How periodic electrical inspection became the EICR

Read the layer that matches the question. Mixing them is how a history page turns into a sales page.

• The wiring standard

  BS 7671 is the British Standard for electrical installations. The words 18th Edition are the common name for BS 7671:2018. Amendments after that book still form part of the standard the inspector is working to.

• The condition report

  An Electrical Installation Condition Report describes an existing installation at the time of the inspection. It is not an Electrical Installation Certificate for new work.

• The rented-housing duty

  For a specified tenancy in England, arrange inspection and testing by a qualified person at least every five years, or by an earlier date stated in the report. Provide the required report before a new tenant moves in. Government guidance explains when an existing valid report can be used on re-letting; check its findings, next-inspection date and any changes to the installation rather than assuming that every new tenancy needs a new EICR.

• What history does not do

  An older installation does not fail an EICR solely because it predates the current amendment. The inspection judges the installation that is there.

Periodic inspection grew up as a way to look at an installation that is already in use, rather than to certify a new design. The modern form records the extent of the inspection, the limitations, the observations and an overall assessment. Those fields are the history that matters on the day.

A satisfactory result is about continued use on the evidence the inspector had. It is not a statement that every accessory is new, and it is not a promise that the same result will be reached years later. Condition, access and later work can all change what a subsequent visit finds.

People say 18th Edition when they mean the wiring standard. That name does not appear as a pass or fail stamp on its own. The inspector uses the standard, and the current guidance for classification, to judge what was found. The report is the record of that judgement.

An older installation does not fail an EICR solely because it predates the current amendment. Age can explain why a detail looks different. It does not assign a code by itself.

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector and Social Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, as amended, are the legal instrument for a specified tenancy. They are not a rewrite of BS 7671, and they do not invent a London-only code.

For a specified tenancy in England, arrange inspection and testing by a qualified person at least every five years, or by an earlier date stated in the report. Provide the required report before a new tenant moves in. Government guidance explains when an existing valid report can be used on re-letting; check its findings, next-inspection date and any changes to the installation rather than assuming that every new tenancy needs a new EICR.

Parliamentary approval of the draft 2026 electrical-safety amendment was completed on 20 October 2026. Approval, formally making the instrument and its coming into force are separate events. The published draft specifies commencement on 30 November 2026; it is not a duty already in force today. Check the final made legislation and its saving provisions before changing a compliance process.

If you need an inspection of a home, start from the property and the reason, not from a timeline. The homepage is the commercial route for EICR in London. This page is only the explanation of how the report, the standard and the rented-housing duty came to sit side by side.

Landlords of specified tenancies use the landlord EICR service. A condition question about an existing installation sits with EICR testing.