What to do when move-in is close and the EICR is not ready

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.

This company does not promise a same-day inspection or a legal exception. A booking request is a request. Access, the size of the installation and the diary decide the appointment.

• A current report

  Read the next inspection date, the address and the limitations. A new tenant does not automatically mean a brand-new report.

• A date that has passed

  Arrange the inspection. Do not add five years of your own.

• No report you can produce

  A missing copy is not proof that no inspection happened. Ask the previous contractor, then treat a blank file as a blank file.

• Work since the report

  A new board or new circuits may mean the old report no longer describes the installation.

• Access tomorrow

  Say which rooms and which board can be reached. A limited visit must say what it left out.

• An unsatisfactory report

  Read the observations. If further investigative or remedial work was required, the close move-in date does not cancel that. Do not hand the tenant a front page that says unsatisfactory and call the file ready.

• The other question

  Whether a new tenant needs a new report is a separate article. This page is only the case where the move is already close.

Work in this order. Find the report, or confirm you do not have one. Read the inspection date, the recommended next date, the address, the limitations, and whether the result was unsatisfactory. Then say what has changed in the installation since that visit. Only after that do you know whether you are asking for a new inspection, for access to finish a limited one, or for remedial work on observations you already hold.

Send the address, the move-in date you are working to, which of those three situations you are in, and who can open the door. Do not describe the visit as already booked until it is confirmed. Do not tell the incoming tenant that a missing file is legal because the date is close. An imminent move-in does not create an emergency exemption, a grace period, or a same-day exception in these regulations.

The new-tenant question is do I need a new EICR for a new tenant. Arrange the inspection through the landlord EICR service.