SurveySorted
Menu
Sign in

Condition ratings

Can the electrics be condition rating 1 without anyone testing the circuits?

Yes. Services are inspected visually and are not safety-tested, so rating 1 only means no repair is currently needed from that look. It is not an Electrical Installation Condition Report and not a statement that the circuits passed a test. A modern-looking consumer unit can still be untested.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer 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 fuller explanation?

The surveyor can comment on an old fuse box, damage, DIY alterations and signs that an installation looks tired or looks recent. None of that is a sequence of tests. The Level 3 definitions do not contain a pass mark for wiring. If they have used rating 1, they are saying that what they could see does not currently need repair. If they could not see the consumer unit, the honest mark is often NI, not a quiet rating 1. Ask which it was.

An owner-occupier seller is not under the landlord duty to hand you an EICR. You can still commission one if you want the circuits tested. Do not tell the lender the survey passed the electrics. Do not tell yourself that rating 1 has retired the need for a test you already intended to get. There is no RICS electrical certificate sitting inside the number. Gas and other services are under the same visual limit.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • What electrical equipment did you actually see?
  • Are you clear that you did not test the circuits?
  • Should any part of this have been NI rather than rating 1?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Do not describe rating 1 as a passed electrical test.
  2. Commission an EICR only as its own inspection, if you need one.
  3. Read the limitations on services before you rely on the number.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

If the lights were on, were the circuits tested?

No. Lights working is not a test. It only shows that something illuminated during the visit.

Does rating 3 on the electrics mean an EICR was done?

No. Rating 3 is the surveyor’s condition opinion. An EICR is a separate electrical report with its own codes.

Sources