An EICR stands for an Electrical Installation Condition Report, sometimes referred to as a periodic inspection, which as the name suggests is an inspection of the existing electrical installation within buildings and/or structures, at defined intervals to ensure that the installation remains safe for continued use. The maximum recommended interval between inspections can vary widely depending on the type and condition of the installation, but the IET (institute for Electrical Engineers) have published guidance on these intervals which are regarded as the industry ‘norm’ and are backed up by the Electricity at Work Act 1989 and PRS Electrical Testing Legislation 2020.

Most standard workplace environments need an Electrical Installation Condition Report to be produced at least every 5 years. However, there should be regular routine inspections conducted at least annually.

Typical workplaces which require 5 Yearly Fixed Wire Testing include:

• Commercial spaces such as offices and retail outlets

• Hotels and restaurants (excluding spa hotels)

• Schools, colleges and universities

• Laboratories

• Community centres, churches and public houses

• Care homes and hospitals (excluding medical locations)

• Halls of residence, houses of multiple occupancy

Environments which, for example, are exposed to moisture, dust, extreme temperatures or which are open to the general public constitute a higher risk and therefore require more frequent testing. These workplaces require testing every 1 -3 years, with more frequent routine inspections also required.

Typical workplaces or environments which require 3 or 1 year Fixed Wire Testing include:

• Spa hotels and leisure centres – 3 years

• Industrial Units – 3 years

• Theatres and places of public entertainment – 3 years

• Caravans – 3 years

• Cinemas – 1 year (front of house), 3 years (back of house)

• Agricultural or horticultural establishments – 3 years

• Medical locations in hospitals or clinics – 1 year

• Swimming pools and saunas – 1 year

• Caravan Parks and Marinas – 1 year

• Fish Farms, Laundrettes, Petrol Stations – 1 year

In 2020 the government launched the Private Rented Sector Electrical Testing Legislation which now makes it law that all privately rented accommodation should have an electrical installation condition report carried out atleast every 5 years, but with the recommendation being between tenancies if shorter than 5 years.

A residual current device (RCD) is a safety device that switches off electricity automatically if there is a fault. RCDs are far more sensitive than normal fuses and circuit-breakers and provide additional protection against electric shock.

Additional protection by means of an RCD can be a lifesaver as commonly rated at 30mA, which is below the average level of lethal current level of 50mA. An RCD constantly monitors the electric current flowing along a circuit. If it detects electricity flowing down an unintended path, such as through a person who has touched a live part, it will switch the circuit off very quickly(milliseconds), thereby significantly reducing the risk of death or serious injury.

Using electricity whilst wet significantly increases the risk of electric shock. If you are wet and in contact with the ground, it makes it easier for the electricity to flow through you. RCDs can help protect you from electric shock in areas, such as in bathrooms and gardens, where you may be wet and are therefore a requirement.

In residential settings it is pretty much a certainty that the wiring regulations will now require your circuits to have RCD protection unless it is for a circuit that does not include sockets, lights, or have any cabling buried in walls/partitions - such as installed in surface trunking.

In commercial & industrial applications RCD’s will still be required for socket outlets rated up to and including 63A, for any cabling buried in walls/partitions, and for some special locations, just not required for circuits where none of these apply.

Virtually every building in the UK, regardless of use, will contain electrical devices and equipment, which are central to everyday living and convenience. However, transient over-voltages, also known as power surges, can seriously damage these pieces of equipment. Damaged equipment not only incurs the expense of repair or replacement but also further, long term costs such as lost data if storage devices are damaged.

Transient overvoltages occur when equipment likely to produce switching overvoltages or disturbances exceeding the applicable rated impulse voltage of equipment are installed locally. Equipment such as large inductive or capacitive equipment, motors, transformers, capacitor banks, storage units or high current loads.

Historically, this has not been an issue within domestic installations but, more recently, installations are changing with the advent of recent technologies such as electric vehicle charging, air/ground source heat pumps and speed-controlled washing machines. These technologies have made transients more likely to occur within domestic installations at some level.

Transient overvoltages due to atmospheric origin can occur if either the property itself or nearby electrical transmission infrastructure suffers a hit by lightning strokes. These types of transient overvoltages are most likely to happen when a direct lightning stroke on an adjacent overhead power or telephone line causes the transient overvoltage to conduct along the lines into nearby properties, which can cause considerable damage to the electrical installation and associated equipment. BS EN 62305-2 contains information required for risk management for protection against transient overvoltages due to direct or nearby lightning strokes on the structure.

The current edition of the IET Wiring Regulations, BS 7671:2018+A2:2022, states in Regulation 443.4.1:

“Protection against transient overvoltages shall be provided where the consequence caused by overvoltage could result in:

1. serious injury to, or loss of, human life

2. failure of a safety service, as defined in Part 2
   (This has been deleted by BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 - Corrigendum (May 2023))

3. significant financial or data loss.

For all other cases, protection against transient overvoltages shall be provided unless the owner of the installation declares it is not required due to any loss or damage being tolerable and they accept the risk of damage to equipment and any consequential loss.”

