EICR Electrical Safety Inspection Across West & North West London
An EICR electrical safety inspection tests the fixed wiring in a property and reports its condition, covering the HA, UB, TW, WD, NW and W postcodes.
- Gas Safe 974833
- TrustATrader vetted
- No hidden costs
- Out-of-hours emergency cover
Covering the HA, UB, TW, WD, NW and W postcode areas. Gas Safe registered 974833, fully insured, workmanship guarantee on every repair and installation.
Check availability
Send us the fault and your postcode. We will confirm when an engineer can attend and what the job involves before you commit.
- Gas Safe 974833
- TrustATrader TT32961
- Fully insured
- No hidden costs
An Electrical Installation Condition Report is a survey with test results attached. An electrician inspects the consumer unit, samples the accessories and circuits, and carries out dead and live testing: continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance and RCD operation. The result either passes as satisfactory or lists what is wrong, coded by severity. It remains the only reliable way to find deterioration hidden inside walls and behind faceplates.
Landlords in England have a legal duty to have this done at least every five years and to give tenants a copy. Owner-occupiers are not covered by that duty, though ten years is the common recommendation for an owner-occupied house, and sooner if you are buying, selling, letting for the first time, or have just taken on a period property around Harrow or Hanwell.
You will find this alongside the rest of our electrical services. Faults rarely respect trade boundaries, and since the company covers all four trades, one visit often settles more than one problem.
Situations that call for a report on the wiring
- A tenancy is starting and the last report is over five years old.
- You are buying a property with no certification for the electrics.
- The consumer unit still has rewireable fuses and no residual current protection.
- An insurer, mortgage lender or local authority has asked for evidence.
- Sockets, switches or light fittings show cracking, scorching or discoloured plastic.
- A licence for a house in multiple occupation requires current documentation.
What an EICR electrical safety inspection with Home Utility covers
- Visual inspection of the board, accessories, bonding and accessible cable condition.
- Dead testing: continuity, polarity and insulation resistance on each circuit.
- Live testing of earth fault loop impedance and RCD trip times.
- Identification of the earthing arrangement and any missing protective bonding.
- Every observation coded C1, C2, C3 or FI with a plain explanation.
- A signed report with schedules of inspection and test results attached.
How a booking runs, start to finish
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Booking and access
Tell us the property type, how many consumer units there are and whether it is tenanted. Power goes off for parts of the testing, so we agree a slot that suits the occupants.
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Inspection and testing
The electrician works circuit by circuit, recording readings as they go. A flat usually takes a few hours. A large house with several boards, a garage and garden supplies takes considerably longer.
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Coding and reporting
Observations are written up against the standard codes, with photographs where a defect is hard to describe in words. You receive the full report, not a one-line verdict on the doorstep.
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Remedial work
Anything coded C1 is made safe during the visit. C2 and FI items are quoted separately, and once that work is finished the paperwork can be reissued as satisfactory.
How the codes work and what the five-year rule actually requires
Every observation on a report carries a code, and the codes decide the outcome.
C1 means danger is present and someone is at risk of injury now. Exposed live conductors or a broken faceplate over live terminals would attract one. The electrician makes it safe before leaving the property.
C2 means potentially dangerous. There is no immediate risk, but a fault or a second failure would create one. Missing earthing on a lighting circuit is a common C2 in older London housing.
C3 means improvement recommended. It flags something short of the current edition of BS 7671 that is not unsafe, such as an older but functioning consumer unit.
FI means further investigation is required, usually where a reading cannot be explained without opening something up.
A report is satisfactory only when it carries no C1, C2 or FI entries. C3 observations on their own do not make it unsatisfactory.
The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 require landlords of most residential tenancies in England to have the fixed installation inspected and tested at intervals of no more than five years, to give the report to tenants and to the local authority on request, and to complete identified remedial work within the timescale the regulations set. Scotland and Wales operate their own arrangements.
What to do, and what to leave to an engineer
You can help by clearing access to the consumer unit and the loft hatch, and by telling the electrician about anything that trips, buzzes or smells hot. Do not try to correct coded observations yourself, and do not change a consumer unit or re-terminate circuits. Inspection, testing and remedial work on fixed wiring belong to a qualified electrician working to BS 7671 and Part P.
Why book this work with Home Utility
- Gas work carried out only by Gas Safe registered engineers
- Fully insured, with certification available on request
- Written quote first, work second, no costs added afterwards
- Urgent faults covered around the clock on the emergency line
- We stand behind the work with a workmanship guarantee
- One family-run company for heating, plumbing, electrics and appliances
Where we carry out this work
This service is available throughout the HA, UB, TW, WD, NW and W areas. A sample of the districts covered is below, with the complete list on the areas we cover page.
EICR Electrical Safety Inspection booked around you
Book an EICR electrical safety inspection before your next tenancy starts and get the report, the codes and any quote in one visit.
Before you book: common questions
How often does a rented home need testing?
Landlords of most residential tenancies in England must have the fixed wiring inspected and tested at least every five years, or sooner where the report specifies a shorter interval. Existing tenants get a copy, new tenants receive one before moving in, and the local authority can request it. Arrange the next EICR electrical safety inspection before the current report expires rather than after.
What happens if the report comes back unsatisfactory?
The report lists each defect against a code. C1 items are made safe during the visit itself. C2 and FI items need remedial work, and for rented property in England that work must be completed within the period the regulations allow, with written confirmation to the tenant. We quote for remedial work separately so you can compare, then reissue the paperwork once it is done.
What does an inspection cost?
Price follows the size of the installation rather than the size of the house. The count of circuits and consumer units matters most, then access to the board and the fittings, whether the property is occupied during testing, and whether outbuildings, garden supplies or a second kitchen are included. We confirm the figure before booking and nothing is added afterwards.
Is this the same as PAT testing?
No. Portable appliance testing covers items that plug in, such as kettles, lamps and washing machines. A condition report covers the fixed installation: the consumer unit, the cabling buried in the walls, the sockets, switches and lighting points. Landlords often need both, and they are separate visits producing separate paperwork. We can arrange the two together while a property is between tenancies.
Who actually turns up?
An employed engineer qualified for that trade, not an unvetted subcontractor. Everyone is background checked and insured, and gas work is done under the company Gas Safe registration 974833. Home Utility Ltd is also a vetted TrustATrader member, TT32961, rated 5.0 out of 5 from 12 reviews.
Could the price change once work starts?
Not without you agreeing to it. The quote is given before the job and holds for the work described. If the engineer uncovers something else, that is a separate conversation and a separate price, and you decide whether to go ahead with it.
Registered as Home Utility Ltd, company 16892846, VAT 518 1609 94, at 5th Floor, 167-169 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5PF. Gas Safe registered business 974833. Gas appliances and notifiable electrical work are dealt with exclusively by appropriately qualified engineers.