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Is an EICR a legal requirement, and how often?

Last reviewed 23 August 2026

Is an EICR a legal requirement?

馃敶 It depends on whether you are letting a home or running a business, and the answer is genuinely different. If you let a home in England, yes: regulation 3 of the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 requires the installation to be inspected and tested at intervals of no more than five years. Wales and Northern Ireland have their own regulations doing the same thing. Scotland does not: the repairing standard requires the installation to be in a reasonable state of repair and states no interval at all, and the five years there comes from Scottish Government guidance. For commercial premises anywhere in Great Britain there is no regulation that mentions an EICR. Regulation 4 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 requires systems to be maintained so as to prevent danger, and leaves the method and the frequency to you.

How often

Five years if you let a home. No stated interval at all if you run a business

The five-year figure everyone quotes comes from two completely different places depending on who you are. For a rented home in England it is written into regulation 3 of the 2020 Regulations. For commercial premises it is a convention from BS 7671, the wiring regulations, which is a standard rather than legislation and which no statute obliges you to follow.

Who it binds

Every employer and every person in control of a work premises, through the Electricity at Work Regulations. Landlords of rented homes are covered by separate regulations that do fix an interval, and those differ in all four nations.

Where the duty comes from

The short version

Rented home, England
Required. At intervals of no more than 5 years [2]
Rented home, Wales
Required, under the 2022 Regulations [3]
Rented home, Northern Ireland
Required, under the 2024 Regulations [5]
馃敶 Rented home, Scotland
The Act states NO interval. The 5 years is guidance, not statute [4]
馃敶 Commercial premises
No regulation names the EICR. The duty is to maintain, and it never stops [1]
Where the commercial 5 years comes from
BS 7671, a standard. Not legislation [6]

Next

Sources

Every claim above is checked against the primary text, and the date is the day we last opened it.

  1. 1
    The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989

    legislation.gov.uk Primary text read and checked Checked 22 August 2026

  2. 2
    The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector and Social Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020

    legislation.gov.uk Primary text read and checked Checked 22 August 2026

  3. 3
    The Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022

    legislation.gov.uk Primary text read and checked Checked 22 August 2026

  4. 4
    Housing (Scotland) Act 2006

    legislation.gov.uk Primary text read and checked Checked 22 August 2026

  5. 5
    The Electrical Safety Standards for Private Tenancies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024

    legislation.gov.uk Primary text read and checked Checked 22 August 2026

  6. 6
    BS 7671, requirements for electrical installations, the IET Wiring Regulations

    BSI Paywalled standard, cited by number Checked 22 August 2026