What does C3 mean on an EICR?

C3 means improvement recommended. C3 alone does not make the report unsatisfactory.

If the front page says unsatisfactory, a C3 line is not the reason. Look for C1 and C2. C2 means potentially dangerous, with urgent remedial action required.

• C1 is danger present. That is not an improvement note.
• C2 means potentially dangerous, with urgent remedial action required.
• FI means further investigation is advised. Under the current A4:2026 EICR format, an FI observation is advisory and does not by itself make the overall assessment unsatisfactory.
• C3 is a recommendation. It is not a statement that the item can always be ignored, and it is not a rule that every recommendation must be repaired before the report is useful.

Read the observation. Decide whether you will plan the improvement now or leave it on a maintenance list. If the same report also has C1, C2 or FI lines, those are the items that change the next job. A C3 does not cancel them, and they do not turn the C3 into an urgent code.

The codes are set out on the EICR code guide. Planned improvement work can be discussed under remedial work after an EICR.