Electrics and gas
A socket sits beside a bath and no RCD label was read. Why is that a visual flag for an electrician and not already an EICR code?
It is a visual flag for an electrician because the survey has not produced an EICR code. A socket beside a bath, with no RCD label read, is something the home survey can point at. Coding a defect belongs to an electrical inspection, which this visit did not perform. The survey has not assigned a code, tested the circuit, or confirmed whether any protective device covers that socket. The flag is the location and the missing label. The code, if one is given, comes later.
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?
An EICR is a formal electrical report with observations coded by the person who tests. A home survey does not open that process by noticing a socket. The bath makes the position worth flagging, and the unread RCD label means the surveyor did not rely on a label that was not there to read. Neither fact is a code. Writing one in afterwards would pretend a test happened. It did not.
Ask an electrician for an electrical inspection that can code the socket if a code is appropriate. Tell the solicitor the home survey has flagged a socket beside a bath and an unread label, not an EICR. Do not cover the socket or move it as a way of clearing the note. The survey has not tested the circuit, and it has not decided a code.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you flag the socket beside the bath without giving an EICR code?
- Was any RCD label left unread because none was there to read?
- Was testing of that circuit outside this visit?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the socket as a visual flag, not as an EICR code.
- Ask an electrician to inspect and code it if a code is due.
- Do not write an electrical code into the home survey.
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 socket is a modern faceplate, is it already compliant?
No. A modern faceplate shows the front of the accessory. It does not test the circuit, and it does not create an EICR code. The survey has not confirmed protection for a socket beside a bath. The flag stays visual until an electrician inspects it.
Does a consumer unit elsewhere with a sticker clear this socket?
No. A sticker on a board is not a test of this socket, and the RCD label at the socket itself was not read. The home survey has not produced an EICR. Coding belongs to an electrical inspection this visit did not carry out.