The short answer
For a home you own and live in, Electrical Safety First recommends an EICR at least every 10 years. This is guidance, not a legal requirement — unlike landlords, owner-occupiers are not obliged by law to have one. You should consider testing sooner if the property is old, the wiring has not been checked for many years, you have had major electrical alterations, or you notice warning signs such as flickering lights, scorch marks, a burning smell, or frequent tripping. It is also sensible to have an EICR when you buy a property, so you know the condition of what you are taking on. The report itself can set a shorter re-test date than 10 years.
Owner-occupiers are not legally required to have an EICR, but a periodic check is strongly advised because wiring deteriorates with age. Here is the recommended interval and when to bring it forward.
Owner-occupier intervals
- Recommended intervalat least every 10 years
- Statusguidance, not law
- When buyingadvisable before / on purchase
- Older or altered wiringsooner
- Warning signstest promptly
The recommended interval
Electrical Safety First advises that an owner-occupied home has its fixed wiring inspected by a registered electrician at least every 10 years. The figure is a maximum for an installation in sound condition — it is not a target to leave to the last possible day if there are reasons to check sooner. The wiring in a home does not last forever: insulation degrades, connections loosen, and older installations may lack the RCD protection that modern standards expect. A periodic EICR catches that deterioration before it becomes dangerous, which is the point of the recommended interval.
It helps to understand where the 10-year figure comes from. The recommendation reflects the typical pace at which a sound domestic installation ages: cable insulation, accessories and protective devices are all designed to last a long time, but not indefinitely, and a decade is a sensible upper limit between professional checks for a home in normal use. The interval is deliberately framed as a maximum rather than a fixed schedule, because the condition of the installation, not the calendar alone, is what really matters. A home that has been recently rewired sits comfortably within that window, whereas one with older wiring may genuinely warrant a look well before ten years are up.
The interval also assumes the installation is being used as a normal household installation. Where a home has unusual demands on its electrics — extensive outdoor wiring, a workshop, a swimming pool or hot tub, or a great deal of high-load equipment — the wear on the installation can be higher, and the case for a shorter interval correspondingly stronger. The principle behind the guidance is straightforward: the recommended period is the point by which a competent person really ought to have looked again, and anything that accelerates wear or raises risk is a reason to bring that point forward rather than push it back.
| Situation | Suggested action |
|---|---|
| Sound, modern installation | EICR at least every 10 years |
| Buying a property | EICR before or on purchase |
| After major alterations | check the new and existing work |
| Old or never-tested wiring | EICR sooner than 10 years |
| Warning signs present | test promptly |
General UK guidance for owner-occupiers. Source: Electrical Safety First.
When to test sooner
The 10-year figure assumes nothing else prompts an earlier look. Bring an EICR forward if you are buying a property and want to know what you are inheriting, if the home is old or has wiring that has never been checked, or after significant electrical work such as an extension or a kitchen rewire. Pay attention to warning signs too: persistent flickering, lights or sockets that feel warm, scorch marks around fittings, a faint burning smell, or breakers that trip repeatedly. Any of these warrants a check well before the recommended interval is up.
Buying a property is the single most common reason to bring an EICR forward, and for good reason. A standard homebuyer's survey is not an electrical inspection — surveyors will note obvious concerns but do not test the wiring — so unless the seller can produce a recent satisfactory report, the true condition of the installation is unknown at the point of purchase. Commissioning an EICR before or shortly after you buy turns that unknown into a documented baseline: you learn whether the consumer unit is modern, whether the circuits are protected as they should be, and whether any remedial work is needed, all before you have committed to decorating or moving furniture against the walls. For an older home in particular, that knowledge is worth far more than the inspection fee.
The warning signs are worth taking seriously rather than living with. Lights that flicker, sockets or switches that feel warm to the touch, a faint smell of burning, scorch or discolouration around fittings, and breakers that trip repeatedly are all symptoms that something in the fixed wiring may be at fault. None of them is certain to be dangerous on its own, but each is the installation telling you that a professional should look — and an EICR is precisely the tool that turns a vague concern into a clear, coded diagnosis. Waiting for the ten-year mark when the house is actively showing symptoms is the wrong way round; the symptoms are the prompt.
Why it is guidance, not law
There is no statute requiring an owner-occupier to hold a current EICR, which is the key difference from the legal 5-yearly duty placed on private landlords in England. That does not make it optional in any practical sense — your home insurance, your own safety and the condition of an older property all point toward keeping the wiring checked. Some homeowners also commission an EICR before selling, as a satisfactory report can reassure a buyer. The absence of a legal interval simply means the responsibility, and the timing, sit with you.
It is worth being precise about how the owner-occupier position differs from the rented one, because the two are often confused. A private landlord in England has a legal duty under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 to have the installation inspected at least every five years, to give the tenant a copy of the report, and to complete any remedial work the report requires. None of that applies to a home you live in yourself: there is no statutory interval, no obligation to share the report with anyone, and no enforcement body checking that you have one. The five-year rule belongs to the rental sector, and applying it to your own home is a common misunderstanding.
Keeping a sensible record
Because the timing is left to you, the most useful habit an owner-occupier can adopt is simply to keep the paperwork and note the next date. When you have an EICR done, file the report along with any certificates for electrical work — a new consumer unit, a rewire, an extension's wiring — so that the next electrician, the next inspection, or a future buyer can see the installation's history at a glance. An installation with a clear paper trail is quicker to inspect and easier to value, and it spares you reconstructing from memory what was done and when.
The report's own recommended re-test date is the figure to diarise, in preference to the general ten-year maximum. If the electrician judged the installation sound, that date may indeed be a decade away; if they found it ageing, it may be sooner, and the report will say so. Treating that date as the trigger — and bringing it forward if alterations, age or warning signs intervene — is the whole of what an owner-occupier needs to do. There is no legal clock to satisfy, only the practical aim of keeping the wiring in a home you live in safe and well understood, and a single filed report with a noted next date achieves exactly that.
Frequently asked questions
Is an EICR a legal requirement for homeowners?
No. For a home you own and live in, an EICR is recommended but not legally required. The legal 5-yearly duty applies to private landlords in England. Owner-occupiers are advised to have one at least every 10 years, or sooner if there are concerns.
How often should I get my house electrics checked?
Electrical Safety First recommends an EICR at least every 10 years for an owner-occupied home, and sooner if the property is old, has been altered, shows warning signs, or you are buying it. The report can also set a shorter re-test date.
Should I get an EICR when buying a house?
It is advisable. An EICR on a property you are buying tells you the condition of the wiring and any faults before you commit, which is useful for older homes or where there is no recent inspection on record.
Sources & further reading
- Electrical Safety First — how often to check electrics in a privately owned home
- NICEIC — electrical safety in the home
Figures on this page are typical UK ranges drawn from published sources and depend on your specific property. They are guidance, not a quotation. Legal duties are summarised for guidance — confirm the current position on GOV.UK.