How councils enforce an EICR duty in London

Enforcement starts from the rented-housing duties, not from a fine. For a specified tenancy in England, the landlord must have the electrical installation inspected and tested by a qualified person before the tenancy begins, and then at intervals of no more than 5 years, or sooner if the latest report requires an earlier date. The landlord must also supply a copy of the report to the local housing authority within 7 days of a written request for it. A missing copy is not proof that no inspection happened.

• A written request

  If the authority asks in writing, the report is due to that authority within 7 days of the request. Keep the report so you can send the file you actually hold, including the limitations.

• A remedial notice

  Where the authority has reasonable grounds to believe the landlord is in breach of regulation 3(1), 3(4) or 3(6), and the most recent report does not indicate that urgent remedial action is required, it must serve a remedial notice. The notice names the premises, the duty, and the action. It is not itself a financial penalty.

• Time on that notice

  The notice requires the action it specifies within 28 days beginning with the day it is served. The landlord may make written representations within 21 days beginning with that day. If representations are made, the notice is suspended until the authority has considered them.

• If the notice is not complied with

  The authority may then arrange for the remedial action in the notice, with the consent of the tenant. That is a power, not an automatic visit, and it is still not the financial penalty.

• Urgent remedial action

  Regulation 10 applies where the report indicates that urgent remedial action is required and the authority is satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the landlord has not done the required work within the period stated in the report. The authority may arrange that action with the tenant's consent. The authorised person must give the tenant at least 48 hours' notice.

• A financial penalty

  A penalty is a separate step under regulation 11. Before imposing one, the authority must serve a notice of intent. The landlord may make written representations within 28 days beginning with the day after that notice was served. The ceiling is on the penalty page. This page does not publish an amount.

Keep the report, any written request from the authority, any remedial notice, the representations you sent, and the written confirmation that further investigative or remedial work was carried out. Where regulation 3(4) applies, that confirmation comes from a qualified person and is supplied with the report that required the work.

For a specified tenancy in England, regulation 3(4) applies where the report indicates the landlord is or may be in breach of the duty to keep the electrical safety standards met, and the report requires further investigative or remedial work. A qualified person then carries out that work within 28 days, or any shorter period the report states, from the inspection and test. An unsatisfactory label or a code letter does not by itself start that period.

If a final notice imposes a financial penalty, the landlord may appeal to the First-tier Tribunal against the decision to impose it or against the amount. The appeal is brought within 28 days beginning with the day after the final notice was served, and the final notice is suspended until the appeal is decided or withdrawn. This page cannot say what a particular borough will argue, and it is not a template for that appeal.

There is no automatic fine for a failed report. An unsatisfactory EICR does not impose the penalty. There is no standard London charge published here, and no council-by-council timetable, because those practices are not evidenced on this page.

The 30 November 2026 draft, which would let an existing report satisfy a new tenancy in more cases, is not current law on 3 October 2026. It does not change the notice procedure described above.

The ceiling and the older figure in a web address are explained on the penalty page. Arrange an inspection through the landlord EICR service.