat the EICR as the investigation RICS is pointing at when it says rating 3 items should be understood before commitment.

Does an old installation mean a full rewire?

No. Age is a reason to test, not a sentence. An installation from the 1990s can test as satisfactory with a list of C3 improvements. One from last year can carry a C2 if it was botched. A full rewire is what an EICR, or the remedial specification that follows it, justifies. Plastic consumer units, lack of RCD protection, and rubber or lead cable are the sorts of things inspectors comment on. Let them. Do not accept a rewire price from a survey sentence that only says the installation is dated.

There is no official price for an EICR or a rewire that we can honestly quote as typical. Properties differ by circuits and access. Ask a person qualified to inspect, in writing, and label any other number as not a quote. If you are comparing contractors, ask whether the price is inspection and test only, or inspection plus remedial work. They are different appointments.

Common questions

What does a satisfactory EICR mean?

GOV.UK explains that C3 items do not, by themselves, stop a report being satisfactory. C1, C2 and FI do need action. Satisfactory means the inspector did not leave those open. It does not mean the installation is new, and it expires as a picture of that test date. The report itself names the next inspection date.

Can you buy a house with an unsatisfactory EICR?

Yes, if you know the codes, the remedial cost, and that nobody is in danger while you wait. C1 is danger present. That is not a item to leave until after the housewarming. Get it made safe. C3s are improvements you can plan. Do the deal with the report in the file, not with a promise that “the electrician will sort it”.

Is five years the rule for every home?

Five years is the maximum interval GOV.UK states for landlords covered by the England regulations. An inspector can set an earlier date on a particular installation. Owner-occupiers are not placed on that five-year legal cycle by those regulations. If your insurer or lender asks for a newer report, that is their condition, not the landlord statute.

Who is allowed to carry out the inspection?

GOV.UK says a qualified person: someone competent to inspect and test. Membership of a competent-person scheme is how landlords commonly demonstrate that. We are not listing firms. Ask the inspector to state their competence on the report. A surveyor’s RICS qualification is not, by itself, that competence.

Does the electrics section cover the boiler?

No. Gas work is a different regime. A Home Survey does not replace a Gas Safe record. Surveyors often say the heating was not tested. Believe them. Commission the relevant inspection if the boiler’s safety is part of your decision. Do not fold it into the EICR price without asking.

The survey mentions the fuse box. Is that a rewire?

A consumer unit replacement is a defined job. A rewire replaces the circuits. The survey can dislike an old fuse box without having traced every cable. An EICR says which of those you are facing. Pay for the distinction before you negotiate a five-figure sum off a two-line paragraph.

You are buying a rented house. Whose EICR is it?

Ask for the report the current landlord should be holding. GOV.UK says landlords must obtain the report and provide it to tenants, and to the council if requested. As the incoming landlord you will need a report that satisfies the interval. A missing file is a practical and compliance gap. Price the inspection, and read the codes if the report exists.

There is DIY wiring. How serious is that?

It depends what was done. A qualified inspector treats amateur work as something to test, not as a style choice. The surveyor flagging it is a reason for an EICR, which is exactly the limit of a visual inspection. Do not pull it apart yourself to look. If it is dangerous, that is a C1 conversation for the person with the tester.

Does this page cover a Scottish Home Report?

The EICR landlord rules described here are England’s. Scotland has its own housing and letting standards, and a Home Report is a different survey product. The physical difference between a visual comment and a tested EICR still holds. Check the Scottish duty with your solicitor rather than importing the five-year England rule unread.

Should the seller pay for a rewire?

Only if a qualified report shows remedial work you were not buying with your eyes open, and you decide to ask. Many dated installations are priced into older houses already. A C1 or C2 with a clear remedial quote is a normal thing to put through your solicitor. A vague “electrics are old” is a weak chip. Get the EICR first.

Sources

Key facts

Home Survey: Visual. RICS says Level 1 and Level 2 do not remove electrical fittings as standard. No tests of the services at Level 1.
EICR: GOV.UK: the report a qualified person produces after inspection and testing. It sets the next test date. Usually what people mean by an electrical safety report.
Who must have one: England: landlords in the private and social rented sectors, at least every five years, under the electrical safety regulations as updated to include social housing. Published guidance 1 November 2025. Owner-occupier buyers are outside that duty.
Standard: GOV.UK: the installation should meet BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations, 18th edition.
Codes: GOV.UK: C1 danger present, risk of injury. C2 potentially dangerous. C3 improvement recommended, not required for a satisfactory report. FI further investigation without delay.
Cost: No official EICR tariff we can cite. Ask a qualified inspector for a price for this property. Any figure without that is not a quote.