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Seller-side surveys

Does an owner-occupier seller in England have to buy an EICR because the buyer’s survey rated the electrics?

No. The EICR duty in the GOV.UK guidance is on landlords in the private and social rented sectors, at least every five years. It is not a duty on an owner-occupier who is selling their home. A condition rating is not an EICR. The buyer may still want one. Who pays is a negotiation, not a fine.

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 codes on an EICR, if someone commissions one, are C1, C2, C3 and FI. GOV.UK defines them for that rental guidance. They are not RICS ratings. A survey that says the consumer unit looks old has not produced those codes. The electrical test sits outside the home survey. There is no RICS price for the test.

A seller who has a recent report can hand it over and say what it is. A seller who does not should not invent one. A buyer who needs the test before exchange can commission it with the seller’s access. A seller’s condition pack is still not an EICR. Do not demand a landlord’s certificate from a family who lived in the house.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Are you rating the electrics, or saying they were not tested?
  • Did you see an existing certificate, and whose name is on it?
  • Are you telling the seller they are in breach? You should not, unless you are quoting a duty that applies.

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Buyers: commission an EICR if you need one. Do not claim the seller broke a landlord rule.
  2. Sellers: hand over any real report. Do not pay a fake “landlord certificate” for an owner-occupied house.
  3. Read the codes against GOV.UK if a report arrives. Do not match C3 to rating 3.

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

What is a C3?

GOV.UK says improvement recommended, and that further remedial work is not required for the report to be deemed satisfactory. It is not a RICS rating 3.

What is a C1?

GOV.UK says danger present, risk of injury. That is the electrician’s code. It is still not a sentence the home survey writes unless an electrician wrote it.

Sources