AFDDs are protective devices installed in consumer units to protect from arc faults. They use microprocessor technology to analyse the electricity’s waveform to detect any unusual signatures that signify an arc on the circuit. Cutting off power to the affected circuit could prevent a fire. They are far more sensitive to arcs than conventional circuit protective devices.

AFDDs are intended to detect minor arcing faults, such as those that can occur in poor or loose connections that result in overheating and fires. To this extent, they offer limited protection during an arc flash incident. AFDDs protect residential areas where more people are sleeping and are typically fitted to socket outlet final circuits.

Electrical installations that were designed and installed to a previous edition of BS 7671 or the IEE Wiring Regulations can remain in service and need not be brought in line with BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 unless alteration or addition works are undertaken- in which case those alterations and addition should comply with the current version of BS 7671. Departures from BS 7671 are permitted, although this can be risky, and any alternative method of working should provide an equivalent level of protection that the original requirements of BS 7671 intended.

Arc Fault Detection Devices (AFDD) conforming to BS EN 62606 shall be provided for single-phase AC final circuits supplying socket outlets with a rated current not exceeding 32 A in:

• Higher Risk Residential Buildings (HRRB)

• House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)

• Purpose-built student accommodation

• Care homes

For all other premises, AFDDs conforming to BS EN 62606 are recommended for single-phase AC final circuits supplying socket outlets not exceeding 32 A.

High-Risk Residential Buildings are assumed to be residential buildings over 18 m in height or above six storeys, whichever is met first. It is anticipated that in many areas, high-risk residential buildings will be defined in legislation which can be subject to change over time, as well as in risk management procedures adopted by fire and rescue services. Current legislation should be applied.

Where used, AFDDs shall be placed at the origin of the circuit to be protected

Over the years i have been to many premises, both domestic and commercial, where it is clear that some electrical work has been undertaken within the past few years, which the client has never received any certification for. Many clients were unaware of what documentation they should have received from the contractors carrying out the works, so i thought i’d share with you the type of documents you would expect to receive dependent on the the type of electrical works you have had carried out.

Electrical Installation Certificate - This is a document to certify new work such as new circuits, re-wires, replacement consumer units/distribution boards, New EV chargers…. For domestic work, usually these types of work would also be notifiable to the local building control (as per a part of the building regulations covering electrical works) and you should also receive a building control compliance certificate.

Minor Works Certificate - This document is to certify alteration to existing circuits where a new circuit was not required, such as adding socket outlets or lighting to an existing circuit, or moving accessories. Replacing accessories where the circuit itself hasn’t been altered, such a swapping a light fitting, or replacing a damaged switch/socket would not need a minor certificate, Samco Electrical LTD always issue a job report with images as a record of these types of simple replacements.

Electrical Installation Condition Report - For reporting on the condition of an existing electrical installation already in service in terms of electrical safety. The scope of the inspection should be clearly defined on the report and can be for a single circuit or room (such as following a fire or flood) or more likely for domestic properties, the whole property. For larger commercial and industrial premises, the extent of the report can be more complex and may be broken down into smaller stages. This should be discussed carefully and written down.

Fire detection systems for dwellings and the communal areas of smaller residential buildings are fairly simple in their design concepts, selection of equipment, and commissioning. For larger commercial premises an greater in depth knowledge of commercial fire alarms systems, fire safety design, fire risk assessments, and statutory fire regulations are required to be competent in the design, installation & commissioning of these systems.

It’s my belief that this type of work should be carried out by industry specialists with the appropriate accreditation such as BAFE. Samco Electrical LTD do not have these specialist fire alarm accreditations and therefore we would only work closely with a specialist contractor where necessary to complete commercial fire alarm installations

This depends entirely on the size, age & condition of the property and the size of electrical installation to be inspected.

As a rough guide most residential properties can be inspected within a 4 hour time-frame, with perhaps only large houses and HMO's taking up a full day to get around.

Commercial properties often have many more circuits and a bigger physical boundary to get around, so other than small shops and offices, usually take longer. Availability of any previous reports/certification may also determine how much of an installation needs to be inspected and tested.

Another consideration is the possible disruption to the day to day activity of an organisation during the inspection and testing process, the disruption to power supplies is inevitable and the process can't really take place properly without the isolation of circuits. Samco Electrical LTD carries out alot of periodic inspections of medical facilities and therefore these inspections have to take place out of hours.

Lighting accounts for nearly 5% of global CO2 emissions – a global switch to energy efficient LEDs could save over 1.4 billion tons of CO2 from being emitted into our atmosphere and avoid the construction of 1250 power stations. On average, just 1 LED bulb will minimise greenhouse gas emissions by almost half a ton. Replacing outdated fluorescent lighting to modern LED options can provide as much as 85% energy savings. Did you know that most of the energy that goes into lighting an incandescent lamp is actually spent on heating the filament? Outdated lighting can account for up to 95% of your lighting costs on heating a bulb and only 5% lighting it! An LED lamp, on the other hand, loses around 5% of the energy generated to heat, whilst 95% is converted to light.

Energy Saving lighting typically save our clients up to 80% on their annual electricity bills as well as lighting manufacturers offering a 5-10 year warranty on LED products, varying between brands.